Our task was as follows: How do you convince people to make their business trips by train rather than by car?

By finding a truth that everyone can identify with. Imagine yourself behind the wheel of a car, unable to respond to an important request. Your stress levels can escalate rapidly. We illustrated this reality through the story of a businesswoman overwhelmed by her client's incoming emails, to the point where she begins seeing her client everywhere. The message: "Business trips. Better by train." shows the product's benefit in an exciting way where travellers can calmly work while on route via train.

The businesswoman needed to be a relatable character. As the actress drives the car, her hands remain on the wheel, limiting her ability to convey emotions through physical gestures. Therefore, excellent acting, especially in the form of expressions with a high degree of sensitivity, was essential. For the other film character, it had to be very clear: this is an annoying client. This woman, with her never-ending demands, really had to get on the nerves of our hero, but most importantly, annoy our audience as well.

The film resonated exceptionally well with the target group and led to significant increases across all metrics, particularly in time benefits with a +24% increase compared to the previous campaign, which already surpassed all previous benchmarks. Surprisingly, even sympathy rose by 14%, despite the campaign airing during a period of strikes.

As a result of the campaign, 61% of business travellers confirmed an interest in using German Rail. This represents a remarkable 64% increase above the activation performance within the target group. Despite the strikes, the campaign succeeded in enticing business travellers back to the trains of German Rail and restoring train occupancy to high levels after the Corona pandemic.