I spent several very happy years working freelance for Eurotunnel, effectively as their in-house (but outsourced) copywriter.

Between 2019 and 2023, I wrote regular travel emails for its customer database, extolling the brand values of discovery and exploration on the continent, plus the promotional comms around marketing events and more. I also worked on communications for their B2B audience, for whom Le Tunnel is an important freight and transport link.

I concepted and wrote plenty of on-site signage and posters for its two terminals in the UK and France. One of my favourite of these projects was a brand new series of in-train posters that would have that element so rare for advertising: a captive audience who literally couldn’t go anywhere for 35 minutes. The dream audience for any copywriter.

The copy for these was a good snapshot of the brand itself, combining important messages around safety, facilities and convenience, all wrapped up in a playful, witty tone of voice that held its audience in high regard (see the dog-friendly messaging of ‘Bone Voyage’ below, shared by an amused passenger).

Working with the brand team we developed this tone of voice for the brand across multiple digital, social and traditional channels, and this supported various brand campaigns including Le Tunnel’s 25th birthday celebrations.

There was also the added, unprecedented, challenges of communicating through the twin black swan events of COVID and Brexit.

For the former I worked with the team to communicate safety messages, both internal and external, and much more besides, as the brand itself - based around borderless ease of travel, was faced with border lockdowns and drastically-restricted movement.

For the latter, as various UK governments came and went (along with their promised/threatened legislation and guidance for the passenger paperwork that would now be required) there was lots of work to do to reassure passengers, whilst still juggling the brand’s messages around convenience and ease.