Title	PR STUNT “THE TROJAN BILLBOARD.”
Brand	FEDERAL MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR
Product/Service	Road Safety
Category	A02. Applied Innovation
Entrant	FISCHERAPPELT Berlin, GERMANY
Idea Creation	FISCHERAPPELT Berlin, GERMANY
Production	IT'S US MEDIA Berlin, GERMANY

Name	Company	Position
Johannes Buzási	fischerAppelt AG	Managing Director
Judith Schilling	fischerAppelt AG	Account Director
David Morales	fischerAppelt AG	Creative Director
Philip Bolland	fischerAppelt AG	Creative Director
Claudia Kuprat	fischerAppelt AG	Art Director
Dorothee Goetz	fischerAppelt AG	Copywriter
Max Penk	It’s us	Copywriter

Why is this work relevant for Innovation?

Because we used the problem as our solution. People don’t look at billboards because they only look on their smartphone all day. So the only way to catch their attention and be effective was to infiltrated messages in their phones. With no extra app or flash or else, just a digital billboard made of common infrared LED Lights used in a completely intelligent and innovative way: invisible to the naked eye but visible when you look at them through your mobile phone.

Background

In order to be effective we needed to create something that only works for those who are misbehaving. We needed to create a surprise moment. A “caught on action” effect. And that was only possible with the help of technology. That’s why the biggest challenge of this project was by far to find something that is only visible on smartphones. And in the next step, after we had the LED idea, how to get the technology we choose to work on a location? That’s why we chose to build the billboard behind a staged accident in the middle of Berlin.

Describe the idea

People now a days when they see an accident they only care about how to take the best picture, how to get the more Likes. We address these people at the exact moment of their misconduct. We staged an accident near a Berlin subway station. The rescue workers were informed about the stunt but not about what they would have to deal with when they would arrive: Two women trapped inside of a damaged car, both actresses told to describe special injuries. With five Bodycams, five GoPros and 3 normal cams, 7 police officers, 7 rescue workers and 2 emergency doctor we set up the accident. The Highlight: Made out of 9000 infrared LEDs, like those used in remote controls we made a digital screen, interacting with the mobile phones of the people taking pictures. The infrared LED lights light up like fireworks once people took pictures with their smartphones.

What were the key dates in the development process?

January 2018, first Idea January 15th Started with Billboard construction First week of February first LED Test on Billboard 27.02.2018 execution of the stunt

Describe the innovation/technology

In close cooperation with a lighting engineer, we developed a billboard which was completely made out of 9000 tiny infrared LEDs. They are normally used in ordinary remote controls. During several tests, we placed them with the right distance to each other to make sure the headlines and icons are as visible as possible. The LEDs were programmed to react life on new input so we had the opportunity to address certain people or the giving situation, right on the spot.

Describe the expectations/outcome

Instead of sharing pictures of the accident, the gawkers shared pictures of our message. The stunt and our message not only made it into social media, it even reached Europe’s biggest daily newspaper ‘Bild’, which used it to generate more attention to the problem. That was the first appereance of the Billboard on berlin, but not the last one. The Trojan billboard still has a lot to do and a lot of people to reach.