Eurotunnel Le Shuttle launches major campaign to celebrate 25th anniversary

May. 03, 2019

Eurotunnel Le Shuttle, the car and vehicle service that travels from Folkestone to Calais in just 35 minutes, is launching a multi channel advertising campaign to celebrate its 25th anniversary.

The campaign, by creative agency Southpaw, centres on all the customers who’ve travelled via Eurotunnel in the past quarter century. The work launches this Friday (3rd May) and will run across TV, cinema, out of home (both digital and static) in London and the South East, radio, online display and social media. 

Southpaw won a five-way pitch for the brief to celebrate Eurotunnel Le Shuttle’s 25th anniversary, last year. Creative focuses on all the people, pets and vehicles who use Eurotunnel, and the rich and varied reasons they might take a trip across the channel. The tagline: ‘It’s our 25th birthday - but we’re wishing you many happy returns’ highlights the independent minded explorers who have used Eurotunnel to kick off their adventures. 

The ad addresses: “Snowboarders, surfboarders, feet up on the dashboarders, boot-fillers, bike rack fillers, wine rack fillers, those on four legs, first legs and away legs, nature lovers, adventure lovers and well - just lovers,” concluding: “it might be our 25th birthday, but we’re wishing you many happy returns.” Video and digital ads both use 2.5D parallax technology, which is a technique that brings 2D still imagery to life. The slow motion effect gives the ad a distinct look and feel with a strong visual impact which gives the campaign stand out amongst the travel sector. 

Jae Hopkins, director - sales & marketing, Eurotunnel, said: 

“When the first cars went through the Eurotunnel in 1994, it was regarded as one of the biggest engineering achievements of the modern age - it gave Britain and France both a huge sense of pride and achievement. We wanted to recapture that feeling of adventure, freedom and pride with this work, and to toast all the adventures we’ve helped create, as well as those to come. Southpaw really understood that feeling we were trying to capture - the sense of optimism and freedom that comes with driving off on a new adventure.”

 

Tom Poynter, CEO, Southpaw, added: 

“This is a huge campaign for Eurotunnel Le Shuttle, and as such, in both the messaging and reach we wanted to recreate that sense of fun and adventure that comes from packing the car and heading off - and to celebrate those who have created their own journeys. Eurotunnel is hugely proud of its heritage and through this campaign, we wanted to celebrate both that past, the people who’ve made it - and look to the future.”

 

Media planning buying by OMD, will see TV ads launch in Britain’s Got Talent, Gogglebox and Coronation Street on Friday May 3rd, as well as in Video on Demand and Sky AdSmart

Ads will run on commercial Radio in London and the South East, including Absolute, Kiss, Heart, Smooth and LBC, as well as streaming services including Spotify. 

Digitally, the campaign will include homepage takeovers on Amazon devices, the Guardian,  Yahoo and more, video ads on YouTube and TripAdvisor and display and takeovers on Lastminute.com. Programmatic digital ads, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram ads.