| Title | THE LITTLE BOOK OF GUILT TRIPS |
| Brand | V/LINE |
| Product / Service | TRAIN SERVICES |
| Category | A01. Mailings |
| Entrant | McCANN MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA |
| Entrant Company: | McCANN MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA |
| DM/Advertising Agency: | McCANN MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA |
| Name | Company | Position |
|---|---|---|
| John Mescall | Mccann | Executive Creative Director |
| Annie Price | Mccann | Creative Director |
| Dave Budd | Mccann | Art Director |
| Tristan Graham | Mccann | Copywriter |
| Matthew Stoddart | Mccann | Senior Art Director |
| Natasha Wood | Mccann | Senior Copywriter |
| Adrian Mills | Mccann | Group Account Director |
| Alec Hussein | Mccann | Account Director |
| Tamara Broman | Mccann | Senior Account Manager |
| Paul Matthews | V/Line | General Manager Of Marketing And Stakeholder Relations |
| Daniel Moloney | V/Line | Marketing And Communications Manager |
| Lisa Stolt | V/Line | Strategic Marketing And Campaign Manager |
| Monica Barrow | V/Line | Marketing Assistant |
| Simon Lock | V/Line | Digital Communications Advisor |
| The Craft Shop | The Craft Shop | Production |
V/Line is Australia’s major regional train operator. Our task was to increase passenger numbers in off-peak times by getting city dwellers to visit their family and friends who live in regional areas. This is not an easy job. We needed to push a hot button powerful enough to drag people from their routines, out of their shopping malls, away from their digital devices and onto a train to see people they otherwise wouldn’t have hundreds of kilometres away. Our strategy was to harness the most powerful force known to man – a mother’s guilt
Faced with the challenge of getting city dwellers to the country, we knew we had to do something different. Something compelling. We had to create something people could exchange for their sacrifice. As it turned out, a clear conscience is worth the price of a ticket to the country. For the brand, the Guilt Trips campaign was quite a departure. So used to promoting themselves as a link between places and a conduit to events and experiences, actually targeting a segment like this, with a wry wit, was a leap, but one the client is very happy to have taken.
Our solution: The Guilt Trip. A pre-paid ticket that leveraged guilt, to help country people bring their loved ones home. Not only did we create a website experience that let people send tailored Guilt Trip emails, but we completely rebranded the entire ticket buying experience. Now, instead of buying a plain old train ticket, people bought Guilt Trips, and had a laugh while re-connecting with their long lost family and friends. The website and point of sale components were supported by outdoor, press and radio, as well as social media.
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.