Access to the procurement documents is restricted. Further information can be obtained at:
II.1.1) Title
AEA230108 Marketing: media, digital, and airport; planning and buying
II.1.2) Main CPV code
79340000
II.1.3) Type of contract
Services
II.1.4) Short description
Abellio East Anglia (GA) intends to commence a procurement process for the provision of media planning and buying services across three differing media lots for its Greater Anglia and Stansted Express brands. This notice intends to alert the market of the upcoming opportunity only.
The successful media agency for the brand planning and media buying lot (1) will plan media strategies and buy media inventory and/or advertising space across the following (but not limited to), media channels.
TV advertising
TV sponsorship
Video on demand advertising
Broadcast video on demand advertising
Radio advertising and sponsorship
Print advertising
Out of home advertising
Digital display advertising
Other non-broadcast sponsorships
Paid social
GA's anticipated annual budget for media spend across both Greater Anglia and Stansted Express is £2.6m per annum
II.1.5) Estimated total value
Value excluding VAT:
5 000 000.00
GBP
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
Yes
Tenders may be submitted for all lots
Lot No: 1
II.2.1) Title
Brand media planning and buying
II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
79340000
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UK
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
This lot will be for the procurement of Brand Media Planning and Brand Media Buying.
GA is looking for a media agency that can successfully deliver above-the-line (ATL) media, and digital brand awareness channels. GA is looking for an agency of driven, organised individuals that are continually keeping up with the latest success factors and digital landscape, to help plan and deliver against stretching revenue targets. The awarded agency for this Lot will work closely with GA's creative, measurement and digital agencies to ensure a joined-up response to briefs and effective delivery.
Reporting on the success of GA's activity is paramount with the Department for Transport (DfT), a key stakeholder to whom plans are presented and learning shared. In addition to weekly and post-campaign reporting, and optimising; the successful agency will work closely with GA's econometrics agency to ensure learnings are captured in a timely way and fed into future plans.
GA's focus will be on delivering effective media plans based on insight, predominantly targeting media within the East Anglia region for GA, with some London media promoting journeys out of London into the region. For Stansted Express, the focus for media is on Greater London, given the direct and fast service that is offered.
II.2.5) Award criteria
Price is not the only award criterion and all criteria are stated only in the procurement documents
II.2.6) Estimated value
Value excluding VAT:
2 800 000.00
GBP
II.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
End:
20/09/2026
This contract is subject to renewal: Yes
Description of renewals:
Option of further +24months extension
II.2.10) Information about variants
Variants will be accepted:
Yes
II.2.11) Information about options
Options:
No
II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds:
No
Lot No: 2
II.2.1) Title
Digital performance media services
II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
79340000
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UK
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
Greater Anglia's main focuses are on;
1. Stimulating leisure travel,
2. Growing the commuter, and business markets,
3. Promoting the Greater Anglia app and website as the best way to buy tickets.
There will be a concerted focus on moving customers from offline channels to digital channels during the contract period; the key USPs of these channels will need to be highlighted to demonstrate the website and app are easier to navigate and to help make the experience seamless thus driving conversions.
Greater Anglia also wants to position its website and app in the region as the best way to buy train tickets and, where possible, protect and increase market share from our online competitor, Trainline, who are a 3rd party retailer of train tickets nationally.
Stansted Express digital marketing is vitally important in all parts of the customer journey. It creates awareness at the top of the funnel, provides certainty to the customer when planning and then drives conversion at the bottom of the funnel. Search marketing has been proven to be highly effective for Stansted Express.
Pay Per Click (PPC) - GA is looking for the prospective agency to facilitate the growth of the customer accounts covering always-on activity across multiple routes and campaign activations. Performance reporting is a priority to ensure continual analysis and optimisation of GA's Return on Advertising Spend (ROAS) and Cost per Click (CPC) with clear bidding and targeting strategies based on understanding our market and potential growth. Stansted Express targets both a UK and international audiences, agencies who bid for this Lot will need to be able manage multiple foreign markets and language variations.
Search Engine Optimisation/ Conversion Rate Optimisation (SEO / CRO) - Ongoing technical and content SEO management is required to increase visibility of GA's websites for key phrase terms, to drive sales from organic search traffic. GA's content management system (CMS) is Drupal and the e-commerce platform for GA is a white label of Trainline.com. Stansted Express utilises Umbraco as its CMS. Optimisation of the ecommerce platforms comes at a significant cost, so GA largely relies on the front-end brochure site to drive traffic to the sites. Both brands will be looking for a future roadmap of SEO improvements and CRO A/B testing to help deliver the objectives.
Display - Using an 'always-on' approach GA wants to ensure a constant presence of the two brands online, through a variety of platforms including social and programmatic to target/ retarget audiences, maximising sales, revenue, and return on investment
II.2.5) Award criteria
Price is not the only award criterion and all criteria are stated only in the procurement documents
II.2.6) Estimated value
Value excluding VAT:
1 300 000.00
GBP
II.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
End:
20/09/2026
This contract is subject to renewal: Yes
Description of renewals:
Option of further +24months extension
II.2.10) Information about variants
Variants will be accepted:
Yes
II.2.11) Information about options
Options:
No
II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds:
No
Lot No: 3
II.2.1) Title
Airport media planning and buying
II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
79340000
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UK
Main site or place of performance:
Stanstead Airport
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
GA is looking for a media planning and buying agency that has the expertise and experience to buy and manage airport media, ensuring a well targeted and strong brand presence in key locations within Stansted Airport. The appointed agency will be required to work closely with the marketing team and other media, creative and measurement agencies to ensure the Stansted Express brand delivers maximum revenue potential in an optimal and efficient way.
The objective of a strong airport brand presence for Stansted Express is to provide certainty to arriving passengers to reassure existing customers and acquire new customers that have not yet purchased their onward travel. Successfully achieving these objectives will increase rail mode share, drive additional revenue and ideally shift the purchase to online channels at point of purchase.
Being an onward travel provider, the Stansted Express brand is a large and important client to both the airport media concessionaire and Stansted Airport itself. Airport media is primarily targeted to the arriving passenger due to budget considerations and marketing effectiveness research, although GA would like to consider all media options within the airport environment. This may include departures, arrivals, across domestic and international airports and any new digital formats that may be available.
During planning and buying of the airport media, consideration is also given to the direct competitor set of other onward travel providers, specifically coach and taxi, as well as their retailing strategy and locations.
GA are looking for an agency or poster specialist that can demonstrate significant experience in buying airport media, has strengths in airport media planning and negotiation, can demonstrate transparency in media buying and will be actively involved in managing the airport media throughout the year to identify opportunities. The ability to manage and coordinate production and installation at a competitive rate is also highly valued.
Other outdoor media opportunities, non-airport, sits within 'Lot 1 - Brand media planning and buying ' Examples of this non-airport media would be potential advertising at London Liverpool Street and other rail station environments, London Underground and roadside advertising. On-train advertising and Stansted Airport Rail Station is managed as owned media internally.
II.2.5) Award criteria
Price is not the only award criterion and all criteria are stated only in the procurement documents
II.2.6) Estimated value
Value excluding VAT:
800 000.00
GBP
II.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
End:
20/09/2026
This contract is subject to renewal: Yes
Description of renewals:
Option of further +24months extension
II.2.10) Information about variants
Variants will be accepted:
Yes
II.2.11) Information about options
Options:
No
II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds:
No