MISTAKES

Creative Effectiveness Spike
TitleMISTAKES
BrandNZ TRANSPORT AGENCY
Product / ServiceROAD SAFETY
CategoryA01. Creative Effectiveness
EntrantCLEMENGER BBDO WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND
Idea Creation CLEMENGER BBDO WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND
Media OMD WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND
Production CLEMENGER BBDO WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND

Credits

Name Company Position
Brigid Alkema Clemenger BBDO Wellington Executive Creative Director
Emily Beautrais Clemenger BBDO Wellington Creative Director
Linda Major Clemenger BBDO Wellington Director of Social Marketing
Bethany Omeri Clemenger BBDO Wellington Account Director
Paul Graham NZ Transport Agency Principal Scientist
Rachel Prince NZ Transport Agency Principal Advisor - Network User Behaviour, Access and Use Group
Matt Barnes Clemenger BBDO Wellington Account Manager

Brief Explanation

CHALLENGE Most people believe they’re skilled enough to drive over the limit. And it’s everyone else who’s the problem. We needed to reframe the way people look at speed when they’re driving. Irrespective of the cause of the crash, speed determines the outcome – whether someone is killed, or walks away. OBJECTIVES Our objectives were both attitudinal and behavioural: we needed to increase public intolerance of speeding and increase compliance with the right speeds. STRATEGY We had previously put the speeder front and centre in regards to blame. But what if we used the speeding driver’s own bias – that it’s all those idiot drivers out there who cause the problems on the road – and turned it back on him? Other people make mistakes. Even a very good driver can’t change the fact that human beings are prone to making mistakes. In many aspects of life we can learn from our mistakes; but not when driving – the road is an exception. Even the smallest of mistakes on the road can cost us our life, or take someone else’s. EXECUTION We didn’t point the finger of blame at anyone. For the first time, we acknowledged that speeders are skilled and experienced drivers. But they’re not the only ones on the road. The story used the power of special effects and simple conversation to show the sheer helplessness and anguish of two drivers, as they realise the inevitable outcome of a simple mistake. The result is a harrowing depiction of the ‘if only’ moment. All without the need for blood and broken bodies. Without casting the speeding driver as the villain. And leaving no room for denial. By changing the discourse around speeding - agreeing for the first time with an audience we had blamed for almost 20 years - we reframed an undesirable behaviour. OUTCOME This campaign has had an unprecedented effect. The world shared it: 10 million + views on YouTube, with a 98% ‘like’ rate and over 6000 comments. International news and prominent social media sites discussed it. TED Talks chose it as one of '10 Ads Worth Spreading' in 2014. And it prompted a new conversation about speed amongst people who had stopped listening. Over half of all drivers can recall the ad completely unprompted, and two thirds of New Zealanders say its changed their attitude. While entrenched behaviour takes time to change, there is strong evidence that Mistakes has started to influence behaviour on the road. In the two years following the launch of the campaign mean speeds have fallen to the lowest levels in 20 years, and there has been a drop in the proportions of drivers exceeding the limits on both open roads and urban streets – now at the lowest in the history of our anti-speed campaigns.