The objective was simple – get more people in the UK to consider travelling on a P&O Ferry. The ferry category has been shrinking for decades, with travellers opting for faster, more convenient and often cheaper alternatives. We needed to change the way we positioned the business, from leaders in the category to challengers in the broader travel market. As we couldn't outspend the competition we needed to disrupt. A challenging market therefore became our opportunity. The cost of living and summer of travel disruption had given people a reason to re-evaluate the way they travelled. People were tired of being seduced by short travel times and fake up-front costs only to be scorned by hidden add-ons. We needed to use bold product facts to remind them that trains and planes might be faster, cheaper or more convenient but P&O Ferries are still the most enjoyable way to travel.

Holiday-makers in the UK were being decimated by rising bills for groceries, fuel and utilities – but they were still desperate to travel. So while the cost of living wasn't going to stop them from travelling, it would influence how and where they planned to travel. As they looked to plan their trip, bad memories from a summer of cancelled holidays, sleeping on airport floors and being trapped for hours in a claustrophobic tunnel were still in mind – so with the income squeeze, their pounds needed to travel further and for every minute of their holiday to count.

Any successful campaign needs to answer key questions to ensure its effectiveness, and the P&O campaign answered each with confidence. Did people see it? We saw ad awareness increase by 120%. Did the message land with people? We saw a 76% and 77% rise respectively against the key category drivers of 'making the journey hassle-free' and 'making the journey an enjoyable part of the holiday'. How did it affect the brand? The campaign drove immediate brand uplift, with our YouGov brand score reaching positive levels for the first time in a year. How did people respond? We saw consideration increase by 18% and purchase intent rise by 92%! Did it translate into real business results? We saw a 50% uplift in website traffic and a 120% increase in bookings year on year during the campaign period. Not bad for a brand in choppy waters.

The category has faced disruption upon disruption. COVID decimated the travel market in 2020, halting trains, ferries and flights in their tracks. It changed the way people felt about travelling, suddenly being packed like sardines into a tight metal tube with a bunch of strangers wasn't so appealing. The restrictions that remained in place made going on holiday harder and more stressful. The summer of 2022 was meant to be the great travel rebirth – finally, UK holiday-makers would be free to roam the globe once more. But the broader travel market wasn't ready, and customers faced cancelled holidays, broken down trains, extortionate fees and lost luggage as they tried to escape to Europe. This was our inspiration for the work – reminding people that getting away didn't need to be so painful, and that there was an easier mode of transport in ferries that's always been there.