SNCF: THINK TRAIN
THE TASK
The task was to accompany the integration of Rail Europe into Voyage SNCF by re-igniting the interest of British audiences for train travel.
Secondary task was to evaluate the impact of the name change, from Rail Europe to SNCF.
OUR WORK
We ran 20 Ethnographies across the UK to explore people's attitudes to continental vacations, travel solutions, and booking behaviour (documenting on line behaviour).
We ran a quantitative study to segment the population and identify likely potential train travellers, and the impact of name change on them.
We created a brand platform for SNCF UK, and communication briefs.
OUTCOME
Following our recommendation, Rail Europe became Voyage SNCF in the UK in 2013.
We identified a core group of consumers for train travel, people who want to break from cattle class and want to enjoy the journey as much as the destination. They tend to prefer "cultural" breaks to beach / leisure holidays, and they want adventure and experiences on the way. For them, train travel is part of the experience. That is, when they think train, in a country, the UK, where most have been pre-conditioned to "think plane".
With our "think train" approach, we made SNCF engage with people who make the "choice of journeys".