2014 Winners & Shortlists

Results and Effectiveness

As a public awareness campaign, results are difficult to measure in numbers. Therefore we observed reactions. The first remarkable effect was that none of the drivers threw it away, like it would be with regular leaflets. The drivers were interested in knowing what it is when they found them on steering wheels. Expressions would change instantly as they pulled out the inside part. Most drowned in their thoughts for a minute before driving. But the most rewarding effect was to find that only 2/10 had their seatbelts on when they arrived but after reading, 7/10 left the stations with their seatbelts on.

Creative Execution

We had to think outside the box, because drivers usually get rid of flyers the minute they get them. So we decided to place a shocking sticker-card message on every steering wheel, while cars were being serviced and their owners were not looking, making it impossible for drivers to miss it or get rid of it. We also made the card interactive: by reading the distressing message ending with a seatbelt buckle, a driver would notice the inside part to pullout; and when he does, he’d realize that this is in fact one happy message interconnected with a seatbelt element.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

“Buckle Up. Live” is a public safety initiative by Okaz to raise awareness about the importance of using seatbelts. Being KSA’s number 1 newspaper, Okaz has great responsibilities towards the general public such as reporting the truth, accurately and objectively, and genuinely caring for citizens. Therefore, we needed to deliver our message to drivers as a primary target, which required us to think outside our usual customer base. Our strategy was to place the message inside the cars without having the drivers looking. So we needed them out of their vehicles, while we would still have access to the cars’ interior. We instantly thought of petrol and carwash stations where drivers get out of their cars for some time, giving us the window of opportunity to implement our operation.