When the capital’s original bike-share scheme needed a fresh spark, Dark Horses’ team answered with a campaign as spontaneous as the city itself.
Led by Account Manager Nancy Barrett, “Side Quests” repositions Santander Cycles from mundane commute tools into gateways for discovery—curated, themed routes that guide Londoners and tourists off the beaten track.
From mapping the Thames with pinpoint accuracy to crafting unforgettable field-research escapades (think horse-themed pub crawls on two wheels), this six-month labour of love blends cutting-edge web tech with authentic local storytelling.
In this feature, Nancy pulls back the curtain on the challenges, the joys, and the creative alchemy that brings Side Quests to life—and why, sometimes, the original ride still reigns supreme.
What was the brief?
Although Santander Cycles are already considered as part of the fabric of London, they have seen steep competition in the shape of newer kids on the block. And with the competitors going fully electric, and easy/low friction access to their bikes, Santander Cycles has naturally fallen out of favour as the go-to bike for speed and convenience.
Our job was to find a way to reconnect Londoners and tourists with the original bicycle hire scheme in a way that changed their perceptions of the Santander Cycles experience.
How did the initial pitch/brainstorming phase go?
There were so many potential ways in, and we had a lot of fun working through them. Could it be about ‘fluidity’, or ‘the lifeblood of London’? Could it be about a community of Londoners that want to take care of their city, or is it about control – the keys to the city, and the freedom to go wherever you want?
All these territories had some good friction, and relevance for both TfL and Santander, but the winning strategic platform combined a bit of all of them – discovery, community and authenticity. We decided we wanted Santander Cycles to own spontaneity, discovery and adventure in London.
What was the process behind ideating the concept?
We came up with the moniker of ‘Side Quests’ – not only was there good alliteration with Santander Cycles, it also played into spirit of gaming, where side quests are designed to give you a break from the main story, and learn a bit more about that world.
It’s become a byword for leaving your comfort zone, trying something new and being more spontaneous. With ‘Side Quests’, Santander Cycles could help Londoners (and adventurous tourists) explore the city they love in new and spontaneous ways.
Our themed routes are curated and feature the best experiences that London has to offer. It isn’t about a tour of London’s most famous tourist attractions - our Side Quests are packed full of authentic London experiences.
What was the production process like?
Smooth! Once we had the idea it was a simple concept to translate into various deliverables. Working with TfL and Santander meant we had uninterrupted access to the media we wanted to use, and it was just a matter of supplying the files.
Our designer created a look and feel that worked across various digital and print assets that felt similar to Santander Cycles’ previous campaigns but still had a new tone of voice and could be recognised as Side Quests branding in its own right.
What was the biggest challenge during production? How did you overcome it?
Our biggest challenge during production was during the build of our main asset - the website! We wanted the River Thames to have geographical accuracy on every route design that appeared on the site.
To do this, we mapped coordinates of each route to the corresponding segment of the Thames in the back-end code of the website, programmatically adjusting the Thames icon’s scale and placement along the X/Y axis to make sure it was perfectly aligned every time. This meant we could easily refine our calculations and guarantee that every map offered users not just aesthetic appeal, but accurate geographical context.
What kit/tools/software were used to create the project?
To bring the Side Quests website to life, we combined multiple web technologies with creative flexibility. The site is built on Next.js, which gave us a responsive and first-class experience across mobile and desktop. For content and route creation on the site, we integrated a self-hosted CMS with a separate route builder.
The route builder used the Google Maps API, capturing all the data needed for the route design to appear on the website. The CMS of the website stores the information from Google maps alongside metadata which allows the map visuals to be altered to design taste – fine tuning path appearance, corner sharpness and copy placement without touching the back-end code of the website.
GSAP powers the map animations, and dynamic location analysis lets us accurately size and position the Thames in relation to each route. All these software and code specs means we can now add new routes with ease without building anything in After Effects or Illustrator. Making the upload process efficient and scalable.
What is one funny or notable thing that happened during production?
During the production of the campaign and whilst thinking about which route themes we wanted to feature, we decided to create our own Dark Horses themed Side Quest.
This involved taking the core team around London and visiting various horse themed locations, which made for a sort of duckling situation of CEO, strategist and creatives following one another around the city. Bit of field research never hurt anyone... even if the cycling abilities of the group did vastly vary!
What’s the main message of this project and why does it matter?
Cycling is a popular travel option, but we want people to take advantage of what the city has to offer outside of their journey from office to home. There are so many more things more to do in London and Side Quests allows you to discover new things while riding London’s most cost-efficient bikes.
‘New’ and ‘modern’ isn’t always the answer to everything. The original will often outlast the new pretenders, and this campaign exemplifies the truth in that.
How long did it take from inception to delivery?
Once we had landed the strategic territory of spontaneity, we actually came up with the idea of themed rides and the name quite quickly. But, as ever with these things, there are then a lot of things to do to deliver – multiple routes, a website, approval across two sets of clients. It was about six months in total.
What do you hope it achieves for the brand?
Gives Santander Cycles a USP to its competitors and communicates the authenticity of the scheme. It’s an affordable and fun experience, that allows people to enjoy a break from the everyday and mundane in an unexpected and unique way.
Credit list for the work?
Melissa Robertson, Chief Executive Officer, Dark Horses
Matt Readman, Chief Strategy Officer, Dark Horses
Cristina Diago, Strategy Director, Dark Horses
Josh Pearce, Creative Director, Dark Horses
Sean Johnson, Creative Director, Dark Horses
Hannah Rendell, Copywriter, Dark Horses
Lara Hallam, Art Director, Dark Horses
Jordan Dicks, Designer, Dark Horses
Leah Wattley, Producer, Dark Horses
Alex Nixon, Business Director, Dark Horses
Nancy Barrett, Account Manager, Dark Horses
Siobhan Beddow, Senior Communications Manager, Santander
Melissa Noakes, Head of Sponsorship & Events, Santander
Georgia Cross, Brand Content & Social Media Manager, Santander
Emily Osborne, Media Relations Manager, Santander
Hannah Schraer, Senior Media Relations Manager, Santander
Ani Cara, Public Affairs Manager, Santander
Sam Inskip, VP Brand & Sponsorships, Santander
Adam Campbell, Partnerships Marketing Manager, TFL
Harriet McDonald, Head of Commercial Partnerships, TFL
Harriet Reynolds, Social Media Portfolio Manager, TFL
Daniel Bratt, Customer Marketing & Behaviour Change Manager, TFL
Amelia Holgate, Press Officer, TFL
Mika Murray, Head of Press Desk, TFL
Jonathon Lyons, Business Development Manager, TFL
Joe Scheinkonig, Head of Business Development - Sponsored Services, TFL
Emmanuel Cole, Photographer
Adam Paikowsky, Chief Innovation Officer, dotdotdash
Katie Blocker, Technical Lead, dotdotdash
Art Longbottom, Senior Creative Technologist, dotdotdash