Brief Explanation

“Locks for Knocks” is a simple ambient idea, which was designed to generate immediate attention and action from drivers. We promoted a simple action, i.e. knocking on cars to alert stray cats and allowing them to escape danger. We aimed to promote this check as a “pre-driving” habit to more drivers, to encourage additional drivers to pass the “Locks” on to other cars and spread the message.

The Brief

In Hong Kong, there are over ten thousands stray cats. Every year when the weather gets cold, cats crawl under cars or into engines to seek warmth. However, cats are killed quite often or injured critically when unsuspecting drivers start their engines and begin driving. We aimed to find a simple but effective way to alert drivers and avoid these kinds of accidents.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

The result was significant. Over 1,200 locks were created and circulated. More than 1,000 students from 40 schools participated in the campaign, designing over 500 locks. All the locks have been distributed and keep spreading around the city to save more lives. Moreover, this campaign has significantly increased awareness of Cats Society amongst the public.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

We created the “Locks for Knocks” campaign to promote the message to drivers of warning stray cats before starting their cars. By placing the “Locks” on the wheels of cars parked outside, they directly raised drivers’ awareness of our message and encouraged them to look out for stray cats by knocking on their cars before driving. We enlisted the help of the drivers themselves to spread our message, by prompting them to place Locks from their own cars onto other nearby cars, upon discovering and removing them. This campaign also promoted our message to not only drivers, but to the wider public too. We raised public awareness by inviting students to design the “Locks” and place them on cars in nearby car parks, which served to enhance public awareness as well as campaign effectiveness.