When Brunel’s Great Western Railway first opened in 1886 it transformed the country, connecting industries and communities in the West of England to one another and the capital.

We followed in Brunel’s footsteps with the help of his great-great-great grandson, Isambard Thomas. In September, we helped Isambard Walk the Line; journeying from Bristol to London over three days, retracing the original route his ancestor walked when plotting the mainline.

On his journey, Isambard heard stories of how lives, businesses and family history have been impacted by the line. Isambard walked the line with engineers and entrepreneurs, parents and publicans, museum owners and MPs. Compelling stories included a sixth generation, family-run clock maker whose founder grew his business from a timing contract with GWR and a family in which four generations have chosen to spend their careers on the line.

To tell the re-brand story, a picture-led campaign was supplemented with detailed op-eds in key regional titles. To celebrate the return to the original name, we distributed some stunning shots of the new GWR nameplate being created at a metal working site in Exeter, as well as the new liveried trains lined-up at the station for their first journey. We created authored editorials, and local news releases, which were placed in key regional papers along the route.

Broadcast and print media were invited to join Isambard along the line, supported by national and regional press releases, timed to coincide with Isambard’s visit to each area.

BBC One’s The One Show exclusively joined Isambard when he walked through Box Tunnel – an important engineering landmark and a critical part of the electrification programme. Isambard’s journey was also captured on film and ten video packages were created and shared across social media.

The re-launch led to striking results, both in terms of commercial success and consumer sentiment.

When revenue from September 2015 is compared to September 2014, data shows a 14% increase in revenue (as opposed to the average annual increase of 3.8%). The amount of new visitors to the website year-on-year also increased by 83%.

In February, ahead of the campaign, GWR’s sentiment score was 59.90%. By the end of September, this had climbed to 63.85%. This was despite industrial action, fare increases and significant disruptions to the service over the same period.

Customers who were exposed to the rebrand coverage were more likely to feel positive about our client, recommend them to a friend and view them as good value for money. Overall, respondents who were exposed to the rebrand coverage scored 5% higher in terms of sentiment scores than those who had not been.

Last year was a significant year for Great Western Railway (GWR), formerly First Great Western. It announced a historic rebrand and a return to the name first given to the railway by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

In an extremely difficult climate for train operators, we planned and delivered a campaign which delivered a measurable improvement in sentiment. Rebrands are often portrayed negatively by media, with the focus on cost rather than any tangible benefit. We managed to channel the rich heritage of the operator to tell a positive story about the rebrand, which was well received by customers and media.

Using Walk the Line as an early preview of the rebrand gave us the opportunity to

step back from the generally political news agenda that traditionally accompanies corporate announcements. We could tell our story and outline our plans in more detail and in more customer focused terms.

Our media analysis showed that the negative coverage of the short-term inconvenience created by planned improvements was more prominent than the long term benefits, with an impact on brand perception.

Our client told us that conveying a sense of shared ownership and local pride was at the heart of their strategy. So we aimed to reinvigorate the brand through looking back to the railway’s historic past, but also looked forward to the exciting plans for the future of the line.

Harnessing our research, we developed some highly concentrated key messages that could shift passenger perceptions and address the common criticisms faced by GWR.

There was a large amount of work to do to ensure that passengers, colleagues, investors and local stakeholders understood the rebrand and the benefits that new investments would bring. Prior to this activity the FGW brand had often been associated with customer complaints around delays and improvement works. Whilst the scale of GWR’s investment is huge, many of the improvements were not immediately visible.

Our campaign had three clear objectives:

• Showcasing the wider GWR vision around investing in the future and informing audiences about planned improvements and their long term benefits

• Positioning GWR as the custodian of the railways in the West; which cares about the communities it serves, drives economic growth and puts its people and passengers first

• Making Westerners feel proud and uplifted by GWR’s vision for the railway, drawing on the rich heritage of the line