Title	MEMORIAL TICKETS
Brand	RESPONSIBLE YOUNG DRIVERS
Product/Service	DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE
Category	G02. Low Budget / High Impact Campaign
Entrant	DE VLOER Antwerp, BELGIUM
Idea Creation	DE VLOER Antwerp, BELGIUM
Production	DE VLOER Antwerp, BELGIUM

Name	Company	Position
Johan Roelandt	De Vloer	Creative Director
Koen Van Deun	De Vloer	Creative Director
Matthias De Smet	De Vloer	Copywriter
Ivo Mertens	De Vloer	Art Director
Aline Huls	De Vloer	Account Director

Provide budget details

We payed 36,80 euro for Maarten’s ticket. And that’s it. In return we earned 250.000 euro in free media coverage. As his Memorial Ticket and story was covered by all Belgian radio stations, newspapers and music blogs and was shared by famous belgians and social influencers without any for of paid promotion whatsoever.

Why is this work relevant for Direct?

Our road safety message needed to reach a very specific audience: party and concert going youngsters, a target group already inundated with advertising messages. We found a novel and straightforward way to reach them: through online second hand ticket portal Ticketswap. Here we sold concert tickets of young road victims. At a strikingly low price, the same price as the age they had when they died. Reaching a very specific target audience in a very relevant medium with a clear message: if you drink and drive you’ll not only lose your life but also your future.

Background

Responsinble Young Drivers is an organisation with two goals: spreading road safety awareness among young people and making sure nobody drives under influence. In Belgium deadly road accidents involving young people mostly happen on the way home from a concert or a party. After a night of heavy dancing and drinking. Responsible Young Drivers wanted to draw attention to this fact, but lacked the funds to reach a large audience through traditional media and means.

Describe the creative idea

Sadly, young road victims not only lose their life, but also their future. As they will never get the chance to see their favorite bands or dj’s ever again. We used the past of a road victim, to save the future of young drivers. More specifically, Maarten’s past. Maarten was run over by a drunk driver on his way back from a party when he was only 22. At the time he was also a huge fan of Bloc Party. A band he now would never get to see. So when Bloc Party came to Belgium, we sold his concert ticket on Ticketswap. For an unusual and strikingly low price. 22 euro. Maarten’s age when he died. Along with a short and clear message to the many interested buyers, asking them in Maarten’s name to never drink and drive.

Describe the strategy

We needed to reach as many youngsters as possible without a real production or media budget. That’s why we chose to sell Maarten’s Memorial Ticket where we knew youngsters would see it: Ticketswap. Ticketswap is a very popular website that young people use to find lucrative deals or last minute tickets for sold out concerts. The platform also allows its users to link their Facebook and Twitter profiles, so they can sell their tickets faster through social media. We used this feature to spread Maarten’s story on a much bigger scale than the platform itself.

Describe the execution

We started by uploading Maarten’s Memorial Ticket on Ticketswap. To draw more attention to the ticket, we shared the link on the Responsible Young Drivers’ Facebook and Twitter page along with Maarten’s story. Local and national press was contacted beforehand. From there, things took off. Without any form of paid promotion, the story of Maarten’s ticket was shared by friends, family, influencers and radio hosts.

List the results

Maarten’s ticket was sold within a couple of hours. But his story was shared all week long. Not only by his family and friends, but also by Belgium’s biggest radio stations and all major newspapers and music blogs. Reaching over 6 million people in total. That’s more than half of Belgium’s population. But more importantly, our message came across.