First Bus North | First Journey Stories | Content Series
First Bus Firsts: An inspiring journey showing how the bus helped some very special customers achieve their dreams
Over the last five years, £270 million has been invested in the Connecting Leeds programme aiming to deliver massive improvements in the transport network across Leeds. However, with COVID-19 interrupting travel for so many, it became increasingly important to remind people why the bus is such a key part of the travel infrastructure. This is one of the campaigns that we’ve undertaken to reconnect customers to our longstanding and valued clients at the First Bus group. We’ve created several pieces of work trying to get people moving again, taking advantage of the first-class facilities that Leeds has to offer. For this series, we wanted to tap into how the humble bus can really help individuals to achieve their dreams by allowing them to travel affordably across a large area. What better way to inspire our passengers to use First Bus services, than to share true inspiring stories of local people who wouldn’t be where they are today, if they hadn’t taken their first trip on a First Bus?
With just under one million inhabitants in the region, the first challenge was to find those people who have had inspiring journeys. We hired a local journalist and PR expert to help find the most interesting stories as well as approaching some well-known local names.
From a long list, we chose 10 inspiring individuals and spent time with them telling their stories. From rugby training to cricket nets, getting to gigs to getting your freedom back, discovering your passion or finding your perfect career, we shone a sympathetic light on some incredible journeys.
Directed by Prod Squad’s very own award-winning director Sophie Wardle, we were delighted with the beautiful and engaging end results.
Authenticity and relatability lies at the heart if this campaign. Most of us have fond memories of taking a bus somewhere as young people so we wanted to tap into this nostalgic trip for the residents of Leeds. We looked for stories that people might relate to themselves or feel inspired by, thus being reminded why the bus is such an important social resource that literally connects people and places all across the region.
By taking time to get to know the participants and allowing them to tell their stories in their own words but with clever direction, the viewer empathises with the subjects and hopefully finds their story moving or entertaining.
Our featured stories include famous sporting father and son duo Arnie and Ryan Sidebottom; Leeds Rhino’s legend Caitlin Beavers, as well as local Leeds customers Joshua, David, Patrick, Jaqueline, Lucy, Sarah and Courtney.
“We were really pleased with the reception these films received on social media and from the client team and participants. They’ve been released in small batches across social media to keep the content fresh and align with real-world events ie the rugby film was released to coincide with the Rugby League World Cup event in Autumn 2022 “
— Lucy Mottram, Marketing Manager
Are your customers at the heart of your business?
If you are looking to capture their case study and engage new customers get in touch today louise.debnam@prodcompany.co.uk
