AKA NORTH has announced it has won a major tender to become the media planning and buying agency for Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), to promote awareness of core services and support a sustainability strategy for Greater Manchester’s transport network.
AKA NORTH will be responsible for generating brand awareness and delivering a modal shift to sustainable transport modes. It will also support TfGM’s environmental and sustainability initiatives through multi-platform media campaigns and experiential activities, improving customer engagement and enhancing travellers’ experiences throughout Greater Manchester.
AKA NORTH won the contract as part of a comprehensive and competitive tender process. The initial two-year deal, with an option for a further two years, is a significant partnership opportunity and comes on the back of a series of recent client wins for AKA NORTH, including Great Exhibition of the North and National Museums of the Royal Navy.
Mike Mellor, head of commercial and marketing for TfGM, said: “We’re very excited to be working with AKA NORTH as our new media agency partner. They combine the best of two worlds – local insights and knowledge as a Manchester-based company alongside their access to the considerable resources of the wider AKA Group. Throughout the tender process they showed us a range of creative campaign ideas to highlight their understanding of audience behaviour along with their technical knowledge to enhance our brand across traditional and digital platforms.”
Mike continued: “We aim to make the city region a cleaner, greener, and healthier place to live, work, and play in. And we firmly believe that with AKA NORTH’s help we’ll be able to encourage the public to travel sustainably. The agency joins our organisation at a key time as we increase our role in the devolution agenda and build awareness of our growing profile amongst residents and visitors into the area.”
“We’re delighted and proud to partner with TfGM as its new media agency,” added Gillian Thomson-Woolley, managing director AKA NORTH and Scotland. “With over 5.6 million journeys made using Greater Manchester’s transport network each day, AKA NORTH will be responsible for connecting TfGM to a huge audience. We’ll ensure we deliver our blend of impactful media planning alongside our gold-standard client service to deliver a clear return on investment for TfGM.”
