North American Market Outreach

Eurail, the provider of European railway passes that allow travelers access to 31 countries and 40,000 destinations with just one pass, was in the midst of launching several unprecedented changes to its hallmark product. Eurail needed a strategic communications effort announcing the pricing and packaging changes timed with the company’s 60th anniversary that would reach both trade and consumer media across North America.

Set to launch at the start of 2019, the planned Eurail Pass product changes coincided with a growing social movement against air travel “flygskam” (or “flight shame”), spurred by rising concerns over climate change. The agency capitalized on this by creating a compelling PR campaign that promoted train travel as the most eco-conscious form of transit while announcing Eurail’s landmark product changes to the broadest possible audience.

To maximize exposure for Eurail, the agency employed an aggressive media relations program to promote the sustainability of train travel and benefits of the new Pass updates, including price reductions, expanded offerings, and streamlined product options. On January 2, the agency began a highly targeted press push, distributing news of the product changes to both trade and consumer-facing outlets to ensure exposure within both audience segments.

To generate firsthand feature stories about train travel using Eurail Passes, the agency planned a robust visiting journalist program for 2019. Through a series of carefully vetted individual media visits, combined with one agency-lead group trip, our curated rail experiences were positioned as the cleanest and most convenient form of travel through Europe. By capitalizing on the rising interest in sustainable methods of travel, Eurail’s 60-year-old brand garnered new attention and relevance among a younger Gen X audience.

Our PR efforts (which included press trips, an NYC media tour, individual media meetings and general outreach for deals, offers and updates) garnered more than 1.8 billion overall impressions, an increase of over one billion impressions compared to the prior year. The 170+ pieces of coverage, worth over $17 million in ad equivalency included full feature articles with titles like “ Eurail’s Global Pass is Even Better in 2019” and “Eurail’s passes are affordable again and much less confusing in 2019” in wishlist outlets including The New York Times, Travel+Leisure, Conde Nast Traveler, The Washington Post, Marie Claire, The Los Angeles Times, USA TODAY, Chicago Tribune, AFAR and more.