New Marketing Strategy has Virgin Trains Flying High, The BIP learns
Virgin Trains Flying To London
The campaign aims to counteract marketing activities which are focusing on other rail routes between the two cities. Our strategy will focus on protecting the business market and appealing to a broader leisure market and modal shift. Our campaign will highlight the benefits of Virgin Trains, focussing on speed, frequency and quality of our service.
The overall concept is designed to appeal to both business and leisure audiences and will be seen across outdoor and digital sites in and around Birmingham, at certain stations along the route and also at London Euston and London Marylebone Underground stations including escalator panels.
The retro-style creative of ‘Fly Virgin Trains’ taps in to the 1950s golden era of commercial air travel growth, when the world instantly became more accessible, opening up fast and more frequent ways to travel, such as our Birmingham to London service. Trains run every 20 minutes between the two cities, taking just 1hr 24mins between Birmingham and London, which means more time in London sightseeing or getting home that bit earlier.
Annerie Hughes, Virgin Trains Head of Marketing, said: “The new ‘Fly Virgin Trains’ campaign brings to life the speed at which you can travel between Birmingham and London. The designs hark back to the growth of commercial air travel and the 1950s – a time when the whole world suddenly became more accessible.
“In a similar way the speed and frequency of the Virgin Trains’ service brings the UK’s two largest cities closer for both business and leisure purposes.
The campaign has been devised by Virgin Trains advertising agency Elvis.
About Virgin Trains
Virgin Trains is the brand name of Virgin Rail Group (VRG), which is owned 51 percent by Virgin Group and 49 percent by Stagecoach. We have operated the West Coast passenger train franchise since 1997.
The current franchise runs to March 2012 and the Secretary of State for Transport announced on 19 May 2011 that the Department for Transport will seek to agree acceptable terms with VRG for an extension to the current contract to December 2012. We have been short-listed for the new franchise that will start in December 2012.
Virgin Trains has been recognised in numerous industry awards. In 2010 the company has been named Best Rail Operator of the Year at the Travel Globe Awards (voted for by readers of the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and Evening Standard), and Best Rail Operator in the Group Leisure Awards (which we also won in 2009). In 2009 we were also voted Best UK Domestic Train Service by Business Traveller magazine for the second year running.
Virgin Trains first achieved Investors In People accreditation in 2007 and this was renewed in 2010; the IIP Gold award was achieved in 2011. In May 2011 Virgin Trains was awarded accreditation against the criteria of the European Foundation for Quality Management’s (EFQM) Excellence Model.
For further information please visit www.virgintrains.co.uk
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Tags: Birmingham, Business News, Elvis, Fly Virgin Trains, launch, London Euston, News in Brief, retro-style, The West Midlands BIP
