Oui.Sncf's Bold Dreamlike Campaign Aims to Satisfy French Wanderlust

OUI.sncf, the leading French e-commerce website, launched an advertising campaign on January 21 that offers French customers the opportunity to fulfil their desire to travel.

Multichannel (T.V., billposting and digital), original and upbeat, the campaign amplifies the dynamic that was initiated on December 6 with the launch of OUI.sncf, the new name of Voyages-sncf.com.

This campaign allows the company to provide more details (to as wide an audience as possible) about the OUI Strategy at SNCF initiated in 2017, which aims to attract an additional 15 million customers by 2020.

"OUI.sncf is a new brand that has to find its place in the heart and imagination of the French people. This campaign was designed to let them know how OUI.sncf will help them improve their habits: we're there to inspire them to travel! The campaign deliberately breaks codes with an upbeat, fabulous display and invites visitors to experience this freedom that we propose with our services," explains François Bitouzet, Director of Communications and Branding at OUI.sncf.

Seventeen years after its creation, Voyages-sncf.com, the leading French e-commerce website, became OUI.sncf on December 6 in order to offer French customers a new standard when it comes to travelling. This will allow them to travel better and more often, whatever their desires might be. After the technical success of this change on an unprecedented scale in e-commerce (the migration of 500,000 webpages without interrupting service) and the warm welcome that it received (a 55% growth in terms of visitors in 24 hours), the new brand is still defining itself with this campaign. 

That way, as many people as possible can discover how this new digital travel companion works:

-        More trips per day so travelers can go anywhere thanks to the 33 million possible journeys.

-        The choice and comparison of prices of SNCF offers: TGV, TGV InOUI, OUIgo, OUIbus, Intercités, TER, as well as OUIcar and all railcards and services (Luggage Delivery, etc.);

-        New exclusive services like the Low Price Alert, which allows customers to be informed when a desired fare for their favorite trip becomes available. Or the 24/7 Customer Service feature, OUI Bot, which allows customers to search in chat mode from the OUI.sncf homepage. There's also the "OUI des Régions", 12 new pages that highlight points of interest, activities and travel trips for the different regions of France via interactive maps and original content.

OUI.sncf thus contributes to the dynamic campaign initiated by SNCF in 2017 by giving its 14 million unique monthly visitors a simpler way of choosing offers, receiving more personalised support and more travel suggestions. The new brand has become the best way to digitally consult all of the Group's transportation offerings, which aims to attract an additional 15 million passengers by 2020.

OUI.sncf and TBWA\Paris place the inspiration to travel at the heart of a multi-channel campaign that's upbeat and that deliberately breaks with industry conventions.

The film features an imaginary world where a unique-looking opera singer breaks out into a powerful "YES." While she travels, she frees with her voice the different inspirations to travel that are literally imprisoned in glass and that explode one after the other: first the wish for a Parisian culinary experience, complete with the Eiffel Tower and romantic meal, followed by the desire to visit London, with its royal guard and teapot that are so British. But the other travel inspirations, ranging from the countryside to the beach to the mountains, are also trapped in glass and will be freed sequentially. The Opera Singer then takes all of the liberated travel inspirations with her and leaves for a new horizon that's promising and optimistic.

To enhance this phantasmagoric universe, OUI.sncf and TBWA\Paris worked with multi-award winning director Andreas Nilsson who, with his eclectic career, knew how to breathe an unexpected air into even the smallest details to this completely bizarre imaginary world.

Unveiled on January 21, the OUI.sncf campaign is available on all media outlets until February 15 by way of a media plan on the national level, including TV, billboards and the Internet. The campaign kicks off on Sunday, January 21 in the early evening with the launch of the 45-second film followed by shorter versions on major general-interest channels, cable and digital television until February 7. It will feature 3,800 billboards installed nationally in train stations, the Paris metro and on buses between January 24 and 31.

The spots are also available in digital form with videos online, on YouTube and other online video sites, as well as on social networking sites (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter). The campaign will also feature a contest on Twitter and Facebook on January 24 so that users can try to win a trip to their favourite destination.