THE EMPTY CLASSROOM PICTURE

TitleTHE EMPTY CLASSROOM PICTURE
BrandPARISIAN ROAD SAFETY AUTHORITY
Product/ServicePEDESTRIANS SAFETY
Category B03. Use of Ambient Media: Small Scale
Entrant SERVICEPLAN FRANCE Paris, FRANCE
Idea Creation SERVICEPLAN FRANCE Paris, FRANCE
Media Placement SERVICEPLAN FRANCE Paris, FRANCE
PR SERVICEPLAN FRANCE Paris, FRANCE
Production TRINITY FILMS Paris, FRANCE
Production 2 COMPTOIR DU SON Paris, FRANCE
Credits
Name Company Position
Schill Alexander SERVICEPLAN Germany Global Chief Creative Officer
Poupon Hervé SERVICEPLAN FRANCE Chief Creative Officer
Perez Daniel SERVICEPLAN FRANCE Creative Director
Lesaint François SERVICEPLAN FRANCE Art Director
Teixeira Andrea SERVICEPLAN FRANCE Art Director
Rosiaux Chloé SERVICEPLAN FRANCE Copywriter
Chabert Renaud TRINITY FILMS Producer
Brianceau Inès TRINITY FILMS Production Manager
Moireau Angélique TRINITY FILMS Editor
Poirier Alexandre COMPTOIR DU SON Sound Studio

The Campaign

The campaign clearly shows the number of school children victims of road accidents each year in Paris & its region on their way to and from school. It shows that the figure corresponds roughly to a whole class of children: around thirty. The picture of an empty classroom would more speak for itself than any other statistic data.

Creative Execution

This outreach project aiming at improving pedestrian road safety awareness happened in schools. Parents who had come to school to pick up their kids were receiving their children’s regular class photo. But this year they discovered a most curious class photo indeed, a class photo without any school children: this striking image was aiming at making them understand the extent of this figure. By removing the picture that was hiding the real photo, they were confronted with a hard-hitting message: Every year in the Greater Paris region more than 30 children are victims of road accidents, the equivalent of one class of school children. Education about road danger starts at home.

Results

The Road Safety Authority opened the discussion with parents on the web and invited some schools to set the Empty Classroom Picture as their profile picture of social networks. RESULTS : + 300% traffic on Parisian Road Safety Authority's website.

In France, and particularly in Paris and its suburbs, pedestrians are careless when crossing the road. Every year, ± 30 kids are victims of road accidents on their way to school or back home. The Empty Classroom Picture is an operation aiming at getting directly in touch with the people most concerned by these dramas: the parents. So to raise their awareness, we chose a moment in the school year that's eagerly awaited by parents: class photo time, and came to them with a special one.

It is proven that it is sometimes difficult to perceive the value of a figure. As an agency, we tried to find a way to give this figure of "thirty" a concrete dimension. We wanted to give to the parents an immediate idea of how high this figure is. In order to maximize the impact of the message, we also wanted to catch parents at a moment where their attention and sensibility would be at its highest level. We chose a moment in the school year that's eagerly awaited by parents, class photo time. With the aim of ensuring that parents understand and remember the message, we imagined an operation combining the delivery of an impactful image at an emotional moment.