Avanti West Coast has launched an inventive new campaign titled ‘Take care. Get there,’ aimed at enhancing passenger safety by bringing station facilities to life with a touch of humour and creativity. The campaign, developed in collaboration with behavioural science specialist Richard Shotton, personifies station features such as lifts, stairs, and handrails, giving them human characteristics in a bid to capture the attention of busy travellers.
The campaign leverages the psychological phenomenon known as pareidolia—where people tend to perceive faces in inanimate objects—to create eye-catching posters and signage. These designs transform everyday station elements into friendly characters, complete with eyes, mouths, and speech bubbles, encouraging passengers to use them for safer navigation.
Bespoke artwork has been rolled out across Avanti West Coast stations, starting with Stafford, with Carlisle and Penrith set to follow. The posters are strategically placed to highlight the location and benefits of often-overlooked safety features, such as lifts and handrails, making them more visible and memorable to passengers.
Avanti West Coast’s marketing director, Mike Greenup, explained the campaign’s goal: “We wanted to create a safety campaign that stands out, so we used behavioural science to craft something distinctive and engaging.”
Shotton, whose expertise in behavioural science underpinned the campaign, added, “Safety messages often get ignored. By incorporating humour and face-like imagery, we’ve created communications that people are more likely to notice and engage with, rather than just pass by.”
With passenger safety as a top priority, Avanti West Coast hopes this light-hearted yet effective approach will help travellers navigate stations more safely and comfortably.
