THE E.V.A. INITIATIVE

TitleTHE E.V.A. INITIATIVE
BrandVOLVO CARS
Product/ServiceCARS
Category A04. Data Storytelling
Entrant FORSMAN & BODENFORS Gothenburg, SWEDEN
Idea Creation FORSMAN & BODENFORS Gothenburg, SWEDEN
Production NEW LAND Stockholm, SWEDEN
Credits
Name Company Position
Karl Risenfors Forsman & Bodenfors Art Director
Leo Dal Forsman & Bodenfors Art Director
Adam Ulvegärde Ulvegärde Forsman & Bodenfors Art Director
Sophia Lindholm Forsman & Bodenfors Art Director
Hampus Elfström Forsman & Bodenfors Copywriter
Jacob Nelson Forsman & Bodenfors Copywriter
Magnus Wretblad Forsman & Bodenfors Account Supervisor
Katarina Klofsten Forsman & Bodenfors Account Executive
Ewa Edlund Forsman & Bodenfors Account Executive
Lena Sellman Forsman & Bodenfors Agency Producer
Maja Bredberg Forsman & Bodenfors PR
Bjarne Darwall Forsman & Bodenfors PR
Trine Keller-Andreasen Forsman & Bodenfors Planner
Peter Gaudiano Forsman & Bodenfors Web Strategist
Martin Joelsson Forsman & Bodenfors Designer
Ingrid Arnsand Jonsson Forsman & Bodenfors Designer
Learke Herthoni New Land Director
Joel Rostmark New Land Producer
Rasmus Videbaek New Land D.O.P.
Amy Gardner New Land Choreography/dancer
Johan Söderberg New Land Editor
Erik Torell New Land Executive Producer

Why is this work relevant for Creative Data?

The car industry has been aware about this inequality for years, but still have not incorporated equal car testing. Volvo’s research from more than 43.000 car crashes, including more than 72.000 people, wrapped into data files and long research papers is incomprehensible for the average consumer. Yet, it’s important for them to understand these insights, to demand that all cars brands put safety first and incorporate this data. With EVA, we gave the facts a face. She became the cornerstone of our entire campaign, to close the gender crash gap.

Background

Business challenge: to transform automotive safety from something traditional and expected into a meaningful and relevant movement in line with Volvo’s purpose and brand strategy. In specific, the challenge was to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Volvo’s safety belt. With the E.V.A. Initiative, we wanted to highlight this issue and offer all competitors to download Volvo’s data. The objective was not only to address the issue, but to close the gender crash gap. To make it more human, we gave the facts a face and showed how it affects women in a personal and direct way.

Describe the Creative idea / data solution (20% of vote)

Volvo’s philosophy has always been to put people first. 60 years ago, they gave away their three-point safety belt patent. So, we thought: what if we could get Volvo to make cars safer for everyone, once again? And that’s exactly what we did. To make cars safer for women, we collected all of Volvo’s safety research and made it available to everyone. By creating a digital library with data from more than 43,000 collisions and 72,000 people, the research became open and free to any company to learn from. For the first time ever, anyone could download more than 40 years of research and learn how it has led to some of Volvo’s most innovative systems. We then gave the numbers a face and showed how the injustice personally affects women in a global campaign with film, print, social, outdoor, and PR.

Describe the data driven strategy (30% of vote)

We conducted stakeholder interviews, consumer surveys, studied Volvo’s proprietary and third-party safety research, reads through NCAP testing protocols, SEO analysis, more than 100 hours of desk research including press from 1960 and onwards. We found that 80% of all car purchases are influenced by women and their top priority being safety. Yet 3 in 4 women feel misunderstood by the industry. When exploring the subject, we found a fatal truth. Women are 71% more likely to be injured and 17% more likely to die in a car crash. The reason? Most crash tests are based on male crash test dummies. Therefore, we saw an opportunity to create real change in the car industry. Our aim was not only to address the issue, but take real action and close the gender crash gap. But to get people’s attention, we needed to show how this injustice affects women in a personal way.

Describe the creative use of data, or how the data enhanced the creative output (30% of vote)

Without the data, we wouldn’t have been able to conduct the campaign. It’s the core proof point. Data can be challenging to communicate, and global gender equality is a complex subject. So in order to make the data more human and easy-to-understand, we gave the facts a face and created EVA who became the embodiment of all Volvo’s safety research throughout the years. This way, we could humanise the data in a creative way and show how the inequality affects women on a personal level. Apart from making all the data public, but we clearly showed how it has been implemented in Volvo’s most innovative safety features such as WHIPS, SIPS, and numerous child safety products. Additionally, we went through Volvo’s medical research papers, took out key points and translated it into terms that everyone could understand.

List the data driven results (20% of vote)

The campaign quickly became news and sparked a global conversation about equal road safety. Additionally, the highest number of downloads came from China, where 100 new car brands see the light of day every year - this without the campaign even running in China. It also created a debate within the auto industry as other carmakers embraced the initiative, such as electric vehicle startup Uniti. After a couple of months, the European Commission picked up the campaign, and tweeted out their appraisal, for raisning awareness around the inequality, and the fact that Volvo Cars is trying to eliminate it. Volvo Cars Brand Share of Voice online exceeded Audi, Land Rover and Volkswagen in the period. Positive online sentiment increased with 13.1%. Countries: +71 Campaign site visits first month: 850.000+
 Downloads from library: 20.000+
 Film views: 135.000.000+
 +900 news outlets
 Earned media reach: +500M
 SoMe reach: +100M
 SoMe impressions: +290M