Section one: Contracting entity
one.1) Name and addresses
ABELLIO EAST ANGLIA LTD
ABELLIO EAST ANGLIA LTD, 2nd Floor St Andrew's House, 18-20 St Andrew Street
LONDON
EC4A 3AG
Contact
Kitty Sheeran
Kitty.Sheeran@greateranglia.co.uk
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UK - United Kingdom
Companies House
07861414
Internet address(es)
Main address
http://www.greateranglia.co.uk/
one.3) Communication
Access to the procurement documents is restricted. Further information can be obtained at
http://redirect.transaxions.com/events/uLKr4
Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address
Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted electronically via
http://redirect.transaxions.com/events/uLKr4
one.6) Main activity
Railway services
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
AEA230151 Marketing: Strategic and Creative Services
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 79340000 - Advertising and marketing services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
Greater Anglia (Abellio Greater Anglia Ltd), part of Transport UK, is seeking to award a 2-year 6-month contract (01/04/24 to 20/10/26, with an option to extend to a further 2.5 years) to a creative advertising agency to manage the through the line advertising for both the Greater Anglia and Stansted Express brands.
two.1.5) Estimated total value
Value excluding VAT: £3,600,000
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.2) Description
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UK - United Kingdom
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
This procurement is to award to a sole creative media agency. This will be a contract to the end of Greater Anglia's extended NRC term (20/09/2026) with the option to extend a further 2.5 years
Greater Anglia (GA) provides intercity, commuter and rural train services throughout Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire, including the Stansted Express service. Rail travel in the East of England has been transformed by a £1.4b investment in new trains which has seen GA replace every single train on the network. This has helped GA to become the most punctual and reliable train operator in the whole of the UK and significantly improved customer satisfaction.
The Stansted Express is a direct train service that connects London Liverpool Street to Stansted Airport and is operated by Greater Anglia. Currently marketed as 'the fastest way to central London' the journey time from London Liverpool Street to Stansted Airport is 50 minutes and is also operated by a fleet of the recently introduced trains. From December 2023 the Stansted Express will return to a 15-minute frequency, bringing back a core USP that was lost since the beginning of the Covid pandemic.
GA is looking for a creative agency that can continuously improve the marketing effectiveness of both the Greater Anglia and Stansted Express brands. Working closely with GA's marketing team the creative agency will cooperate with other marketing services resources to develop and execute advertising campaigns for GA and Stansted Express brands.
For GA, the primary objective is driving revenue, through the acquisition of new customers and new journeys across the leisure, business, and commuting segments with the private car being the main competitor. GA launched the Red Hare as a distinctive brand asset in early 2019 to coincide with the transformation of new trains, and the marketing campaign has performed well with strong brand health metrics and excellent ROI results being seen.
GA invests in marketing effectiveness research, ranging from six monthly brand tracking and econometric modelling to creative advertising and brand asset testing. The more recent System1 creative and brand testing in 2022 and 2023 indicates the Red Hare is becoming a very ownable brand asset, should be retained and could be developed to the next stage.
For Stansted Express, the objective is to increase rail modal share to and from Stansted Airport competing with the Coach, Private Car and Taxis. Stansted Express is marketed as a separate brand to GA, and in June 2023 launched a new marketing campaign that was designed to coincide with improvements to the Stansted Express timetable and the recovery of the airport passenger numbers at Stansted Airport. A new brand character, Stan, was introduced to ensure airport travellers felt certain that Stansted Express is the obvious choice. The campaign combines the emotional benefits of reassurance and peace of mind and the rational benefit of speed.
The brand character of Stan is likely to be retained until at least summer 2025, coinciding with expiry of the existing illustration rights, although GA will continually monitor the marketing effectiveness of the campaign and the market with this in mind.
The GA marketing mix operates across a range of paid, owned and earned media channels. Paid channels are primarily seen in the East of England, with some activity trialled in the London market. Examples of paid media for GA are audio visual (AV), radio, sponsorships, outdoor and digital. A mix of campaign and 'always on' activity occurs. Owned media is used to compliment the paid media and also target existing customers with customer information and marketing messages.
For Stansted Express, the marketing mix typically comprises of the proven channels of airport posters, digital marketing and media targeting the London outbound audience. This is largely 'always on', and less campaign based. GA and Stansted Express marketing also needs to align to activity of the recently introduced national marketing campaigns (NMC). The NMC is largely brand led with a national focus, with train operating companies focusing on brand and activation within their local markets.
two.2.5) Award criteria
Price is not the only award criterion and all criteria are stated only in the procurement documents
two.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
End date
20 September 2026
This contract is subject to renewal
Yes
Description of renewals
Option to extend by 2.5 years
two.2.10) Information about variants
Variants will be accepted: Yes
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: Yes
Description of options
Option to extend by 2.5 years
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.1) Type of procedure
Negotiated procedure with prior call for competition
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: No
four.2) Administrative information
four.2.2) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
Date
15 December 2023
four.2.4) Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted
English
four.2.6) Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender
Duration in months: 6 (from the date stated for receipt of tender)
Section six. Complementary information
six.1) Information about recurrence
This is a recurrent procurement: No
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
Abellio East Anglia
Greater Anglia
Londond
E20 1EJ
kitty.sheeran@greateranglia.co.uk
Telephone
+44 7581028215
Country
United Kingdom