The Eurail pass has taken young people on global adventures for many decades. Eurail B.V. is now Interrail B.V., and the pass – once Interrail for people living in Europe, Eurail for people outside – has been unified. The Dutch company has teamed up with creative agency, WE ARE Pi, and social agency, Butterfly Effect,  to make that known. They have identified something quite special for campaign – travel does more than take you somewhere new – it changes how you see the world, and yourself.

This was underlined by an Interrail customer survey conducted earlier this year, finding that 70% of Interrail customers said their trip changed how they see the world, a similar proportion considered the experiences more impactful than other types of holidays, and roughly a quarter considered it much more impactful than other holidays

The brand platform, The Interrail Effect, is WE ARE Pi’s first work for Interrail since being appointed brand and creative agency in April.

It positions Interrail as an antidote to the emptiness of check-list tourism, showing what generations of travellers have known for nearly 70 years – sometimes the journey is the best part. 

To launch the new platform, WE ARE Pi and Butterfly Effect have developed a creator and community-first campaign involving 30 creators who were enlisted to travel across Europe, sharing the transformative experience and impact of rail travel with Interrail this summer – a marked departure from travel category convention.

Participating creators spanned a broad spectrum of ages, backgrounds and travel styles – from solo to group and family – and also included first-time and seasoned travellers from the US, Canada, Australia and Europe. The unfiltered footage, diary-style moments and personal reflections they captured were then shaped into the campaign materials and social assets.

The series of short films that resulted showcase what happens when you go deeper – the conversations with strangers, new friendships, incredible scenery that might otherwise have been missed. And the occasional missed connections that become the most memorable part of the trip. 

The launch film, Between here & there, features the famous Neapolitan song, Funiculì, Funiculà, which was composed in 1880 by Luigi Denza with lyrics by Peppino Turco to celebrate the opening of the first cable railway (funicular) on Mount Vesuvius – a fitting nod to Interrail’s position in the European rail network.

The Interrail Effect signals the evolution of the company from a rail Pass provider into a champion of the life-changing power of travel and antidote to the emptiness of “skim-through tourism”. It will now shape all future Interrail campaigns, partnerships, content, community initiatives and customer experiences. 

The campaign launched globally on September 10 in the UK, Australia and the US, across a mix of paid, owned and earned channels including paid media, organic social, EDM, partnerships and PR as well as participating creators’ own Instagram, TikTok and other socials. 

Following the launch, all creator activity will sit under one unified creative platform with creators continuing to help build and evolve The Interrail Effect. Future work will tap into cultural moments, fresh voices and expressions and authentic storytellers to demonstrate both the breadth of Interrail and the transformative experiences it makes possible.

Özlem Birkalan, chief brand and commercial officer at Interrail, stated, “The Interrail Effect isn’t something we invented. It’s something travellers have described to us for decades, in their own worlds, after every journey. What’s changing is that we’re finally building the brand around it. Not around where people travel, but around what travelling like this does to them.”

Rick Chant, ECD at WE ARE Pi, added, “At a time when travel has never been more accessible, it’s becoming a race to see more and post more, with a third of people admitting they sometimes do an activity on holiday just so they can put it on their socials. Often, however, it’s the experience of the journey, and not the destination itself, that truly transforms you; and this is the insight that ‘The Interrail Effect’ brings to life.”