Trainline’s Natalie Marques on turning purpose into action

Is purpose measured by changes in brand perception or changes in audience behaviour?

It’s a question that strikes at the heart of the role of purpose in partnerships. Is the objective to improve how people perceive an organisation, in the hope that this eventually translates into commercial returns? Or is it to bring about meaningful change, structured in a way that also benefits the organisation commercially?

Trainline’s I came by train platform offers a clear example of the latter.

The platform launched in October 2022 as a behaviour change campaign, created in response to the growing urgency of the climate crisis. Transport is the highest carbon-emitting sector in the UK, accounting for more than a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions, with 68% of those emissions produced by cars.

Originally setting out to build pride in rail, raise awareness of its environmental benefits and encourage people to consider switching journeys from more carbon-intensive forms of transport, the campaign gained widespread attention through a body of work centred around Craig David’s song, “Better Days”.

“We wanted to make rail famous for being sustainable,” explains Natalie Marques, Head of Purpose and Creative Innovation at Trainline. “The work saw positive effects on platform awareness and people’s intention to travel by rail, but it also pointed to a reliance on values-led individuals wanting to do better and being able to afford to do better.”

The work was succeeding in changing perceptions, but it raised a harder question.

“We were raising awareness of rail being more sustainable, but was it actually resulting in more people travelling by rail? We couldn't be sure,” says Marques. “Our key measure of success was brand perception. Whilst this is a good indicator of sentiment, it doesn't tell us the concrete impact we have. So we asked ourselves: are we actually driving modal shift here?”

From awareness to action

For Trainline, the answer was to move beyond telling people that rail was the more sustainable choice and start working with organisations that could influence the decisions people make.

Football presented an obvious opportunity. Millions of supporters travel to matches across the country every season, many by car. Trainline officially sponsors Real Betis, Olympique Lyonnais and, most recently, Burnley. Separately, I came by train has been piloting modal shift interventions with clubs including Arsenal, Brentford, West Ham and Manchester City.

“We’ve had football clubs approaching us because they need to report on their Scope 3 emissions from fan travel and are looking for ideas,” explains Marques. “We started looking at what we could learn from their supporters and what interventions we could introduce into the customer journey to encourage more people to take the train.”

The same principle applies to festivals and other major events. Trainline’s I came by train partnership with Glastonbury gives the brand an opportunity to influence travel decisions at the point when festivalgoers are planning their journeys.

“What’s been great about the work with Glastonbury Festival is that they want to see the numbers. How many more people are choosing to take the train? Can we demonstrate a positive effect on modal shift that we can build on?”

That’s the distinction. Rather than using sponsorship to broadcast an environmental message, Trainline is using partnerships to give people a practical way to act on it.

A shared purpose

Rather than treating I came by train as something it needs to own exclusively, Trainline has developed it as an open platform that other organisations can participate in.

“We call it an unbranded platform. We lead it, we fund it and we use it for good,” says Marques. “We’re always looking for curious partners who share the ambition and can help us understand how to drive modal shift.”

The interests line up. Trainline, like the category, wants more people travelling by rail rather than car, while clubs and events want to reduce the environmental impact of audience travel. Fans benefit from cheaper and more convenient journeys, and the environment benefits from fewer car journeys.

Money may change hands, but the best purpose partnerships can resemble contra agreements, with both parties contributing something of value and benefiting from the same outcome.

It is about as close to a genuine win-win partnership as you are likely to find.

Measuring what matters

Trainline has since replaced brand perception studies with its own measure of modal shift, and it is changing where the company sees opportunity.

“It’s a proxy, it’s not perfect, but we’re now beginning to understand where people are switching to rail, what’s prompting that change and where we can do more,” says Marques.

Join the debate

On 3 November, Natalie Marques will explain how Trainline measures and demonstrates the impact of I came by train, and what that data has revealed, at The Sponsor’s Brand Leaders Roundtable.

She will be joined by Neil Liddle of Specsavers, Fi Watherston of Metro Bank and senior marketing leaders from more than 25 other brands.

The brands-only event takes place at Asia House, Marylebone, from 08:30 to 13:30.

Register here to secure your place.