NCT’s 2022 April fools video is the latest spoof we’ve produced since 2014 for Nottingham’s best bus company.
For an April fools to work it has to be believable, enough of a surprise to be interesting, but not so much that folks would think it’s impossible.
For us, it started with a picture of NCT’s new Night Bus, which upgraded the service to include blacked out windows, a groovy paint job, and a new role for the driver as DJ…
For 2015 we got more ambitious, with “Smart Paint Technology” which allowed the driver to change a bus’s colour in real time…
This video continued to be shared, and believed, for years after it was released!
What many folks wont know is you can take your dog on the bus for just £1. But in 2016, NCT announced that they would now allow unaccompanied dogs to travel…
After a month’s training Page One’s office dog Bobby was able to deliver all of his scenes in just one take. The video not only attracted thousands of hits, it has also left us with a great memento of Bobby who we sadly lost just before the pandemic.
With April 1 falling on Saturday in 2017, it was decided to take a bit of a break, so the next April fools video produced was in 2018.
Introducing the “London Commuter Xpress”, a new rapid commuter service taking just 4 hours from Nottingham to the capital…
2019 came around soon enough, and this time we announced NCT’s link up with Stonebridge City Farm to provide fresh milk to passengers…
Sadly the pandemic interrupted April fools productions, with the country in lockdown, and Dominic Cummings raising the bar with his “Live eye sight driving test”, so it would be 2022 before we would produce another, with this year’s announcement of the new WET Bus service…
With tens of thousands of views, NCT’s April fools videos are a fun way to engage with their customers, helping to establish a strong fan base in the city, and offsetting often negative social media which other transport companies can suffer with.
By keeping production values high and on brand, and then fully engaging across all of the company’s platforms, NCT adds goodwill from key stakeholders groups by involving them in a positive in-joke narrative.
In addition by involving community groups which NCT supports, such as The Nottingham Narrow Boat Project and Stonebridge City Farm, these videos actually provide valuable marketing for these partners.
For Page One, it’s a chance to do something a bit goofy and write some bad jokes!
What will 2023 bring?? Well we aint saying…
Contact us, to see how we could help you with next year’s April 1st, or any corporate video project!
