Beautiful by Bus
Recently my Spotify listening has been rudely interrupted by ads for ‘North Wales Beautiful by Bus’.
I have to admit that it’s got our household talking but for all the wrong reasons.
“Aaaah. The Welsh countryside, you can’t beat it. Look. There’s a castle. Behind the castle there’s mountains. And if you squint your eyes, you can see the sea.’
Once the laughter had subsided and the hammy accents and humorously ambiguous slogan (“Is it best if we don’t stop and get off?”). The question arose as to who exactly they were targeting here. If it was people in Wales then why would you decide to go full ‘Welsh’ on the voice over for the digital campaign. The Welsh accents are exaggerated and inauthentic so it’s definitely not appealing to us ‘hwntws’ (South Walians) who may fancy a trip to the Gogledd (North).
Then there’s the cost of these digital ads - why am I being targeted? Are they after low hanging fruit, those of us who are interested in Wales and Welsh culture? After all I’ve probably clicked on my fair share of Welsh language songs on Spotify. Isn’t your geo-targeting a bit more sensitive than that?
The ambiguity of the message is risible, ‘… Beautiful by Bus’? Is this to be interpreted as you’d better stay on the bus ‘cos once you step off then the beauty evaporates, that North Wales is a bit of shithole if you bother to stop off and go for a walk? Or is it actually genius marketing because it’s making us sit up and take notice? I doubt the latter. More likely their marketing team, based in Sunderland? London? Birmingham? has banged out a mini-campaign on Friday afternoon. It’s lazy, thoughtless and does the economy of North Wales no favours. North Wales deserves better.
The key visual for the campaign (see below) looks as if it’s been banged out on canva by an intern on their tea break.
A couple of key facts about Arriva Buses Wales, a subsidiary of Arriva PLC.
In the last 10 years a total of £560 million has been paid in dividends from Arriva's UK bus division to the parent company Deutsche Bahn (took over Arriva in 2010)
In Wales alone In total, the firm has received more than £1.8 billion in subsidy from the taxpayer over the 14 years it has published accounts (2018)
A behomoth like Arriva should have a decent marketing budget. They should be able to attract the brightest and best to their marketing department. So why on earth have they come up with a campaign like North Wales Beautiful by Bus? Don’t get me wrong, I love North Wales, but it’s landscapes, history and people deserve better than this. There’s no engagement on social media for this campaign. I mean statistically zero
It all seems like an after thought, a campaign that doesn’t understand it’s market or how to sell its product.