Adopting a customer-centric approach to rebuild passenger loyalty

The previous national lockdowns had a significant impact on the way the public feel about rail travel. Long periods of social distancing led to an aversion to confined public spaces. Frequent messages to ‘stay at home’, when we’d have otherwise been out and about, created a long-term behavioural shift. In short, passengers have arguably fallen out of love with the idea of travelling by train.

This was the challenge Network Rail faced last summer. So, we launched a campaign that would encourage passengers back to the railway following a period of national lockdowns. With commuter numbers unlikely to return to what they were pre-pandemic we shifted the focus onto leisure travellers and reframed stations as the gateway to visiting your favourite people and places safely, easily and sustainably.

Our campaign embraced the spirit of adventure to encourage people to fall back in love with the idea of train travel. Here's one of the short campaign films we created:

Undeniably, stations shape passenger opinion and first impressions count. To support passengers to feel relaxed, safe and excited about their return to train travel and support in-station retail partners, we ran in-station events over the Christmas season for Network Rail's Southern region.

Our 'Christmas Is…' campaign tapped into the festive mood and view the retail offering in stations as the place to pick up Christmas treats and last-minute gifts for friends and family. A jukebox and photobooth staffed by a couple of enthusiastic Christmas elves encouraged passengers to get even more into the Christmas spirit and share their experiences widely through social media.

Having worked with Network Rail since 2014, we've developed sector specific insights to deliver impactful marketing campaigns to positively engage passengers. So if you’re looking for support with adopting a customer-centric approach improve passenger loyalty in the long term, get in touch with us and we’ll be more than happy to offer our support.