The Brief

Australia has one of the highest smartphone penetration levels in the world. Despite years of government scare tactics, inexperience, speed and the ever-increasing distraction of smartphones mean that 1 in 3 young Australian drivers crash within their first year of driving, and 2 die on our roads every week. Samsung saw that it could actually use its smartphones to promote road safety, and in the process, turn a distraction on the road into a life saving tool. We had a budget of $2.1million AUD which we had break down to cover include all R&D, software development and testing, app design and build, as well as source all the rewards to be given away in the program and fund the marketing campaign that would recruit the drivers to participate. Targeted at a city with one of the worst youth accident rates in the country, S-Drive recruited drivers in Newcastle for a 6 month pilot program, with a fully integrated campaign recruitment that included live activations, print, posters, outdoor, ambient, radio, YouTube videos and PR – all directing people to sdrive.com.au where they could learn more and sign up. The technology is currently fully functional and ready for public release.

The innovation behind the S-Drive program began with taking an existing Samsung technology through their partnership with Navigon and developing it in a new way that could promote safe driving by using rewards rather than penalties. GPS capabilities were embedded with data and speed limits from all Australian roads so that GPS could become a tool to monitor and issue points per drive. By incentivizing young drivers with rewards for good behaviour on the road, we were able to successfully engage young drivers to change their own driving behaviour because they wanted to, rather than the age-old system of police infringements and government scare tactics which just weren’t working anymore. The free S-Drive kit came with a phone cradle equipped with an NFC chip that activated the S-Drive app along with safe driving mode in the phone, allowing for voice only responses, discouraging drivers from touching their phones. Using GPS data, the app then monitors the speed limit, awarding you points for staying below the limit and not touching the phone. Alerts keep drivers on track and aware of changed traffic and lane information as well as road black spots. Points can then be redeemed for rewards that range from the everyday, such as free coffee and fuel, to the once in a lifetime, such as ski trips. A social component was key to changing driving behaviour. Your Facebook friends influence what you watch, who you follow, who you listen to, and now how you drive. By creating drive teams of 3 friends who make a pact to push each other to drive safer, S-Drive uses peer pressure for good. Friends can nudge and encourage each other to stay on track to reach special team only bonuses.

4,500 active participants 3,000,000+ safe kilometres travelled 25,000+ rewards claimed Crashes in S-Drive region down 25% Fatalities down 20% (17-25 yrs) compared to previous year Lowest death toll in the launch region since 1936 Program participation has climbed week-on-week instead of declining after launch like traditional advertising campaigns. S-Drive to be factory installed on all Samsung Galaxy phones S-Drive now to roll out internationally with expressions of interest from 55 countries.