2010 Winners & Shortlists

The Brief

Volvo was celebrating the 50 year anniversary of their 3-point seatbelt. With seatbelt usage low in Dubai (in 2008, the UAE had one of the highest rates of road deaths the world), we understood that conventional seatbelt safety campaigns had little impact. The challenge was how to get young people to begin thinking positively about seatbelts rather than collectively avoiding them.

Creative Execution

We identified surprise as a key driver that would get young people to engage. By targeting mall shoppers during the course of their shopping journey, we were able to place our message directly in front of our target audience, where they least expected it. The new angle on seatbelt safety connected with image conscious young people. An unconventional approach to media took the message where few safety campaigns have gone before – and helped to upgrade young people’s perception of Volvo to more than just a brand synonymous with safety.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

Most seatbelt safety campaigns focus their efforts on costly print or tv. To succeed with our limited budget, we identified an opportunity to surprise and engage where young people spend their time - the mall. We found a media appropriate for this stylish audience - the fashion storefront. Partnering with retailer Massimo Dutti, high-impact storefronts featuring seatbelt clad mannequins garnered attention. And then, the storefront came to life, with a live mannequin display. This stunt drew large crowds as people engaged directly with the display, driving people instore with a direct promo.

Results

The stunt proved the old adage, ‘Nothing draws a crowd like a crowd’ to be true. Thousands saw the activity during the five week campaign. The impact even extended beyond the mall – with onlookers taking photos and posting their shots across blogs and social media. We created PR in places Volvo safety normally would never get in: fashion blogs and style magazines. We produced more than 6,800 media impressions, over US$ 55,000 worth of free media coverage, along with more than 1,800 real leads for Volvo. And most important, young people started looking at the seatbelt differently.