2014 Winners & Shortlists

Results and Effectiveness

There’s no doubt that the campaign created a serious buzz and word-of-mouth, noting that Okaz is the best-selling newspaper in the Kingdom with hundreds of thousands of copies distributed daily. On top of that, significant results were reported by petrol and carwash stations, according to whom, drivers would read the pullout cards looking interested to know what it is. Face 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

Once again the fact that Okaz was a newspaper helped a lot in spreading the message. We released half page print ads in English and Arabic to reach as many people as possible. Each print ad included a simple sentence split into two parts and a seatbelt clasp linking both parts. The first part read a sad message, yet when connected to the second part through the seatbelt, the complete sentence would reveal a happier, life-celebrating meaning. To reinforce the campaign, the same copy-driven visual was adopted in poster and pullout card formats, using 8 different sentences (Arabic & English), then distributed in offices, underground parking spaces, petrol and carwash stations to maximize the campaign’s reach and include the public opinion, whether Okaz readers of Okaz or not.

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 by well informing them. Being so close to people, Okaz felt it is its duty to highlight the importance of seatbelts to the general public, especially that the number of car accidents in KSA are amongst the highest in the world. With such an alarming reality and hundreds of articles written about it, it was time to do more. The public opinion needed to view seatbelts under a new, more serious light. And since Okaz is good with words, we thought about bringing the naked truth to people, using simple, powerful words to convince them that there’s nothing but a thin line between life and death, a thin line called “seatbelt”.