How we stopped the scroll and inspired young people to get back on the bus. National Integrated Campaign for First Bus.
How we stopped the scroll and inspired young people to get back on the bus
National Integrated Campaign for First Bus, by MadeBrave.
Young people get buses, right? Well, not so much anymore.
Since the pandemic, use of bus travel by under-23-year-olds has never recovered. And it was already declining before then. Even generous Government schemes across the country offering discounts or free travel aren’t as well used as hoped.
And this really matters—for young people and for society. Mobility through affordable, universal public transport for young people fuels educational attainment, job and career progression, as well as wider economic benefits for us all.
First Bus, one of the UK’s leading public transport providers, challenged us to start reversing this trend through a UK-wide campaign. It had to be more than a one-and-done—First Bus needed a lasting platform it could use for years to come.
Price wasn’t the barrier many assumed. A lack of knowledge about where buses go was.
We started from a place of conscious ignorance. None of us on the team were under 23, and this is a very new and distinct generation. So we commissioned new research with our partners at Savanta to give us fresh insight into how the young of 2025 tick and, crucially, how they think about bus travel.
We learned that they were much more willing to try the bus for social trips with friends. And that mobile short-form video utterly dominated their world. This led to a strategy framed around:
Scroll-stopping, social-first shorts, all showing real young people across cultures and communities.
To bring LFG to life, we focused on six scenarios and stories that show how discount buses get you wherever you want to be.
A young audience meant a mobile and video-first channel plan, with YouTube, TikTok, Snap, and Insta dominating. We also brought the campaign to the huge gaming platform Roblox, with a gamified LFG ad too. But being where they are meant there was still a strong role for outdoor.
This was supported by a micro and regional influencer strategy from the team at StripePR, as well as regionally targeted ads – ensuring young people only saw the correct discount incentive for their country or local area.
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