You vs Train by Big Manny

Client: Network Rail

Trespass on the railway is a big problem – while it’s not solely a young people issue, teenagers are at the highest risk of death and serious injury. They’re also one of the hardest audiences to reach with safety messaging: gloriously full of self-belief, with no desire to listen to, well, anyone... Enter Emanuel Wallace – aka Big Manny.

We worked with social media’s favourite roadman, Network Rail and the British Transport Police to deliver an organic You vs Train-branded behaviour change campaign in Manny’s inimitable deadpan style. By explaining the science behind the deadly risks of trespassing on the railway in a way young people could engage with, we (extremely cost-effectively) reduced overall trespass across the whole rail network by 5%, with priority hotspot areas seeing an impressive 44% reduction in incidents involving young people. Post-campaign surveys showed a 64% shift in rail safety perceptions. Across three videos, Manny demonstrated how overhead power lines can kill without even touching them, used a slice of meat to show how the third rail can cook you alive, and used his own train set to explain why you won’t hear a high-speed train coming until it’s too late. The science-first content organically achieved 5.6 million views, engaged over 443,000 individuals across Instagram and TikTok, and delivered up to 543% more views than Manny’s typical non-sponsored content. It wasn’t just a hit with the target audience. We’ll leave the last word to the big man himself: “One of my favourite campaigns so far."