Brief Explanation

The objective was a 2% increase in patronage of this segment over the campaign period. Our challenge was enormous. The peace and quite of the countryside is no match for the excitement and nightlife filled experiences the city has to offer a young Australian. To get them onto a train to travel hundreds of kilometres away from their routine, to see people they’d rather not, is a big challenge for a small budget marketing campaign.

The Brief

Our brief was to increase the number of city based travellers visiting their family and friends in the country.

How the final design was conceived

To contrast the dark ‘guilt’ ridden messages we decided a light approach was required for the design. The key to this was to bring out the personality of the guilt giver to life in the design. For example, in our executions featuring a mother, the design featured hand embroidered type, patchwork pillows, paper craft type and soft colours. Where as in our Guilt Trips which were from male mates, the design brought the type to life using hardware like wood, nuts and bolts.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

The first month of the Guilt Trip campaign saw an increase in overall V/Line Sales month-on-month of 10%. This equated to a 400% ROI for the campaign. To appreciate the significance of this achievement, one needs to understand that for the 150 year old regional train service, this is the largest month-on-month increase in a single month’s patronage since the end of World War 2. V/line. Bringing family and friends together, one Guilt Trip at a time.