Virgin Trains launched a new brand positioning and major marketing campaign on 18 September 2006 as passenger numbers continue to rise. The UK's biggest long distance train operator kicks off a major marketing offensive this week in a bid to win even more passengers to its already expanding business.

Following the success of the recent "Return of the Train" campaign, Virgin Trains is seeing year-on-year passenger growth of 11 percent on both its CrossCountry and West Coast franchises. At the same time passengers are increasingly taking advantage of low cost tickets with sales of Value Advance fares up by 47 percent on CrossCountry and 43 percent on West Coast over last year.

With significant successes and improvements across all aspects of the business, Virgin Trains is embracing a new positioning of 'delivering the most valuable travel time in the UK'. This vision combines the benefits of Virgin Trains' new offering and an understanding of modern customer priorities, offering efficiency and speed but also quality of time spent travelling. A refreshment of brand identity has also been undertaken, incorporating a new logo, typography and a brand framework built to re-affirm consistency across channels and reflect the positive development of the product. This also culminated in the creation of a new 'Love every second' brand line to articulate the idea of most
valuable travel time.

The marketing campaign focuses on the issue of time, its importance to all of us and how we can use it to best effect whilst travelling. As part of a multi-media campaign, this is brought to life in an epic 80s TV and cinema commercial, "Apache", that shows how the train environment can lead to a brilliant idea that everyone will want to get their hands on. In a spoof of the cowboy and Indian genre of film, Apache Indians make a dramatic attempt to board the moving train but fail to steal the brilliant idea that our customer has had whilst onboard. The TV runs nationwide from 17 September until 15 October, and it will also be seen in cinemas nationwide with a total audience of over 10 million.

The TV and cinema campaign is supported by a sponsorship of a Western season on TCM to play on the Apache theme, and broadband TV, which targets customers defining their own valuable time. Inclusion within all sections of the Sunday Times on 8 October with messages about time in each section relating back to the editorial, is topped of with the chance to win a Life PA for a year, the ultimate in indulgent time.

National press, consecutive pages in magazines and outdoor contribute to the multiple messaging and inspiration of what most valuable travel time could mean to each person.

The digital elements of the campaign include Virgin Trains' most ambitious online ad campaign to date, rich media advertising, emails and a micro website dedicated to providing customers with a forum in which to share and express ideas. Experiential activity will take place across the country at key stations, business locations and shopping centres, with sampling providing inspirational ideas for how customers can make the most of their time.

Direct marketing activity targets existing and prospective business customers. Two direct mail pieces will target senior professionals and senior partners within key target sectors, financial services and legal. The pieces leads on how time is precious in today's business world and that travelling by Virgin Trains makes the most of business travellers' valuable time. Existing Standard Class business customers are being encouraged to upgrade to First Class to make the most of their valuable time. Travel agents are also being targeted with a pack that gets them to think about their customers' time and the travel solutions.

The total value of the campaign is £6m and is an integral part of Virgin Trains' plan over the next year to encourage more travellers to forsake the airlines and roads and use their time more productively by taking the train. Reinforcing the messages of the campaign, Virgin Trains continues to widen its product range to enrich the journey experience for customers. With Virgin Trains' new Express Cars service, customers can pre-book a car to meet them at Euston and take them direct to any one of 60 postcodes around London.

After a gap of nearly 35 years a luggage delivery service in now available for customers too. Your luggage can now be conveyed "door to door" reducing the hassle factor of having to carry it everywhere.

E-ticketing has now also arrived on Virgin Trains with some bargain fares available on the London to Manchester and Birmingham routes. Available through the 'Print@Home' section of the Virgin Trains website, tickets are simply printed off at home with no queues to worry about at the station.

Craig Inglis, Virgin Trains' Sales and Marketing Director, said: "This campaign signals the launch of a confident new positioning for Virgin Trains. There is no better use of your travel time in the UK than travelling on our trains and we've brought that to life in a unique and exciting way with this campaign."