Is Trainline the ultimate source of self-actualisation?

Mother is behind new Trainline campaign promoting the joy of journeying

By Creative Salon

19 April 2023

Trainline brings a new conversation to train travel, with the launch of their new brand platform, ‘Great journeys start with Trainline’ in new brand campaign from Mother.

How you start your journey defines it, because when you start well, good things happen.

Omar El-Gammal, Strategy Director at Mother added: “Starting well to go on well is a conviction that you find repeated in culture everywhere - from the importance of first impressions, to getting up on the right side of the bed. While most train communications really focus on the journey or destination, there was a great opportunity for Trainline to stand out by building an association with giving people the best possible start they can have to any journey.”

This campaign explores the depths of influence that Trainline has on the journeying public, starting with a film about Steve. Pre-Trainline, Steve is an average guy. But the decision to book train tickets, and the resulting feeling of calmness it imparts, gives him the courage to book his first ever massage. And it’s here that his therapist notices that he is, perhaps, the missing link between humans and the creatures they once were. From then on, Steve is put on a pedestal by an army of followers from around the world, and the world as we know it becomes a more blissful place.

Did it all start with booking that train journey through Trainline? That’s one of life’s big questions.

Jo McClintock, VP Brand from Trainline, said: “We work hard to make sure booking on our platform is effortless - and we wanted to unlock the power of that feeling in our new brand platform. There are countless great journeys that have started with Trainline, and from now on our marketing will help to inspire even more of them.”

The TV is supported by OOH and digital marketing. Each execution shows an individual who has found a new dimension of themselves - unlocked by booking via Trainline. We have the almost-adult who has the courage to leave the family group chat; a scientist who can find enlightenment; and a cat owner, who may start to get feline respect.