Northern Rail:
Shifting brand perceptions
Building an emotive connection through an integrated campaign to show that we are on the side of Northerners.
// Case Study
Northern Rail:
The challenge
Northern Rail was facing a perception challenge. Long-held concerns around performance, convenience and value were leading many current and potential customers to stick with other modes of transport. We needed to shift perception of the brand to reconnect with customers and show them that we understood them and were the right choice for them.
The buyer insight
We recognised that buyers were making habitual choices when travelling or commuting. As travel patterns have become less clear, customers were defaulting to in-the-moment transport choices, rather than planning ahead. At the same time, industry perceptions were serving as a post-rationalisation for the travel decisions customers were taking. Rather than appeal to logic, we needed to push the Northern Rail brand front of mind by connecting emotionally, making rail feel relevant, trusted and worth considering.
The solution
We created a new campaign platform that reframed Northern Rail and started the journey to break down barriers with clear, focused headlines that made people reconsider their perception of the brand. Our campaign, “We’re Northern, Just Like You”, focused on reflecting shared behaviors, cultural truths and moments that unite us as Northerners. We ensured distinctiveness through a new photography style and added illustrative components to ensure recognition and deeper story-telling. Using a through-the-line media approach, we delivered cut through via TV as well as OOH, Radio, Paid Social and Display.
The impact
System1 testing showed that “We’re Northern, Just Like You” delivered strongly against its primary objective, long term brand building through emotional connection. The campaign achieved a 3.5-star rating, outperforming the travel and holidays category average of 3.4, and marking a significant uplift in creative effectiveness. Previous Northern campaigns achieved 2.7 stars (2023) and 2.2 stars (2021), demonstrating a clear step change in performance.