2019 Winners & Shortlists

Background.

2018 had its fair share of viral social media trends, but one in particular had Chevrolet very worried… #WhileDriving had people snapping selfies & shooting videos behind the wheel, all for a few likes. In 2018, the hashtag was on the rise and being used at an alarmingly rate, with over 27,000 posts and year-on-year usage up by 29% (Jan-March 2018)*. Why take this so seriously? We’ll let the data talk: • Mobile use while driving has become one of world’s leading causes of road fatalities** • Over 74% of UAE motorists use their mobile phones while driving*** • In the UAE alone, distracted driving is responsible for 11% of road deaths.**** • The average selfie takes 14 seconds to take, enough to travel 390m at 100km/h**** As a brand dedicated to road safety, Chevrolet wanted to end this trend to help reduce needless deaths on the road.

Describe the creative idea.

To end the trend, we wanted to send a safety message to each and every person using #WhileDriving. We came across our insight while putting ourselves into the shoes of a hashtag-happy driver. While tagging our test-selfies with #whiledriving, we noticed the Instagram autofill suggestions popping up beneath the hashtag, and thought “What if we were to get our safety message onto this list?”. So, we created a few hashtags: #whiledrivingkills, #whiledrivingcauses???? #whiledrivingcauses?????? #whiledrivingisdangerous #whiledrivingisnogood #whiledrivingisnot?? #whiledrivingis??) We then needed our message to trend. We did this with an attention-grabbing prank on April 1st. Chevrolet Arabia’s social media account posted news of a crazy new product feature: The “Selfie Steering Wheel”. On closer inspection, people found our hashtags in the post description, and so when regional and global publications picked up the story and influencers took notice, our hashtags became famous, rocketing to the top of Instagram’s #whiledriving autofill list.

Describe the strategy.

Car makers preaching road safety don’t have the power or authenticity to change people’s behavior behind the wheel. We had to talk to our hashtag-happy audience in their own language, so fought #whiledriving with hashtags of our own. This wasn’t simply a road safety campaign pushed onto social media – this campaign could only exist on social media. Our insight didn’t just shape the format of our safety messages (that of a #) but determined our unique media channel too: Instagram’s autofill list. The approach wasn’t just effective, but necessary.

Describe the execution.

Creating a few hashtags isn’t a big deal. Getting them to trend and reach the top of a global autofill list is. Firstly, our hashtags needed to be authentically tag-worthy. We stepped away from our typical on-brand usage of language and punctuation and included a mix of text and emoji to give our safety messages that much-needed shareability. Once the hashtags were set, it was down to a single post to make a big enough splash to propel them into the spotlight. No pressure. Thankfully, the convincing image of Chevy’s new “Selfie Steering Wheel” on April Fools’ Day did the trick. Influencers and publications helped spread the post along with our hashtags, and before we knew it, people were using them and countering the #whiledriving phenomenon. Increased use of the hashtags pushed them up the autofill rankings, driving their popularity even further.

List the results.

We made our hashtags famous on a shoestring budget: • Generating $65,814 (USD) in earned coverage. • Our hashtags were used X% as often as #whiledriving during the campaign. Our safety messages dominated #whiledriving’s global autofill list: • Our campaign drove #whiledrivingkills and all the other hashtags to the top of Instagram’s autofill, right behind #whiledriving.***** • Anyone in the world posting with #whiledriving, will see all 8 of our safety messages. (try it!) We succeeded in changing driver behavior and are on our way to ending the trend: • Use of #whiledriving was increasing by +29% before our campaign.* • Our campaign dramatically reversed this trend. Usage decreased immediately at a greater rate over time: o Jan-Mar YOY change: +29% (pre-campaign)* o Apr-Jun YOY change: -27% (first 3 months of campaign)* o Jul-Sep YOY change: -35% (Last 3 months of campaign)* o Oct-Dec YOY change: -38% (post-campaign)*