Translink won gold in the ‘Best New Product, Business or Service Launch’ for its highly strategic and successful communications campaign to introduce and roll out its ground-breaking Belfast Rapid Transit Glider service.
Officially launched in September and representing an investment of more than £90 million by the Department for Infrastructure, Glider is a wholly new and transformational public transport concept for Belfast.
Its intensive advertising-led launch campaign was devised by Translink’s internal marketing and corporate communications team in partnership with Ardmore, and featured a range of impactful, innovative and integrated initiatives to drive awareness, trial and conversion across the Belfast metropolitan area. The introduction of Glider has delivered a 17% increase in passenger journeys, equating to some 30,000 additional Translink customers each week.
Further underlining Translink and Ardmore’s winning partnership, Ardmore scooped the ‘Best Public Sector Marketing’ award for its Translink Christmas campaign, a target-driven integrated campaign which resulted in 730,000 additional passenger journeys over the festive period.
Norman Maynes, Translink’s Head of Marketing & Business Development, said:
“Launching Glider was a pivotal step in Translink’s journey to deliver progressive, world-class public transport services for Northern Ireland, and communicating its many benefits to consumers was integral to its hugely positive welcome and uptake. We are exceptionally proud of both CIM award wins which not only recognise the skill and strength of our internal marketing team but also demonstrate the power of our partnership with Ardmore in keeping passengers informed, engaged and mobilised.”
“We couldn’t be more pleased to see our work with Translink recognised in this way,” added Paul Bowen, Ardmore’s Creative Director. “Ardmore has just celebrated 30 years in business and being part of Translink’s success story is a great testament to our own. It highlights our unstinting commitment to our clients and consolidates our position at the forefront of the integrated communications industry in the UK and Ireland.”
The CIM Ireland Marketing Awards are seen as a key industry benchmark, recognizing excellence in marketing innovations and campaigns across the island of Ireland. The 2018 awards were held on November 9th in the iconic Titanic Suite in Titanic Belfast.
