Matkahuolto
Mystery Trips
Matkahuolto wanted to make bus travel exciting again for Gen Z. Mystery Trips turned an ordinary bus ride into a cultural event by letting people know when they were traveling – but not where. The concept sparked massive buzz, turning bus travel into social currency.
Starting point
Finnish Gen Z finds domestic bus travel boring, dreaming of destinations like Tokyo and Berlin. They spend more time on their phones, and their lives are algorithm-driven, leaving little room for surprise. How could domestic bus travel capture their attention?
Approach
The strategy? Bring the thrill back to bus travel. The twist? You know when you’re traveling, but not where. The solution was not an ad, but a product: Mystery Trips.
Instead of telling Gen Z that bus travel can be exciting, we proved it by reinventing the journey itself. Travelers choose a vibe, but the destination remains a surprise. This idea crossed category boundaries by transforming a functional ticket into an experience economy product. It turned a routine bus ride into an event with built-in anticipation, shareability, and cultural relevance.
Impact
By creating a new product, we transcended the challenge of low excitement in domestic bus travel. The strategy directly shaped the execution: not just communication, but a real offering that Gen Z could buy, experience, and share. Mystery Trips sold out instantly, generated 11.8 million media impressions, and achieved an ROI of 11.6x. They are now a permanent part of Matkahuolto’s offering.
Awards
Collaborators
Awards
