Joanna Seabright

Said the following about Transport for Wales Rail Services, Marketing Team:

“In October 2018, KeolisAmey took over the operation of train services across Wales and its Borders, delivering on behalf of the Welsh Government under the brand name, Transport for Wales.

Marketing campaign planning started during mobilisation, as KeolisAmey prepared to take over the franchise. This was a huge challenge in itself, as the mobilisation marketing team were planning a campaign for a new service, for a train company that they were not yet operating, with very minimal access to past campaign learnings or the existing marketing team who were still at that time working for the previous operator, Arriva Trains Wales. The mobilisation team, led by Colin Lea and Joanna Seabright and supported by marketing graduate Jennifer Mullarkey and graphic designer Cara Morris, appointed Golley Slater as the lead strategic and creative agency, having set out the vision for marketing during the agency procurement process:

‘We are bold. We want the nation to buy-in to our vision and think ‘rail first’ when making journeys across Wales and beyond. We want our partners to encourage tourists to explore Wales by train. We want to deliver change - the effective marketing of the rail services, and upcoming improvements, will ensure that the transport network becomes the catalyst and enabler for growth, driving economic prosperity and tourism across Wales.

Our marketing, through strong and inspiring visuals that capture hearts and minds, will tell the story of not only the rail services of the future, but the Wales of the future.

But this isn’t just about people living and working on the route. This is about potential investors in to Wales, and visitors, domestic and international, and the affect this will have on businesses in Wales.

The TfW and Wales & Borders service brand is a marker for change across Wales, not just for transport but the chain effect this then has on the regional economy.

This is for people, for places, for Wales.’

Once the agency was appointed, the team set about creating a campaign that would be ‘optimistic but realistic’, communicating that change doesn’t happen overnight, but the train service will be completely transformed over the next 5 years. The following campaign manifesto positioned this well:

You’ll have probably heard that trains in Wales are changing.

You’ll have heard they’ll look better, move faster, run cheaper.

It’s likely you’ll have also heard talk of new stations, new services.

You might say that, well, you’ve even heard it all before…

But what will it actually mean?

For Wales and for you?

Well, it’ll mean we’ll have a country that’s better connected

It’ll mean we’ll welcome more tourists, attract new businesses

To visit our home, to develop our great nation.

It’ll mean that one day we’ll have a network that’s the envy of the world

But most importantly,

It’ll mean we’ll have a decent, reliable service.

One that’ll get us to work on the dot, to our appointment by nine.

That’ll take us on the school run and make sure we’re home for bath time.

That’ll pick us up from the match on Saturday, or to Mam’s for tea on Sunday.

It won’t happen overnight and, yes, there will be challenges along the way

But we’ll be working hard to get it right

Because we know it’s important

And because we know what it means to you.

Working as ‘one team’ with Golley slater, we developed the following campaign strapline:

‘We know what it means to you’

This creative idea looks at railway networks in quite a different way. Rather than just being about travelling from A to B, it looks at the emotional meaning that each journey has. Because every station will mean something very personal and very different to everyone. Ninian Park isn’t just a station for some, it’s where dads take kids to their first football match. Gowerton Station isn’t simply Gowerton Station, it’s where a daughter comes home for Sunday lunch with her mum.

This idea was flexible – it allowed us to illustrate our understanding of the meaning of train travel to people’s lives.

Then the hard work began – the team worked closely with Golley Slater and media buyer Mediacom, to deliver in just 10 weeks a successful launch campaign that usually would take months of planning. Alongside this the team also contributed to the development and launch of a new website, app, and rebranding of all collateral. The launch also included a stakeholder event, full re-livery of a train and interim rebranding of all 247 stations, and a customer roadshow. The team also delivered a social media campaign, #JourneyBegins.

The campaign was a success, with the overall brand impression increasing by 22%, and brand reputation increasing by 24% when compared to the previous operator. Advert awareness among customers also rose by 4%, due to the heavy investment in targeted channels. (Source: YouGov Brand Index)

On 14 October 2018, the mobilisation team joined forces with the marketing team of 6, who had TUPE’d over from Arriva Trains Wales. Led by Head of Marketing Paul Tapley and Marketing Manager Matt Breese, the team then coordinated the next phase of activity with the planning of a TV advertisement campaign, introducing ‘reasons to believe’ combined with messaging to encourage travel.

The campaign introduced some of the work happening behind the scenes, building the foundations for the transformed train service of the future. Throughout, all activity needed to be bilingual, and the TV advert was voiced by Welsh comedian Elys James, with the Welsh version of the ad taking specific spots on Welsh TV channel S4C. This advert takes people on the journey with us, demonstrating the ‘busy bees’ behind the scenes, all working hard to deliver the service that Wales and the Borders deserves. Tactical messaging to drive revenue was included, to drive revenue, and we delivered some microlocal campaigns to promote very specific improvements at ‘town’ level.

The campaign has been well received and has delivered some positive brand and revenue upward trends, and improved awareness and understanding of the quick wins being implemented, and the long-term transformation vision.“