Our workNational Rail / nudging Gen Z towards more sustainable travel
Most people already know that taking the train is a sustainable way to travel. But knowing and doing are two different things. Changing behaviour and getting people out of their cars and into a less carbon-heavy mode of transport isn’t a straightforward task, but we helped National Rail encourage young people to take 200,00 extra train journeys during 5 weeks of campaign activity.
Choo-choosing the right audience
The first phase of this campaign, delivered by Storycatchers 2023, identified eco-minded 18-to-24 year olds that are currently light-medium rail users as the audience with the greatest propensity to leave their car at home.
Just one more trip
Critical to the success of this campaign was its small ask. Rather than ask our audience to sell their cars and travel everywhere by train, we used the foot in the door technique and asked them to take just one extra trip by rail.
With an ROI of £3.49 for every £1 spent
The campaign encouraged 200,000 extra train journeys
It’s always about the positive impact
Kettles and phones
And while we all know what sustainably means, and that carbon emissions are bad, eco messaging can often be a little vague and abstract. So this campaign put it into simple tangible terms – so everyone could see the positive impact that one small change can make.
Choosing the train instead of a car could save the same carbon as boiling a kettle 455 times.
By switching from car to train, you could save enough carbon to power your phone for up to eight years.
An average train journey puts nearly five times less carbon emissions into the air than making this journey by car.
In all the right places
All the media was chosen to target our Gen Z audience – with OOH and in stations, but heavy on social, Snap and Spotify – the places we know they’ll be.
The campaign delivered outstanding ROI and positive sentiment
The campaign drove an additional 200,000 train journeys during the 5-week campaign period, delivering an ROI of £3.49 for every £1 spent and delivering statistically significant positive responses in a YouGov survey.