What a Sega Bus Tour Taught Me About Britain — And Marketing
Throwback to one of the most memorable (and, frankly, chaotic) work experiences of my life: the SEGA Bus Tour.
Yep, that’s me on the bus, rocking a Pepsi x Radio Clyde baseball jacket, travelling the length and breadth of the UK. Our mission? Hit up every local radio station in the country. And when I say every, I mean every. single. one.
There were 45 at the time, and every stop came with its own flavour.
Tour Highlights (That I’ll Never Forget)
Swindon: Slightly terrifying.
Glasgow: Toughest five-year-olds I’ve ever met.
Dudley: The undisputed UK capital of homemade tattoos and gold-toothed pensioners.
Cardiff & Liverpool: Absolute mayhem, but in the best possible way.
Hull (on a Thursday): Completely unhinged.
Middlesbrough women: Trust me — do not mess.
Manchester: A bit like Croydon. (Also: trams.)
And the wildest moment? Hearing a Black guy speak fluent Geordie — it completely crashed my brain. I needed a factory reset right there on the spot.
A Crash Course in the Real UK
Up until that point, I had no idea how different life was across the UK.
When you’re based in London, it’s easy to live inside a bubble — loud, fast, self-referencing, and, let’s be honest, a bit miserable. But when you’re out on the road, you meet the real country.
Real people. Real stories. Proper accents. Friendlier faces.
It was an eye-opening, humbling experience, and it taught me a lesson that’s stuck with me ever since.
The Lesson: Get Out of Your Postcode
If you want to connect with people — whether in marketing, branding, leadership, or just life — you need to get out of your own postcode.
You need to listen locally.
In an age of algorithms, hyper-targeting, and “London-first” thinking, we often forget that the UK isn’t one audience. It’s many audiences — and they don’t all look, sound, or behave like your Instagram feed.
Final Thought
The SEGA Bus Tour wasn’t just a marketing stunt — it was a masterclass in cultural insight.
If there’s one thing I took away from that wild ride, it’s that listening to local voices is still a competitive advantage. And it’s as true today as it was back then.
