Explore the Night uncovered the hidden world of late-night Melbourne to inspire people to use all-night public transport. The campaign showcased hundreds of late-night destinations, and each one was within reach of a train, tram or bus stop. We created over 200 video, audio and outdoor executions, all geo-targeted to specific locations on the public transport map. So, when you were on public transport, you were served an ad that showcased the best late-night locations nearby to inspire you to stay out later and use the Night Network.

To uncover the whole city, we needed lots of content. So, we recruited 80 ‘Late-Night Explorers’ and gave each of them a camera, a travel card, and a public transport route to explore. They captured hundreds of hours of footage, photos and sound bites. These discoveries became the advertising on the network. We also used Facebook Canvas to help people plan their own journeys with interactive video. To give people even more reasons to explore the night, we invited 10 Australian music artists to create ‘Up-Late Playlists’ on Spotify. To listen to them, you had to find the posters on the network and scan the special codes. We also created ‘Melbourne’s Longest Ever Encore’, an activation that saw one of Australia’s biggest bands perform an epic 5-hour encore. They used the Night Network to get to 10 different iconic venues in a single night.

Explore the Night saw an increase in awareness of the Night Network service (+28%) and an increase in patronage (+42%). This resulted in many positive news stories from media outlets about all-night public transport and how it contributed to a vibrant city.

Explore the Night put over 200 individual executions into context by using Melbourne’s public transport network as the media channel plan. Every train, tram and bus stop had its own ad, geo-targeted to exact locations using digital and social publishing platforms. These ads were highly relevant and highly targeted to where and when you saw them. By revealing venues and experiences nearby, the campaign inspired a whole city to stay out later and plan their journeys with The Night Network – Melbourne’s all-night public transport service.

Research told us that people had an appetite to stay out later, but didn’t always know where to go. Our task was to inspire them to explore their own city after midnight. We were targeting a very wide audience – the entire city population – so we needed to reveal the true breadth of late-night experiences available in Melbourne. Therefore, the media channel plan also had to encompass the whole city. By using the public transport network to geotarget commuters, we could serve them highly specific, bespoke content relevant to their location.

Melbourne is full of bars, restaurants and music venues that come alive after midnight – it’s one of the reasons why it holds the title of ‘the world’s most liveable city’. It also has exceptional public transport. The Night Network service – all-night public transport on weekends – helps people get to and from locations until dawn. To get people to use it, we needed to get them to stay out later.