Virgin Trains Invites Customers to ‘Fly’

On Monday 11th March, Virgin Trains launches a new integrated campaign, ‘Fly Virgin Trains’. Created by Elvis, it celebrates Virgin Trains as the fastest and most efficient way to travel across each of their routes through vintage-inspired designs. 

 

Virgin Trains’ research identified that people hugely overestimated train journey times. So this campaign needed to drive modal shift, to get people considering train travel over other modes of transport; their car in particular. 

 

Working with design agency, I Love Dust, Elvis developed an art directional style that is visually inspired by some of the classic imagery produced during the golden age of travel, but brought up to date with a contemporary illustrative interpretation.

 

The £7m campaign will run until the end of the year and the first phase is being delivered across digital and static outdoor (including AM screens for the first time), radio, press, online and social media. The BTL elements will drive the message that booking in advance offers better value tickets, including an eCRM programme and online game launching in phase two. 

 

The radio ads feature British actor Matt Smith, notable for his role as the Doctor in the most recent series of Doctor Who. 

 

Central to the campaign is the media strategy, with targeted advertising at car drivers on truck sides through heavy traffic hotspots and AM screens at service stations.

 

Danny Gonzalez, Head of Marketing, Virgin Trains said: “The new campaign perfectly encapsulates our vision of inspiring travellers to choose Virgin Trains to get to their destination in the fastest and most time enriching way – all provided with a great level of customer experience. The campaign raises awareness of our underestimated high speed journey times and blows away the false preconceptions around cost people have about travelling with Virgin Trains”.

 

John Treacy, Elvis Executive Creative Director says, “We are delighted to be delivering another provocative campaign for Virgin Trains, based around a typically Virgin consumer-focused insight that customers want to spend less time travelling and more time at their destination. I think ‘Fly Virgin Trains’ does this so well through the stunning creative work and compelling strategy.

 

Elvis have produced Virgin Trains’ most effective campaigns to date, including the IPA Effectiveness award-winning ‘Don’t Go Zombie’, as well as Virgin Trains’ long running eCRM programme. 

 

Credits

 

Client: Danny Gonzalez, Virgin Trains Head of Marketing 

Creative agency: Elvis 

Executive Creative Director: John Treacy 

Copywriter: Ken Taylor 

Art Director: Gavin McDonald

Planner: Paul Becque, Damian McKeown

Designer: I Love Dust

Account team: Tom Duckham, Ros Mair, Emma Bottomley, Tanya Brookfield