2013 Winners & Shortlists

The Brief

With long, harsh summers in the UAE, accidents caused by burst tyres have become common. In 2012, these resulted in 151 injuries and 20 deaths (Source: Emirates 24/7 News). Besides the tragic loss of life, the business impact was higher insurance premiums and thousands of man-hours lost to claims and vehicle repair. Dubai Police launched a tyre safety campaign in January but the Arabian Automobiles Service Centre did not see a rise in tyre inspections. They wanted to use this opportunity to target the city’s leading commercial fleet managers with the objective of driving their service and maintenance business.

Creative Execution

After 3 weeks and many failed attempts, we painstakingly crafted floral wreath designs into old and worn tyres. And made the medium the message. We wrapped them with a ribbon, zipped them into a bag and sent the fleet managers a message that was hard to ignore.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

Addressing road deaths in an Islamic country is sensitive. But we had to convince fleet managers of Belhasa Driving Institute, Dubai Taxi and Shift Leasing to register for free tyre checks. Together, they control over 10,000 vehicles and we targeted a response of 1500 inspections. Our solution connected tyres and tragedy. We combined the universal symbol of mourning with the tyre itself and created Tyre Wreaths. To inspire fleet managers to take a longer look at their tyres, we gave them tyres worth looking at.

Results

For a small investment of $7,000, the returns have been more than satisfying. Without exaggeration, every single fleet manager called back to appreciate the idea and request display stands for their office receptions. They then signed up for tyre inspections for a total of 3000 vehicles. This is being done in phases, but Arabian Automobiles have already recorded a 9% rise in tyre sales and 5% rise in aftersales revenue. We not only played our part in making Dubai’s roads safer, but also created a direct marketing solution that became a work of art.