Dutch Railways NS heavily invests in sustainability. But travelers are unaware. How can NS highlight its efforts in a way that contributes to a positive customer experience?

INSIGHT

Keeping people’s frets about late and overcrowded trains in mind, NS needed action, not words!

The NS Lost & Found Project came into being.

The bottom line of the project was a makeshift shop at Amsterdam Central station themed on lost and found items, a place where travellers could buy unique products that were made from these items. We teamed up with 150 students of the Artemis Styling Academy, who then worked in the studio area of the shop, while the most unusual of the lost objects, together with the stories behind them, were put on show in a display area.

To make travellers even more aware of NS’ sustainability efforts we hung clear infographics in strategic spots throughout the shop.

The NS Lost&Found Project was an unqualified success. All the products were sold out within three days, and the proceeds went to the Nature & Environment Foundation.

This project gave NS the opportunity to show both the press and its passengers that it takes sustainability very seriously.

It required an investment of €85,000 but generated a PR-value of €2.5 million, thus easily surpassing our objectives.

In just a week we transformed an old scullery into a makeshift shop, crude but with NS’ unmistakable house style.

Half of December, we made gloves, scarves, and other Christmas presents. Students even wrote about their products on ECO labels.

Everything was planned, to the smallest detail, such as using sustainable timber for multifunctional, reusable furniture.

Our key visual among the lost-and-found items was a cuddly-toy rabbit, the embodiment of a loved object. We made it bigger, using 36 kilos of coats, bags, shirts, jeans, blankets, sleeping bags and tents.

Because we collaborated with renowned photographer Arjan Benning, a prolific press photographer, we secured ourselves a five-page article in a major Saturday newspaper.

We had walking billboards at the ready, but media attention had generated so much interest they weren’t necessary.

Empathy with the project made everyone work harder. We maximised the cooperation and stayed within budget.

The NS Lost and Found Project immediately fired people’s imagination. The press, for a change, was justifiably pleased to tell a nice, positive human-interest story about NS.

By means of this project NS informed its passengers about its sustainability projects in an accessible manner. It also demonstrated its social involvement by working together with students and donating the proceeds to a good cause.

The unique and endearing realisation of the project helped to repair the relationship between NS and the press, and contributed towards a sustainable image and positive customer experience. It even impressed people who, by nature, aren’t particularly interested in sustainability.

Reach

8,000 visitors in the shop in just three days.

PR reach

Print: 2,888,216 people

NOS Journaal prime time: 2,500,000 people

NOS Journaal daytime: 950,000 people

Hart van Nederland: 1,000,000 people

(Attachment: Rapport-PR-NS-LF)

Online/social media reach

2,307,739 people

Total budget €85,000

PR value €2,500,000