thoughts on the latest TransPennine Express TV ad

TransPennine Express has launched their summer advertising campaign "Where Next" with a TV spot. 

So is it any good? As with any campaign, that depends what the brief was - something the audience is rarely aware of. All they judge it on is the message put in front of them.

If the brief was something long-term like 'raise awareness of the TransPennine Express network and highlight where our trains go' I think the result is pretty effective. However, if the brief was something more short-term along the lines of 'sell more train tickets' I think it's way off the mark.

The audience has to decipher if it's an ad for the region's tourist board or an ad for the region's train operator when there should be little doubt.

Call me old-fashioned or call me naive but I think if you're trying to sell somebody a mode of travel you have to give them a real reason to change their default transport setting. In simple terms - why should the public go where you go, with your product? Make that product truth fun, entertaining, engaging, informative, memorable and you've got the basis of something that puts bums on train seats rather than those of a car or coach. Just saying you go there isn't enough.

Another blogger wrote 'it’s a world away from the usual cliche ‘here’s a few random places we go’ type videos' yet unfortunately for me, that's exactly what it is.