Brief Explanation

The Reduce Speed Dial was an activation in and around Volkswagen Golfs, designed to elicit an immediate change in driver behaviour. In NZ, speeding was the sole contributing factor in 32% of all urban road fatalities and 28% of all open road fatalities between 2011 and 2014. The highest of any contributing factor. Casualty and fatality on the road don’t occur because our cars aren’t safe enough - they occur because of poor decisions made by drivers. These poor decisions are the result of momentary lapses in judgment. Our rational, responsible selves take a backseat to the irrational person racing to a meeting, or overtaking a frustratingly slow driver. This activation disrupts behaviour at this critical moment. We facillitated presenting a message from a loved one, reminding you what you have to live for at the exact moment you consider speeding.

The Brief

Volkswagen spends over US$13.5 billion on R&D every year. The largest of any company. Safety and innovation are at the forefront of that investment. And while their cars continue to get better, and safer – we still see unnecessary levels of casualty and fatality on New Zealand roads caused in one way or the other, by human error. Yes, Volkswagen make safe cars. But they wanted to understand if they could in fact, engineer safer drivers.

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

Following the installation of the personalised speed dial: - 75% of the drivers’ did not exceed their maximum recorded speed from phase one. - One family reduced their top speed by 19kmh from a max of 123km to a max of 104km, which is a 15% reduction. - Half of the drivers’ maximum speeds reduced. - One family did not break the speed limit after the installation of the personalised speed dial - Three out of the four drivers reduced their incidence of speeding in 100km zones by 50% Overall, all of the families reduced their speed in multiple driving situations.

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

The Volkswagen Reduce Speed Dial is a replacement panel for the speedometer in Volkswagens. It follows all of the clarity and safety restrictions of a standard speedometer, but the dial is personally hand written by a loved one. This simple, personal mnemonic reminds drivers what they have to live for at the exact moment they consider speeding. We selected Kiwi families who owned Volkswagens. Their children were secretly tasked with creating their own personal speed dial for their parent’s car. Tracking technology was installed in their vehicles and connected to their car’s internal GPS, to deliver telemetry about the parent’s driving behaviour as they went about their daily chores. At an undisclosed point in time, we replaced the speedometer in the car with the child’s version and observed their reaction and subsequent change in driving behaviour.