Puppet Mascot 'Miles' Takes a Epic Journey for East Midlands Railway's Joyful Spot

East Midlands Railway (EMR) has today gone live with a new brand campaign ‘Let’s Roll’. The distinctive creative platform has been created to launch the new franchise that links the East Midlands with London. 

The multi-channel campaign, created by Atomic London, launches today and features new brand character ‘Miles’. A highly distinctive aubergine coloured puppet in the shape of an ‘M’, that is like nothing else you will see on TV right now. Miles is the embodiment of the brand showcasing the enjoyment of a train journey with EMR.

The launch ad features Miles on his journey into London St Pancras, showing him seated in one of the EMR carriages as he revels in all the delights and comforts train travel has to offer. 

Slightly bemused fellow passengers look on as Miles drifts into his own imaginary world. He gets carried away with his dance floor ‘moves’, enjoys a high-tea picnic, and has a close encounter with a Jurassic character from his favourite novel. He revels in the journey before arriving swiftly at St Pancras Station.  

The ad was directed by one of the most celebrated figures in the industry, Mark Denton and his clear passion for the craft is seen throughout the spot. The creation of the ad featured a wide range of techniques that made it hugely challenging but equally rewarding. 

He said “Spoiler alert, I like making TV commercials anyway, but this one, we’ve got live action, a theatrical set, stop frame animation, cardboard models, shadow puppets, we’ve got the lot. That’s what makes it exciting!”

The brand and the agency have been on their own 18-month journey developing the campaign since before the pandemic. 

Dave Henderson, ECD at Atomic London said; “Creating Miles and the new brand platform ‘Let’s Roll’ for EMR has been an amazing journey. We wanted to create something that was highly distinctive and stood out in the category. We think this campaign does exactly that.” 

Jenna Cowie, head of revenue and marketing at EMR said; “One of the big things about working with Mark Denton and the Atomic team is that they absolutely pushed us out of our comfort zone. It was fair to say what we’ve created is very different to what you would expect not only from East Midlands Railway but also the category. We can’t wait to share the campaign and see the reaction from our customers.”

The campaign launches on 18th October and will feature across the entire customer journey. It will be the first of many campaigns following Miles across the country.