The brief
LeedsCity Bus - the public-facing brand for First Group's Leeds network - had a trust problem. Passengers had lost faith in the service, let down by late buses, poor service and a perception of not getting value for money. Our brief was to change behaviour, not just perception. The single hard measure of success was getting the First App onto passengers' phones, so route improvements and better-value tickets could be experienced directly. The client set its own target for the activity, a minimum of 3.5 times return on investment, measured on ticket sales.
What we planned
We geo-activated every channel within 400 metres of the Headingley Lane bus route, reaching commuters, families, leisure travellers, students and over-65s along it. The campaign opened with a "We've Listened" phase, putting those customers' own feedback front and centre before moving to brand and ticket-pricing messages. The reason to download was concrete, with 75% of journeys now able to be pre-paid through the app, the best value on offer to customers along the route.
How it ran
Over five months, the campaign ran across radio, direct mail, programmatic display, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and paid search, reaching audiences at key touchpoints along the route. Creative rotated through three message strands - "We've Listened", "Brand" service messages on greener buses, contactless payment and frequency, and "App Download" messages built around FirstDay and FirstWeek ticket pricing - continually reviewed and re-weighted as the campaign progressed.
What the reporting showed
The campaign returned 11.5 times the digital media investment, surpassing the client's own 3.5 times target. Facebook proved the most efficient channel for app downloads, and "Contactless"-led messaging resonated particularly strongly with the audience. The work went on to win Global Local Campaign of the Year at the 2020 Global Biddable Media Awards.
Campaign results
| Measure | Result |
|---|---|
| Return on the digital media investment | 11.5 times |
| Client's own minimum return-on-investment target | 3.5 times |
| Journeys that could be pre-paid through the app | 75% |
| Recognition | Winner, Global Biddable Media Awards 2020, Global Local Campaign of the Year |
Source: Route campaign reporting and the Global Biddable Media Awards 2020 entry, five-month campaign period.
This was a smart and focused media execution using a range of channels to raise awareness of the route improvements, and the value-for-money tickets downloaded via the First App gave customers. In addition to seeing a significant increase in customers on the route, we had over 2,000 App downloads in the five months the campaign ran, which will bring a long-term, lifetime value to us of nearly £500,000, which offers significant ROI.
The team are highly experienced and know how to get the most value out of our budgets. They take the time to understand our audiences and their behaviours, so they know exactly where and when to target them and through which channels. We're looking forward to working with them on new campaigns in the coming months.
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Read the case studyWant results like these for your organisation?
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