Full-service agency Agent has been chosen to lead a multi-channel, behaviour change campaign to encourage more people to use the bus.

The Liverpool-based agency won a four-way pitch to land the contract after transport giants Arriva and Stagecoach joined forces with Merseytravel to create the first northern bus alliance.

Bertter By Bus is fronted by 24 young people, recruited from across the region, who star in a video advert that has already been viewed over 20,000 times, as well as a series of on and offline adverts across print and radio. Since the establishment of the Better By Bus social media presence, it has generated over 1 million unique engagements in less than two months.

A third-dimensional platform game has also been built using Unity software and a bespoke website created inhouse with state-of-the-art frameworks. Campaign conductors will be engaging with thousands of school children over the course of the campaign as part of The Better By Bus Club.

Paul Corcoran, managing director at Agent, said: “We know that many people have forgotten how to use the bus and we want to educate them about the improved, modern services that are available. Winning hearts and minds will help us encourage people to start choosing the bus again for work, play and everything in between.

“We also need to communicate to people who have never used the bus before and our dynamic, multi-platform approach allows us to target them with specific messages, particularly around commuting and leisure activities.”

The contract win caps off a remarkable twelve months for the multi-disciplinary agency which has celebrated its 11th year in operation by winning a host of notable clients from £5 billion Liverpool Waters regeneration project, Liverpool Football Club’s community foundation to national water aid charity Just a Drop.

Agent’s MD Paul Corcoran has also been in the spotlight in the last year, winning the prestigious Guardian award for Sustainable Business Leader of the Year in recognition for his commitment to doing things differently as well being inducted into BIMA’s top 100 creative and digital leaders.