Winners & Shortlists

AUTOMATIC BRAKING BILLBOARD

TitleAUTOMATIC BRAKING BILLBOARD
BrandVOLVO
Product/ServiceAUTOMATIC BRAKING SYSTEM
Category A03. USE OF OUTDOOR IN A MEDIA CAMPAIGN
Entrant Company BBDO BELGIUM Brussels, BELGIUM
Advertising Agency BBDO BELGIUM Brussels, BELGIUM
Credits
Name Company Position
Sebastien De Valck BBDO Belgium Creative Director
Arnaud Pitz BBDO Belgium Creative Director
Jasper Verleije BBDO Belgium Art Director
Sarah Huysmans BBDO Belgium Copywriter
Wouter Vandenherreweghe BBDO Belgium Account Manager

Results and Effectiveness

Commercial objective was as always: keep sales figures high. The communication objective was: send out a tactical price message but it shouldn't feel like a promotional campaign. And although the price is very upfront in the creation, the overall feel is that of a smart branding campaign in which Volvo reinforces its claim of the most innovative car brand in the world when it comes to safety. The campaign only started on the 14th of October and will run until the second week of November. This makes it too soon for commercial results or branding effects. But we're pretty sure the campaign will have a positive effect on both.

Creative Execution

Automatic breaking systems are most relevant in two contexts: high way jams and busy city traffic. Since the first is no option to advertise - due to strict regulations - we focused on the latter. 2m2 abribus posters are the most wide spread out-of-home medium selective on the core target group: professional starters aged 25-30 years old. This medium also lends itself perfectly for putting out our message in day-to-day traffic situations where it would be the most impactful and relevant. For this project we worked together with JC Decaux. We selected 10 of their bush shelter trivision billboards which they equipped with sensors. When the mobile poster in the billboard started moving, the sensors made it stop, right before the visual of the Volvo V40 hits the edge. The abribus posters were combined with magazine insertions - leaving ample space for more explanations on how the system performed and a banner campaign demonstrating this safety system and other security features of the Volvo V40.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

The Volvo V40 comes standard with City Safety, an automatic braking system especially designed to prevent rear-end collisions in traffic jams and busy city traffic. How to highlight this special feature in an outdoor campaign? Simple. We took an outdoor mobile poster and equipped it with an automatic braking system. Introducing : the Volvo Automatic Braking Billboard. A mobile poster, that brakes automatically when the V40 is about to hit the edge. After a couple of seconds it rolls back to its original position.