Navigating the pandemic, First Bus needed to emerge from government subsidies with a new strategy. To survive it needed its local communities and the local communities needed First Bus.

Buses aren’t seen as interesting or exciting, but they are essential as a source of employment, as well as helping others get to work or keep in touch. So how did we get a bus company to start a positive movement?

Our ‘Let’s Get There Together’ campaign was the answer – a bold commitment that united the community and First Bus.

FINDING THE HEART

In late 2020, when we started planning, there was still a lot of uncertainty around travel and going out. So we made the decision to question our audience segments in order to understand how much travel behaviours and perceptions were changing.

We chatted to beleaguered drivers and customers, building up a picture of what people were living through, and how buses sat at the heart of it.

They were getting nurses to hospitals and local business owners into the city. The drivers themselves valued their jobs, as driving delivered a welcome sense of normality. Communities, blighted by COVID, embraced the little taste of ordinary, everyday life the buses brought. We also witnessed businesses that had been badly affected by the pandemic. And saw it was especially tough on local independent businesses – bereft of customers, with no share value or head office to prop them up.

This led us to a rude awakening – without these businesses the communities were struggling and without the people the buses transported, the businesses were nothing. We started asking ourselves what we could do to help the local communities and this led to a profound shift.

FROM: Segment-led advertising about journeys.
TO: Community-led activity to help our audiences and their businesses rebuild.

An honest and authentic commitment was essential – we shouldn’t claim we were perfect, but we were on an improving journey.

LET’S GET THERE TOGETHER was the answer.

BRINGING THE LIFE

‘Let’s get there together’ was a commitment that explained our determination to improve ourselves and others; an ongoing journey for us all brought to life via 3 phases:

We delivered adverts that went loud and proud with our commitment, and all were adaptable by OpCos all over the UK.  We went big in local communities using owned and bought media in local TV, radio, geo-targeted digital, social, press and more.

But it was with the activations that we really brought the campaign to life. We created The Restart Fund, that put local independent businesses front and centre – giving them the chance to win help for their recovery. 101 businesses entered, with over 8000 votes cast from the local community. This gave us invaluable earned reach into places First Bus hadn’t been before.

Photography was optimistic, always-looking-forwards, but realistic too – with local people and families as the stars of the show. The bus – our key product – only played the role of an ‘extra’. Critically, we also featured local businesses in our executions – giving them exposure and support from our spend because we knew what help they needed. Literally using First Bus money to benefit local businesses – you can’t get much more committed than that.

MAKING IT THRIVE

We set out to prove to the First Bus business that a strong Brand Purpose can power Communications, Marketing and Business results. Not only did we achieve our KPIs, we exceeded all of them. We’re proud of the impact we created with First Bus – a business with a ubiquitous, low interest product that is trying to do the right thing by the communities it serves and powers.

Like every business, the product isn’t perfect and suffers from external factors such as traffic and weather, but the beauty of the Let’s Get There Together platform is the acknowledgement that First Bus is on a journey of continuous improvement.

THE IMPACT

“The best marketing appeals to both the head and heart, and is delivered consistently in a way that appeals to the right audiences. Our Let’s Get There Together campaign was a commitment to local communities that we’re proud to be part of. It’s allowed us to launch relevant communications through different phases of COVID and seasonal occasions, and it’s allowed us to put our money where our mouth is and give back to the local communities we’re part of. All our hard work was recognised as we picked up a Prolific North Marketing Award, winning “Best Response to Change” category. The entry shared the story of why we’re doing what we’re doing, but also had hard business results – proving it’s delivering for the business.”

John Godfrey – Head of Brand – First Bus