High Speed Train From Brussels To London: "LONDON VIRUS" Direct marketing by Tbwa\brussels

Category: Travel, Entertainment & Leisure
Advertiser: EUROSTAR
Product/Service: HIGH SPEED TRAIN FROM BRUSSELS TO LONDON
Agency: TBWA\BRUSSELS
Date of First Appearance: Apr 19 2010 12:00AM
Entrant Company: TBWA\BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
Entry URL: http://www.londonvirus.be
Art Director: Menno Buyl (TBWA\Brussels)
Copywriter: Geert Verdonck (TBWA\Brussels)
Creative Director: Jan Macken (TBWA\Brussels)
Account Director: Nathalie Ducène (TBWA\Brussels)
Planner: Sylvie Dewaele (TBWA\Brussels)
Account Executive: Yolanda Lopez Gomez (TBWA Brussels)
Director Sales & Marketing Belgium: Anne-Françoise Piette (Eurostar)
Marketing Manager Belgium: Elise Min (Eurostar)
Communications Manager: Ilde De Martelaere (Eurostar)
Trade Communications: Saar Meylemans (Eurostar)
Media placement: Editorial Radio Campaign - Studio Brussel, Radio 2, Bel RTL - April 22, 2010
Media placement: Commercial Radio Campaign - Studio Brussel, Radio 2, Bel RTL - April 26, 2010
Media placement: Website - Londonvirus.be - April 26, 2010
Media placement: Viral Campaign, Social Media - Youtube, Facebook, Twitter - April 26, 2010
Media placement: Activation/Field Marketing/Contest - Radio 2, Bel RTL - April 27, 2010
Media placement: Online Event / Take-Over News-Sites - Standaard.be, Demorgen.be, Hln.be - April 27, 2010
Media placement: Display Advertising - Standaard.be, Demorgen.be, Hln.be - April 28, 2010
Media placement: Editorial Print - Le Soir, Het Laatste Nieuws - April 30, 2010
Media placement: Radio Features, Testimonials - Radio 2, Bel RTL - May 3-7, 2010
Media placement: Newspaper Campaign - De Standaard, De Morgen, HLN - May 08, 2010

Describe the brief/objective of the direct campaign.
Eurostar is the high speed train from Brussels to London. But London was no longer the most visited city for Belgians anymore. The campaign needed to make London Top-Of-Mind as a city trip destination again. City marketing and tourist boards are constantly promoting cities around Europe. But they by far not as credible as word-of-mouth. Research showed that WOM information is the most relied-upon sources of information for destination selection. The campaign needed to turn Eurostar users into advocates, convincing their peers to take the train to London.

Explain why the creative execution was relevant to the product or service.
The pass-on tickets generated response and WOM in 3 ways: - a large PR event followed the chase for the tickets, supported by radio and print. - The weekly passing-on ensured a constant flow of word-of-mouth. People passed on the tickets to friends or family together with advice about London. - londonvirus.be and Google maps showed the virus spreading. They showed the owners so you could contact them to get infected. On Facebook and Twitter people tried to get infected or spread the virus around amongst their friends. People always had to register to apply, participate or follow the campaign.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective with reference to the projected response rates and desired outcome.
Eurostar spreads ‘THE LONDON VIRUS’: a free Eurostar ticket to London that you can pass on to friends after your visit. And they can pass it on, and on, and on,… In that way, hundreds of London Virus tickets will circulate in Belgium for the rest of the year. To get a hold of the first tickets, people could be the winner of a game at www.londonvirus.be or could participate at one the contest that were set up with 10 media partners.

Describe the results in as much detail as possible with particular reference to the RESPONSE of the target audience including deliverability statistics, response rates, click throughs, sales cost per response, relationships built and overall return on investment.
In just the first 3 days, more than half a million unique surfers visited www.londonvirus.be. This equals almost 20% of all Belgians that are interested in city trips. The number of Twitter followers and Eurostar Facebook fans doubled in a couple of days, the latter exceeding the one of the Belgian premier football league. These are preliminary results, before the actions based on media partnerships were launched.