How? We tapped into the aesthetic of posters from the glory days of travel. Before there were middle seats or combination gas-station-fast-food restaurants.

Our work reminded folks that, for all our "modern conveniences," we had lost something. That one of the reasons to travel was for the travel itself. Or, as Amtrak’s new tagline summed it up: to Enjoy the journey.

All of our work ties back to the fact that Amtrak is the nicer way to get there. The expression of that truth, however, depends on the product we’re promoting.

Most people didn’t realize just how many destinations Amtrak reached (500, if you’re wondering). So for their Long Distance Service we combined a strong emotional message with hard-hitting O&D price points, all in a single branding/retail (bretail?) format. The year of our launch, Amtrak broke ridership records. And earned an almost 5:1 ROI in terms of incremental ticket revenue versus ad spending in 21 markets.

For Acela_®, Amtrak’s premium rail service in the Northeast, we targeted business travelers flying the Washington/New York/Boston shuttles. Our work showed a better quality of life and better productivity as a result. The suits were hooked. Amtrak’s been steadily stealing the airlines’ market share since campaign launch. In fact, Amtrak now carries the majority between DC and New York: 61% and growing.

If Acela could pull business travelers from the air, we knew its cousin, the Northeast Regional, could pull leisure travelers from the road. Sure, people loved their cars, but they hated the traffic on I-95 more. So we rebranded the Northeast Regional with a new logo and a renewed focus on drivers by showing them another wide-open road. The railroad. Sure enough, they took the alternate route. Ridership increased 6% and revenue 13% over the previous year.

Another I-95 antidote, Amtrak’s Auto Train ® ferries passengers and their cars between Orlando and Washington, DC. But it wasn’t just having their cars along for the ride that made the Auto Train special to customers. Research showed that it was all the stuff they could cram into their cars that was appealing. And cram they did. The Auto Train experienced a 25% increase in bookings during the campaign’s run.

As our relationship with Amtrak deepened, so did the public’s appreciation of rail travel. The price of gas was soaring. Traffic jams were pervasive. Meanwhile, the airlines slashed flights, raised fees and made their customers jump through more hoops. So we made sure Amtrak was there at travelers’ "pain points."

Train travel was reclaiming its former glory. And to capture that spirit – as well as spread it to new audiences – we created an event. Not just an event, in fact, but a day of coast-to-coast train love. On May 10, 2008, National Train Day became the most successful integrated promotion in Amtrak’s history, with nearly 25,000 potential customers attending major market events. In 2009, attendance increased 15% and a total of 69 million media impressions were generated. Formal celebrations took place in over 145 cities nationwide. The third National Train Day taking place this May, which includes four major events in L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, DC, is expected to be even bigger.