FamousGrey

Client: Volvo
Product: Volvo Cars
Title: Blind Spot Billboard
Media: Billboards
Country: Belgium
Date Of Campaign: Week 18/01: give the “Safe driver” campaign a new momentum

Background: In Belgium, over 25% of all car sales are realised in January. After 2020 being a “lost” year due to the covid crisis. Car manufacturers will do anything to regain market share, resulting in a huge communication offensive from all competitors. In order to stand out from the clutter, we wanted to emphasise on Volvo’s historical lead in safety using the claim “make every driver a safe driver”However, safety is becoming more and more a commodity; claimed by different car brands that introduce similar safety innovations. If we want to increase brand consideration and thought leadership on this domain, we need to keep refreshing this association. Our mission was to create an activation that would increase brand consideration and support our tactical sales campaign. By letting consumers experience the added value of our safety features in everyday situations, we made safety something tangible and relevant in their daily life.

Idea: As a pioneer in safety, Volvo wants to make every driver a safe driver. Unfortunately, we can’t put everyone in a Volvo. We can, however, take Volvo’s blind spot detection technology (i.e BLIS) out of the car in into a digital billboard.And that’s what we did. In one of the busiest streets of Brussels, known for its many accidents involving cyclists, a radar sensor was installed on top of a billboard signaling in real time and 3D to nearby cars when cyclists were approaching. The billboard made all drivers aware of the presence of cyclists in their blind spot, even if they didn’t drive a Volvo. On top of that it also noticeably increased the safety of Brussels cyclists.

Results: During the 2 weeks our campaign was live, the blind spot billboard was experienced by more than 222.000 drivers. On top of that, the awareness video on social was watched over 2.2 million times. The campaign also caught the attention of both national and international press, receiving coverage in all national newspapers and being internationally featured by LLB, Adforum, Contagious magazine and Directory, resulting in a PR value that surpassed our total campaign budget multiple times.But most important, the campaign didn’t miss the mark when it came to sales. In January, the number of offer requests had more than doubled compared to last year (+117%). And in a declining market (-13%), Volvo managed to increase sales by a staggering 7%. Leading to a severe increase in market share with the Volvo XC40 being the most popular car model in Belgium until today.