Railtrack hires Domino for 2m campaign

Railtrack, which owns and operates the UK’s rail infrastructure, has appointed Domino Creative Services to create its first corporate advertising campaign, worth 2m.

The announcement coincides with Railtrack’s warning from the Health & Safety Executive that it will face criminal prosecution unless it improves the “persistently poor condition” of its tracks.

Domino was appointed to the business after a head-to-head pitch against DMB&B Financial, which took place before Christmas.

The brief is to communicate what Railtrack is doing and what it has achieved to date. Some of the advertising will focus on improvements the company has made to hub railway stations.

Philip Dewhurst, Railtrack director of corporate affairs, says one of the executions features the newly refurbished Cardiff station and carries the tag line: “Another brilliant conversion for Railtrack,” playing on the city’s strong rugby affiliations.

Dewhurst says: “Track and signalling in itself is not very sexy so we have focused on an information-based campaign, which is designed to get across the improvements we have made. The campaign will focus initially on the national press, using strip ads.”

Zenith has been appointed to handle the media buying.