A new rail campaign shifts the focus from sightseeing to sentiment, and celebrates the real reason we travel: to see the people we love.
UK train companies often focus their campaigns around glamorous and exciting places, which look enticing and cinematic on screen. But in reality, most train journeys beyond the daily commute come down to one thing: people.
That’s the insight driving Avanti West Coast’s latest campaign ‘Be With Them Sooner’, created with adam&eveDDB and shot by photography legend Martin Parr. Instead of showcasing destinations as postcard-perfect backdrops, the campaign explores the emotional pull behind travel; the faces waiting at the other end.
The research
Avanti’s research uncovered a simple but powerful fact: 37 per cent of overnight journeys are made for love—to visit friends, family, or partners—rather than for tourism or business. Yet, despite this, most travel advertising still sells “the getaway”: city breaks, scenic routes, cultural hotspots.
For Avanti, this posed a creative challenge. How do you stand out in a service that’s all about places, and instead talk about why people go to them? Or to put it another way: how do you make rail travel feel not just practical, but personal? The answer was to flip the script. To stop selling destinations and start celebrating connections.
The response
Consequently, the new campaign focuses on the emotional truth of travel, rather than specifics like which places are accessible via Avanti West Coast. Using iconic photographer Martin Parr’s celebrated eye for authenticity, it captures the warmth, awkwardness and charm of real people and their reasons for travelling.
Each execution features a vivid photography portrait, paired with Avanti’s clean, recognisable signage and a simple, heartfelt line that tells the “real story” of that destination, such as “Liverpool. Home of your squidgy new niece” or “Macclesfield. Home of the friend you’d drop anything for.”
The campaign runs across out-of-home (OOH), social and audio, and interestingly, it’s been adapted for different regions. That means someone in Glasgow might see an ad reading “Manchester. Home of…” with the journey time included from that city. It’s a neat way to link emotional motivation to the brand’s promise of speed and convenience.
Dynamic digital billboards and location-based audio ads further personalise the message, reminding us that getting there faster means getting back to the people who matter, sooner.
Parr for the course
Avanti’s choice of photographer is no accident. Martin Parr is one of Britain’s most influential image-makers, known for finding poetry and humour in the everyday. Born in 1952 and a long-time member of Magnum Photos, he is world-famous for his work documenting modern British life (sunburnt holidaymakers, tea-stained mugs, suburban buffets), with an eye for the beautiful and the absurd.
His work is both affectionate and unsettling: celebrating what’s familiar while exposing the quirks and contradictions of class and culture. And his involvement in the campaign comes hot on the heels of heightened public awareness, thanks to the documentary film I Am Martin Parr, which hit cinemas earlier this year to widespread acclaim.
As Andy Mcananey, creative director at adam&eveDDB, put it: “What makes West Coast destinations a joy to visit? The people who live there. We couldn’t have asked for a more suitable person to shoot them than Martin Parr.”
The timing of the campaign is also smart. Launched in October ahead of the key Christmas booking season, it begins with an initial two-week burst of outdoor ads, while social and audio will stay live year-round, keeping that emotional thread going after the festive rush.
Sarah Copley, Avanti’s commercial director, sums it all up neatly. “The campaign unexpectedly delivers on our brief,” she says. “With Martin Parr’s unmistakable eye behind the camera, it strengthens our connection with customers and ensures train travel with Avanti is front of mind when visiting friends or loved ones.”
