Public transportation

How do you get concessionary pass holders using the pass they already hold?

By taking the message to the things they love. First West of England's concessionary pass holders already owned the product but had stopped using it after the pandemic, so "The things you love for free" reminded them what the pass was for, town by town, across Bristol, Bath, Weston-super-Mare and Wells. The same model then ran in five more regions and won Best Digital Marketing Campaign Travel/Leisure at the Northern Digital Awards 2024.

Client

First West of England

Campaign

"The things you love for free"

Channels

ITV1, broadcaster VOD, local press, OOH, Facebook, YouTube, digital display

Now running in

West Yorkshire, York, Greater Manchester, Wales and Eastern Counties

Recognition

Winner, Northern Digital Awards 2024

Three people laughing at a candle stall under a market canopy, where a stallholder in a cap lifts the lid from a candle jar while a woman in a leopard-print scarf holds it and an older man in a flat cap and glasses looks on — A frame from the winter campaign's Wells Market film.

The brief

Every concessionary pass holder already owned the product. The job for First West of England was not to sell a ticket - it was to change a habit. After the pandemic, pass use across Bristol, Bath, Weston-super-Mare and Wells had fallen to under 60% of pre-Covid levels, and concessionary pass holders who had stopped travelling needed a reason to get back on the bus.

What we planned

We mapped the West of England by postal sector, identifying where concessionary pass holders lived in the greatest density and where First Bus routes already ran, so budget concentrated on the areas doing the most good. The plan led with broadcast. ITV1 secured strong programming, and ITV X broadcaster video on demand was planned by postal sector around the same audience. Local press, out-of-home, Facebook, YouTube and digital display surrounded the broadcast activity, and the creative was geo-contextual throughout - a Weston message reached a Weston audience, a Bristol message a Bristol one. The line "The things you love for free" gave lapsed travellers their reason to get back on the bus by reminding them of the places the pass could take them.

A First Bus double-decker with its headlights on, coming round a bend on a country road at dusk between hedgerows and bare trees — A frame from the winter campaign's TV advert.

Two square First Bus social posts, one reading Together with coffee and cake at Spoke and Stringer over three friends sharing cake at a cafe table, the other reading Together with loved ones at Wells Market over a man in a flat cap offering an apple to a smiling woman at a market stall — Two of the winter social executions, each naming a place the pass could take you.

How it ran

The campaign ran as two seasonal bursts across summer and winter 2022 in the four West of England towns. The same hotspot-first, two-burst model then rolled out across West Yorkshire, York, Greater Manchester, Wales and Eastern Counties, each region planned around its own postal-sector density. Digital display and YouTube built awareness throughout, print and door drops led the first burst in each region, and Facebook sustained engagement across the whole campaign.

What the reporting showed

Digital delivery ran ahead of plan in every rollout region, and Weston's Facebook engagement was the strongest of the four West of England towns. Sky AdSmart's winter burst reached 83% of its 65+ audience universe, and the idea proved durable enough to win Best Digital Marketing Campaign Travel/Leisure at the Northern Digital Awards 2024 for "First Bus & The Things You Love For Free", with partners MHD Partnership, Cravens and Woven Films. A substantial rise in concessionary journeys followed, period on period, sustained for five weeks after paid activity ended.

The results

A local idea that six regions now run

A campaign built for one operating area was proven, then repeated across five more.

Under 60%Pass use against pre-Covid levels, the starting problemSummer 2022 planning

WinnerBest Digital Marketing Campaign Travel/LeisureNorthern Digital Awards 2024

Campaign results, West of England origin campaign and 2022 rollout
Measure	Result
Pass use against pre-Covid levels, the starting problem	Under 60%
Best Digital Marketing Campaign Travel/Leisure	Winner, Northern Digital Awards 2024

Source: First West of England Concessions PCAs, summer and winter 2022, and the West Yorkshire, York, Greater Manchester, Cymru and Eastern Counties rollout PCAs, 2022.

The 2024 Northern Digital Awards win for "First Bus & The Things You Love For Free" was shared with partners MHD Partnership, Cravens and Woven Films.

Outcome

A habit rebuilt, region by region

Hotspot planning, geo-contextual creative and a broadcast-led channel mix gave concessionary pass holders a reason to use the pass they already hold. The idea now runs in six regions on the same proven pattern - local places, local screens and a message that starts with what people love rather than what the bus costs.

How we plan media