LOST IN THE RAIN (DRIVE WITH CARE)

TitleLOST IN THE RAIN (DRIVE WITH CARE)
BrandGENERAL MOTORS
Product / ServiceCHEVROLET
CategoryD03. Use of Branded Content created for Digital or Social Media
EntrantMRM//McCANN Singapore, SINGAPORE
Idea Creation MRM//McCANN Singapore, SINGAPORE
Media Placement COMMONWEALTH//McCANN INDIA New Delhi, INDIA
PR COMMONWEALTH//McCANN INDIA New Delhi, INDIA
Production COMMONWEALTH//McCANN INDIA New Delhi, INDIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Dante Abelarde MRM//McCANN Singapore Creative Director
Nigel Heng MRM//McCANN Singapore Art Director
Jasmine Lim MRM//McCANN Singapore Art Director
Cody Liew MRM//McCANN Singapore Copywriter
Regina Rodricks MRM//McCANN Singapore Account Manager
Tan Wei Ting Semicolon Editor
Benjamin Tan Semicolon Post Producer
Raymund Co Commonwealth//McCANN Singapore SVP Regional Business Director
Krista Church Commonwealth//McCANN India Head of Operations
Deepak Kohli Commonwealth//McCANN India Business Director
Roshni Khanna Commonwealth//McCANN India Sr Project Manager
Vijay Jacob Commonwealth//McCANN India Country Head
Mark Blair Commonwealth//McCANN Singapore Strategic Planning Director

The Campaign

At the centre of the campaign was a fairly simple idea: tell the stories of those who had been “lost in the rain” to drive awareness when it matters most: when crossing the street. The medium was road signs created using a stencil and a special hydrophobic liquid (water repellant) that when sprayed on the road created messages that were invisible when dry but would appear when the roads got wet. Installed at several strategic road locations around Mumbai and Delhi at the start of the monsoon season, the road signs revealed themselves to the public when it rained. The message was not a typical road safety message sponsored by Chevrolet, it was the stories of victims and their families told in a new way, in environments where the messages took on a heightened relevancy and immediacy for both pedestrians and those who saw the content online.

Creative Execution

The hydrophobic paint was key. It had to be tested on multiple road conditions and be able to withstand pedestrian traffic and heavy rainfall in the monsoon. Working with Muskaan (A local road safety foundation) we interviewed victims’ family members for their stories. From these, we created a variety of messages which were then cut into stencils. With the support of local traffic authorities, these were then installed at locations in Mumbai and Delhi, sprayed with the hydrophobic paint and left to dry. These signs would remain invisible until the early rains would make the signs appear as road safety signs for the monsoon. A standard highway font was used for maximum legibility. A social video and banners and advertorial content led viewers to a website on road safety, with PR helping spread the word to greater online and offline audiences.

On social media, the video got 14.7 million views while the safety website drove 3.7 million engagements. On Facebook, Chevrolet India received a 92% positive sentiment score for the campaign, with users praising the brand for the timely initiative. Most importantly, the innovative wet signs captured the media’s attention with CNN, CNBC, TV18, IBN and other networks and publications covering the campaign and raising the subject of road safety into a national conversation.

The core idea centered on the use of roads and crossings as the best medium to deliver the safety message, surprising pedestrians and drivers approaching dangerous crossings and junctions by appearing on the streets during rainy days. But for truly effective reach, the online branded content (social videos) were vital to extend the limited reach/exposure of the road signs via social and display advertising allowing the brands' safety message to reach the much greater online audiences and catch the attention of the press media.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

In a country with a population of over a billion people, road death statistics are not impactful. The goal was to give a human element to the data, to tell the stories of real victims and their families who had been impacted by avoidable road fatalities as a warning to others to stay safe on wet roads. The heart of the campaign would be the victim stories as road signs, shared as branded content on social and online, with PR and dealership events providing reaching greater audiences. Capturing the signs and their messages in a series of video and content pieces shared online and on social media, Chevrolet started a social, PR and influencer program designed to drive the campaign across multiple audiences and involve the widest possible number of drivers and pedestrians in a nationwide conversation. 

Links

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