2026 Gold Winner
Mind the Twixmas Gap
The Challenge
The Twixmas period, the week between Christmas and New Year, is traditionally a commercial dead zone for regional rail operators, with leisure travel slowing and routines on pause. For West Midlands Railway, it represented both lost revenue and a missed opportunity to inspire regional exploration.
The Strategy
Rather than defaulting to discounting, WMR commissioned nationwide research to understand the real barriers to travel — revealing that Twixmas inactivity was driven by motivation, not cost.
Execution and Innovation
This insight shaped 'Mind the Gap', a creative performance campaign that used humour and culturally resonant data to reframe Twixmas as a moment to escape the slump, with a 50% Off-Peak Day Return discount deployed as an enabler rather than the lead message.
Results
The campaign delivered a 19% year-on-year increase in journeys and nearly £906k in revenue, triggering travel for purchasers who hadn't previously planned to.
Judges' Verdict
"An exceptional use of behavioural insight and phased storytelling — shifting the narrative from 'passive value' to 'active motivation', proving that creative cut-through is the best remedy for a seasonal slump."
"The campaign didn't just deliver a commercially successful off-peak uplift — it provided rich, actionable insights into consumer inertia."
Thanks to our 2026 sponsors
Adtraction is a leading partner marketing platform that helps brands across Europe increase their sales at a predictable cost, while enabling partners to monetise their content and traffic. The company works with brands across multiple industries, ranging from e-commerce to financial services. With a user-friendly platform, Adtraction connects brands with a diverse range of marketing partners, from influencers and media houses to apps, tech platforms and comparison sites. The company was established in 2007 and is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, with offices in 12 countries across Europe.
Agenica builds AI marketing employees for brands and media agencies. Unlike generic LLMs, Agenica employees operates on live competitive activity—ads, creative and channel signals, plus a company’s internal KPIs and decision frameworks. It converts that into role-specific recommendations and ready to use briefs: what changed, why it matters, and what to do next.
Atolls helps millions of consumers make smart spending decisions online. These consumers engage with our shopping destinations, including Hotukdeals and over 40 other deal communities, cashback platforms, and coupon sites, throughout their purchase journeys. We enable advertisers to engage with high-intent audiences when and where it matters the most.
Blue Light Card is the UK’s number one discount service for emergency services, NHS, social care workers and armed forces.
With more than three million members across the UK, Blue Light Card works with over 16,500 partners including the likes of Spotify, Toby Carvery, Hotels.com, Cineworld, Sky, EE and Halfords, providing savings, discounts and benefits that often aren’t available to the general public. In 2022 alone, Blue Light Card holders saved over £250 million on everything from holidays and days out to groceries and utilities.
Membership to Blue Light Card for access to all online deals and discounts is quick and easy by registering online at www.bluelightcard.co.uk. A card costs £4.99 and is valid for two years.
There for those that are there for all of us.
Partnerize is the only partnership management solution powering growth for marketers seeking high-quality, scalable subsidies to primary channels through end-to-end software & comprehensive service. Partnerize joined forces with Pepperjam and Brandverity to establish the leading global solutions provider for affiliate marketing and partner automation including brand monitoring and compliance. Partnerize serves 1,800 enterprise and mid-market clients worldwide, driving more than $10B in transactions via their relationships with an ecosystem of 750,000+ partners, including 250,000+ influencers. Partnerize services clients across industries including retail/e-commerce, D2C, travel, finance, telecom, subscriptions and gaming.
The #1 CSS partner for peak performance.
Redbrain is a UK-based CSS partner dedicated to helping online retailers unlock incremental sales by getting their products in front of high-intent shoppers. Founded in 2016 and now recognised as Europe’s #1 Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) partner by volume, we combine advanced AI-driven technology with hands-on expertise to drive billions in additional sales on a CPA basis. We work as an extension of our partners teams, enhancing product visibility across Google Shopping, Microsoft Ads and leading price comparison sites. At Redbrain, we’re focused on transparent, measurable growth that complements existing marketing strategies and maximises ROAS.