VIRTUAL COASTGUARD

Short List
TitleVIRTUAL COASTGUARD
BrandMARITIME NEW ZEALAND
Product / ServiceMARITIME SAFETY
CategoryA01. Activation by Location
EntrantFCB NEW ZEALAND Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Idea Creation FCB NEW ZEALAND Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Media FCB NEW ZEALAND Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
PR FCB NEW ZEALAND Auckland, NEW ZEALAND

Credits

Name Company Position
Jenni Doubleday FCB New Zealand Creative Services Director
Nick Smith FCB New Zealand Head of Craft
Simon Pengelly FCB New Zealand Studio Director
Pip Mayne FCB New Zealand Head of Content
Matt Scott FCB New Zealand Head of Account Service
Rufus Chuter FCB New Zealand Head of Strategy
Hilary Barrett FCB New Zealand Media Manager
Rebecca Leyland FCB New Zealand Media Buyer
Steph Pearson FCB New Zealand Digital Director
Rohan Prasad FCB New Zealand Digital Campaign Manager
Matt Williams FCB New Zealand Creative/Copywriter
Freddie Coltart FCB New Zealand Creative/Art Director
James Mok FCB New Zealand Regional Executive Creative Director
Tony Clewett FCB New Zealand Executive Creative Director

The Campaign

“Virtual Coastguard”: an always-on system that directs boat users to put their lifejackets on once they’re out on the water around New Zealand. Using a geo-fence surrounding the entire country, the system intercepts boat users across a range of mobile apps and sites once they’ve left the shore with a simple, direct message: “We can see you’re out on the water. Get it on or its no good.” The idea was a world-first for Google.

Creative Execution

To establish “Virtual Coastguard” we created a targeting zone around NZ’s entire 14,000km coastline; this meant setting up hundreds of different longitude and latitude markers around the coastline to effectively geo-fence the entire country – a world first for Google. We activated this across Facebook, Instagram, Google Display Network and 24 additional ad networks to maximise coverage. For extra safety, we up-weighted exposure in 300 of NZ’s most popular and dangerous fishing spots using GPS data purchased from fishing bodies. The system is always live, ensuring prompts are delivered to any boat user when they’re on the waters around New Zealand.

We made New Zealand the world’s first entirely geo-fenced country, and it’s working: • Over 3 million lifesaving prompts delivered so far – and climbing every day. • Message engagement rates are up to 700% higher than land-based ads, showing their relevance. • 60% reduction in boating fatalities achieved so far. (Oct ’15 to Feb ’16 vs. Oct ’14 to Feb ’15)

Deliver highly visible reminders to put a lifejacket on, at the moment that matters most: once boat users are out on the water. To achieve this we turned to the one channel research showed us was a ubiquitous part of the boating occasion – the mobile phone. We sought to provide a series of un-missable behavioural prompts across any mobile app or site a boat user was accessing once they were off shore. The system is always-on and up-weighted to areas that data shows us are either most popular or dangerous for boat users.

Links

Application URL   |   Additional URL