NS - Time to Read

From that reframing, the fundamental difference becomes clear. The train is not primarily different because of speed or price, but because of how time is spent. On the train you do not have to drive. You can travel together and do something else. That time is available time. That makes the train the natural place where reading fits.

We therefore choose to connect reading strategically to NS. Just as other brands deliberately claim a cultural domain, we advise NS to claim the domain of reading. Not as an editorial project or a content strategy, but as a brand domain that structurally links the train to attention, depth and time for yourself. Reading makes the train’s unique advantage tangible and felt.
Reading has multiple layers. It fits the travel experience naturally. It carries strong positive associations. And stimulating reading creates clear societal value. By claiming reading, NS connects brand distinctiveness to societal relevance. That makes the choice not only distinctive, but durable.

From this strategic choice, the organizing idea Time to Read emerges. Not a campaign and not a format, but a brand platform that repositions travel time as time with value. Time to catch up. Time to dive in. Time to disappear for a moment. Reading is defined broadly, from newspaper to novel, from textbook to report or email.

Our role is to make this domain claim explicit and embed it structurally. We advise NS to not only communicate reading, but to connect it to the cultural ecosystem around books and reading. That leads to a long-term partnership with CPNB, the organization behind the Dutch book sector. Time to Read grows into a credible societal role, not a marketing theme.

Within this framework, a coherent ecosystem of initiatives develops, each logically flowing from the same organizing idea. The NS Audience Award. Free travel with the Book Week gift. Activities that do not stand alone but reinforce the same domain claim year after year.

The result is a sharp brand choice. NS claims reading as a domain and links the train to attention, depth and time for yourself. Not by broadcasting, but by enabling. A practical question about a magazine becomes the starting point for a distinctive and socially relevant brand strategy.