Västtrafik: Gothenburg Tram Sightseeing

Credits & Description:

Category: Best Use of Other Digital Media in a Promotional Campaign
Advertiser: VÄSTTRAFIK
Product/Service: TRAM SIGHTSEEING APP
Agency: FORSMAN & BODENFORS
Account Supervisor: Greger Andersson (Forsman & Bodenfors)
Digital Producer: Eva Råberg (Forsman & Bodenfors)
Account Manager: Jenny Edvardsson (Forsman & Bodenfors)
Copywriter: Anders Hegerfors (Forsman & Bodenfors)
Art Director: Lars Jansson/Staffan Forsman (Forsman & Bodenfors)
Designer: Staffan Håkansson (Forsman & Bodenfors)
Production Company: (Mad In Sweden)
Media placement: Mobile app. - Itunes store. - October 2011

Describe the objective of the promotion.
Public transportation company Västtrafik wanted to promote themselves to tourists visiting Gothenburg, so that they would take Västrafik's trams instead of other means of transportation.

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation.
Tourists in Gothenburg pay good money for sightseeing tours. Unnecessarily, we thought. So we created the app Tram Sightseeing – an app that delivers a full sightseeing experience. A very relevant content platform for our target group. 

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service.
The goal was to make advertising in the form of a tool – a tool that would acctually be used in real life, for a longer period than, say, an ordinary ad campaign. Always in your pocket and chock full of tech, the smartphone was the perfect platform to deliver something people would actually find useful. They wouldn't see it as advertising at all.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results.
In its first year, tens of thousands of people have enjoyed a guided tour through Gothenburg with Tram Sightseeing. This equals tourists being involved with the Västtrafik brand for over 15000 hours. That is a lot of involvement for an advertising campaign.

Despite its very local nature, the app has seen a lot of international media coverage. In traditional media as well as on blogs and on Twitter.