SUCCESS AT A GLANCE

THE ARKENAUT’S CHALLENGE 

Despite being the UK’s best-connected airport by train, London Gatwick has not historically been viewed as London’s airport of choice.

Following their rebrand in April 2023, London Gatwick reached out to Arke for support in establishing themselves as the city’s airport of choice for both leisure and business travellers. 

London Gatwick’s main goal was to shift these perceptions by highlighting the airport’s accessibility and convenience.

Arke set out to promote London Gatwick’s new core messaging through a phased media plan utilising a range of tactics and channels, including OOH, social media, and geo-targeted digital activity to improve brand awareness across key demographics.   

STRATEGY 

Messaging

To get into the flyer’s mindset and set the tone for London Gatwick’s campaign messaging, they asked 400 recent flyers to rate a series of statements around the theme of convenience, such as speed passing through security, train connectivity and car park to check-in times.

The survey results found that passing through security in less than five minutes was the most appealing statement, with direct train links from local stations, and train frequency statements closely following. 

From analysing the top motivators for convenience highlighted in the survey, the key messages were built around how London Gatwick meets these needs: 

• Trains leave on average every 4 minutes to London (every 3 minutes at peak times)
• Journey times take less than 30 minutes to London Bridge and London Victoria
• 95% of customers pass through security in 5 minutes or under, with a dedicated family lane also available plus Fast Track for those looking for even more convenience.

Audience

London Gatwick was already a popular choice for those travelling from the South of England, which meant that the biggest growth opportunity lies with our London audience.
Our primary demographic:

• 22–44 year olds
• All genders
• Layered interest in travel
• Behaviour patterns including frequent flying, culture-seeking, budget holidays, and business travel.

Leaning into the great transport links, Arke cross referenced key routes; direct to Gatwick from London train stations, faster journey times with that of Heathrow and personalised the messaging to those stations (e.g. journey times).

A secondary audience was also identified targeting Greater London excluding the locations above using a more London-wide messaging.

Paid Media

A phased approach to media planning ensured we used the budget effectively throughout the campaign. We increased media spend over key booking times, including January/February and September, and in August, we paused all media spend to retain budget in what was already a busy month for flights, allowing us to use the budget more effectively during those busy booking periods.

Partnering with London Gatwick and O&G, their appointed creative agency, we developed the “Sorry for the Convenience” campaign: a bold, engaging framework designed to shift perceptions.

As London Gatwick’s first brand campaign in five years, we took a multi-channel approach to maximise reach across a broad range of touchpoints.

OOH

We placed ads with JC Decaux and Global in high-impact locations across London, particularly in train stations where we could highlight the short train times to London Gatwick.

TV and Spotify Advertising

To optimise our TV advertising strategy, we utilised Experian data through Sky AdSmart to target high-potential households with our video ads. Focusing on 30-second video completions to maximise audience recall and ensuring the ads align with audience values.

We also A/B tested different interest-based ad placements on Spotify Podcasts and optimised for ad-completion rates to ensure our messages were reaching the right audience on the platform.

Uber Rides Ads

We wanted to explore new ways of reaching our target audience and were one of the first agencies in the UK to use Uber Rides Ads. These ads drove the highest dwell time on ads, which worked perfectly for local consideration. We delivered sequential messaging to travellers heading to London’s competitor airports across three key moments in the user journey: Dispatch, Enroute, and On-Trip.

SkyScanner

Skyscanner Display Ads were the perfect opportunity to target audiences already in the holiday mindset. 

Arke maintained a consistent presence on key platforms like YouTube, Meta, Google Search & PMax, and Amazon DSP using A/B testing to refine messaging for target locations and audiences.

RESULTS 

Business objectives:

London Gatwick’s annual passenger acquisition report found that leisure travellers increased 2%, with the biggest gains in our target locations.

Their brand survey found that association with statements like “good transport links” improved by 5–7% since January 2024, strengthening Gatwick’s positioning against competitors.

Our data-driven approach strengthened core messaging, positioning LGW as the top London-connected airport.

Paid media:

86.35% increase over our target/estimated impressions across all media channels. 193.8M vs. 104M estimated impressions.

1542% increase over estimated clicks on Google Search.

A/B tests showed:

• More colour variations in animations boosted view and completion rates.
• Competing directly with other airports increased engagement at lower costs, requiring tailored strategies for each competitor and channel.

2025 UK PAID MEDIA AWARDS

The “Sorry for the Convenience” campaign was a finalist in two categories at the 2025 UK Paid Media Awards in the best Integrated Campaign & Travel/Leisure Campaign of the Year categories. With Arke’s work recognised as a very creative approach to develop the campaign.

Feedback received from the judges:

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