14th September 2007

Dear Colleagues,

Being told something first hand - to your face - is always best! We are doing just that in two big promotional exercises which swung into action this week. Both involve trying to get new passengers by persuading them directly why public transport is best.

Our ‘Translink Shopping Centre Roadshow’ - a tour of the 16 top shopping centres across Northern Ireland - began at the Erneside Shopping Centre in Enniskillen last weekend.

We create a bit of attention, run promotions and give prizes in order to get people talking to us and hear about public transport in their area. These have proved very effective in past years to get in touch directly with thousands of people in a friendly way. The road shows will continue until March 2008 and cover all of Northern Ireland.

Also, third level students start a new term in these next weeks and we take a similar direct approach to persuade them to use bus and train for their daily trip to college. We have a special student discount card which we sell to students at events at all third level colleges, also through our website and using mobile phone technology.

We will visit all universities and colleges to sell the card but as importantly we want to create awareness of our services and give individual journey information for what will be a new experience for many.

It takes a lot of our time and effort to do this kind of ‘direct’ selling - but it works. It’s all part of the mix of marketing activity we deliver to keep growing the business and get more and more people trying our services.

Philip O'Neill

Acting Chief Executive

We create a bit of attention, run promotions and give prizes in order to get people talking to us.