Stagecoach repositions offering with quirky Doodles campaign

Stagecoach, the Performing Arts school for children aged 4-18 years, has launched its new Doodles campaign: a quirky, light-hearted drive that repositions the brand and highlights its benefits for children beyond the stage.

With leaflets, posters, online banners and social advertising all delivered by launch marketing agency Five by Five, Doodles’ creative has a serious message. Children can be seen in Stagecoach uniform, with little ‘doodles’ representing their aspirations and innermost thoughts. One has a girl thinking ‘Gonna be a barrister’, while the girl next to her is thinking, ‘Gonna go to the loo straight after’. In another, two boys are seen worrying about school, social media and friends.

The creative will be supplied to all Stagecoach franchisees in the UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, Gibraltar, Malta, Spain and South Africa, where the copy will be tailored to local markets. Doodles is a long-term campaign and serves as the foundation for Five by Five and Stagecoach to build upon for future creative.

Paul Cottrell, executive creative director at Five by Five, says: “Stagecoach is a network of internationally renowned performing arts schools, with over 46,000 students worldwide. It teaches students so much more than how to sing, dance and act, helping them blossom into well-rounded individuals, ready to embrace life and all its opportunities. It helps young people to deal with the pressures they’ll face throughout their lives. With Doodles, we wanted to express the bigger role Stagecoach has on children’s lifelong wellbeing, and do that side greater justice.”

Jo Scalpello, head of international marketing at Stagecoach, adds: “Parents have to choose and spend wisely when it comes to their children’s extra-curricular activities. We’ve always offered more than what’s on the tin, and Five by Five’s work on Doodles really brings that to the fore. Performing Arts skills, life skills, fun, friendship – it’s all here.”