Jolting people back

Agency: MG OMD

With their business severely hit by Covid-19, LNER had the big task of building back journeys and revenue, which had dropped -95% vs pre Covid Levels. After navigating a long period of travel restrictions which finally eased in the Summer 2021, we needed to re-establish LNER in people’s minds as the preferred mode to travel to destinations on the East Coast Mainline, whilst reassuring them it was safe to travel freely again. On top of this we had the challenge of how to stand out as the UK travel industry and indeed wider advertising industry came back to market with a vengeance. We needed to rebuild brand metrics, instil confidence in train travel and position LNER as leading the way back to normality. There was however, a positive amongst all the doom and gloom, with substantial pent-up desire for people to travel and see loved ones, this created an opportunity for LNER to capitalise on this suppressed demand and ‘jolt’ people back to travelling again. The challenge was big, but the results were even bigger; enabling LNER to be the leader of the industry recovery, in terms of both revenue (+12% points) and journeys (+31% points) above the industry average.