During the Covid-19 pandemic, almost 50% of all public transport travelers in Gothenburg, Sweden disappeared – and many of them switched to the car instead. On September 29, all Covid restrictions in Sweden were removed. Västtrafik wanted to celebrate that society opened up and welcome commuters back to sustainable travel. We were asked to find an innovative and relevant way to talk about sustainability to a young, urban target audience.

Together with music festival Way Out West and some of Sweden's most acclaimed artists, we arranged the first-ever festival onboard a moving tram. A manifestation for sustainable travel – and a celebration of a new era after the pandemic. Seven artists performed unique concerts and the tickets were sold for €3.40 – the price of a regular tram ticket.

Back On Track Festival functioned as a mobile outdoor sign running through central Gothenburg on a Saturday – from 14:07 to 22:14. With sound and light, the tram reached tens of thousands of people on the spot, and millions of people via press and social media. By launching a music festival onboard a tram, we highlighted climate-friendly travel in a new and fun way. Suddenly, sustainable travel habits were discussed throughout the country, and the target group that usually mocks the local public transport instead praised Västtrafik in stories and tiktoks.

Back On Track Festival was a unique event that was also the media channel. Through an innovative collaboration with Way Out West, Västtrafik became relevant for completely new media channels and target groups. Instead of scaring people with alarmist messages about the climate crisis, we made sustainability fun. With the world's first music festival onboard a tram, we found a new way of talking about the most important issue of our time. Instead of giving people a bad conscience about driving a car, we gave them a reason to consider public transport – by simply bringing back live music to everyone who missed it.

With the activation Back On Track, we interacted directly with the target group via a unique event. Seven concerts on a special route around the city. The message was spread via sponsored posts, PR, posters in the city, print ads and short films in both Västtrafik's, Way Out West's and the artists' channels. During the event, everyone could follow the festival via a free livestream. On vasttrafik.se and in their own social channels, people could read more about the project.

We developed a new visual identity for the festival. The design was inspired by classic festival posters, with vibrant colors and bold typography. The pattern was based on Västtrafik's iconic tram map, where each artist got their own line with a new expression. The same colors occurred in all communication around the artist – short films for social channels, festival schedule and wristbands.

The 300 tickets sold out in a few minutes and thousands of people queued up on Ticketmaster's website. The massive traffic even caused the ticket page to crash. Over 10,000 people followed the concerts from home and many of Sweden's largest media covered the festival – both before, during and after.

The story was reported by both traditional media, including Sweden’s biggest TV channel and newspapers, and by music and entertainment press. Over 100 articles were published in Sweden, with a total reach of 32 million. The activation had a clear effect in the target group, contributing to increased travel. Västtrafik's statistics showed that the number of public transport passengers increased by 25% during the campaign period.