Slow Down GPS is a voice navigation app that works just like any other voice navigation app, except for one special feature: when driving in areas where it’s more likely to be children around, the ordinary navigation voice automatically switches to a child’s voice.
Users can engage with the development of the app by contributing with geographical data of areas where they feel the child’s voice should be activated. Therefore, the app is partly crowd-created and improves with each update. Slow Down GPS was communicated online, TV, print and on the radio, explaining the problem and the solution, plus a plea to care for the children.
– Slow Down GPS became the second most downloaded navigation app in Scandinavia after launch.
– 20,000 people engaged and contributed during the first two weeks, with local knowledge of additional child-dense areas.
- The story spread to 164 countries and earned a potential reach of 87,500,000 people.
– Brand liking among those exposed to the campaign: +46% over target. The goal was to generate a high brand liking among 50% of the target audience, which is what is normally achieved by well-performing campaigns for If. The outcome was that 73% reported a high brand liking as an effect of the campaign. An all time high for If.
– This idea has been selected for a research program on traffic safety at The Swedish National Road and Transport Institute, creating possible further spread of the app and of the message.
An increasing problem, that If Insurance wanted to find a solution for, is that stressed-out drivers don’t adhere to speed limitations in child-dense areas, which consequently leads to more car accidents involving children. In an effort to get drivers to slow down we used mobile technology to affect human behavior. The main insight is that humans are programmed to react to a child’s voice (it’s in our DNA). Therefore, we developed a GPS app where the ordinary adult GPS voice automatically switches to a child’s voice near child-dense areas such as schools and daycare centers, something that will have an immediate effect on the drivers about their surroundings.
Objectives: A) Raise awareness of the problem, i.e. get the message across and get people and media to talk about the problem. B) Generate more liking towards If Insurance as a brand, since research shows that liking is the most instrumental aspect when choosing insurance. C) Influence the car industry to think outside the box when it comes to traffic safety.