Sea-ing the benefits of bus

Following a competitive pitch, we are happy to be working with Warwickshire County Council (WCC) to help drive an increase in public transport usage amongst young people.

WCC had seen a steady decline in bus journeys taken by the 14-25-year-old market over the past decade. We were tasked with helping turn this decline around through a creative digital marketing campaign.

With the media primarily focused on Snapchat, Instagram and in-game advertising, our priority was to create a campaign packed with character and colour that stands out from the social media feed, and fits in well with the wild and slightly wacky worlds of Duolingo and Candy Crush.

Public transport expertise

It’s fair to say we have a good amount of expertise with public transport advertising, and transport advertising more widely. In recent years, we have delivered campaigns for Transport for West Midlands, National Express and the M6toll.

Warwickshire Buses has been doing a great deal to upgrade its offering through its Bus Service Improvement Plan. The improved service means everyone, and particularly young people with fewer transport options, are now able to go to more places and do more than before.

Why two squid?

The £2 fare cap means all single tickets for children and students are £2 or less.

So, we’ve used a play on the common slang of ‘squid’ for ‘quid’ to tell the young people of Warwickshire that all they really need to get around the region is a couple of squid.

This bit of watery wordplay allowed us to introduce some fun characters to lend a tentacle or two to the campaign.

Meet Splisha and Splashley

Rendered in 3D by the CGI whizzes Studio Evo, this ten-legged twosome give this digital marketing campaign real standout so that these messages jump out of the sea of dull adverts on social media timelines. A real departure from the usual public transport advertising.

The use of the characters also allowed us to flex the campaign to all the necessary occasions and destinations, taking the squids from Rugby and Leamington Spa, to college, the nightclub and the cinema. The bus has never been so much fun.

If you are a Warwickshire resident lucky enough to be in the right demographic for this campaign, you’re likely to see it popping into your Snapchat and Instagram feeds as well as featuring within various mobile games.

Need help with your public transport campaign?

Drop us a line, but try not to all arrive at once…

heybears@oneblackbear.com

Creatives
Jenny Ray & Tristan Vere-Hoose
Design & Animation
Kimberley Bishop
Account Director
Amy Gouldson
CGI
Studio Evo
Media
BBJ&K

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