OMD UK London

ABOUT

Brief:
As a result of the pandemic, people had been making fewer trips abroad and therefore not needing to travel to the airport. As the world opened up again, 61% of people were planning to travel abroad within the year, a massive increase on 2021. Thameslink wanted to capture the growing number holiday makers and business travelers and encourage them to get the train to the airport rather than relying on car or taxi.


Strategy:
Since we couldn’t claim the train would be quicker or cheaper than travelling by car (or taxi) we decided to focus on convenience by showing how the holiday you were dreaming of could start at your local station. By calling out local stations we were able to make the messaging more relevant to those living near. By simplifying the journey from A to B it reduced the stress associated with getting to the airport and pitched train as the obvious way to start the journey.

Mediums:
The campaign runs across digital OOH (BT Street Hub spots across London) and also press (local press and The Metro) and digital display.

Concept:
From Bedford to Bologna, St. Pancras to St. Lucia, Farringdon to Florence… we wanted to convey the idea that you can get anywhere in the world from your local station. Tooting to Toronto, anyone?

Every headline combined a station on the Thameslink network with an exotic far-flung destination. For even more OOH oomph, we made every ad personalised and localised to its location, so customers could view their nearest Thameslink train station as a gateway to somewhere far more exciting.

Execution:
Launching in the depths of a dreary UK winter, each ad was a beacon of bright colour with bespoke branded 3D props delivering those holiday cues and enticing people to escape these shores in favour of destinations abroad.

Each station was paired with an alliterative destination to punchy effect: including “Go from Bedford to Bologna”, “Go from Loughborough Junction to Los Angeles", and where we wanted to promote the full service “Go from platform 5 to 35,000 feet.”

17 variants were created and went live in over 100 destinations. Each one hyper-localised and personalised to its media placement.

MADEIT CREDITS

  • Govia Thameslink RailwayClient

Who liked - Thameslink Airport Campaign