The Campaign

Pocket Patrol is the latest innovation in beach safety designed to help beachgoers see the hidden dangers that lifesavers see. It utilises mobile technology that everybody already takes to the beach, and turns it into a life saving tool. With Pocket Patrol, beach goers are now able to identify dangers for themselves and learn more about how to avoid them. Accuracy was critical, so we developed the most advanced AR experience possible, capable of displaying exact positions of live dangers. But standard AR techniques aren't reliable enough to show a specific position anywhere on a broad open area like a beach. So we developed a far more accurate means of marking exact locations in open areas, using a bespoke algorithm that combines GPS, compass and gyroscope data. Allowing the app to place and view virtual markers in true 3D space with pinpoint accuracy, while being incredibly simple to use.

Creative Execution

The smartphone application was launched on October 22nd on a stretch of coastline marked as one of Australia’s deadliest – The Sunshine Coast. Fulltime lifeguards and volunteer lifesavers we’re all trained on integrating Pocket Patrol as part of their daily routine while walking up and down patrolling the beaches, creating a direct educational contact with the beachgoer public to learn about the app and how to download it. Live event activations on beaches during this launch also helped promote the app to beachgoers as well as providing an immersive 360 VR experience where people could feel what it’s like to drown in a rip. This film also provided an educational instructional aspect to show people how to safely swim out of a rip if stuck in one. Through social channels we published educational posts that challenged viewers to try and spot the rips on beaches. A further online content film demonstrated just how quickly anyone can get dragged out to sea, by showing a film running for the same length of time it could take you to be pulled into deep water.

The real impact of Pocket Patrol has been in changing beach behaviour for all Australians. It’s a completely new way to teach beach safety – training people to recognise the dangers and empowers them to make safer swimming decisions. It’s been so well received by lifesavers that it’s now part of the official kit for the SLSA national education program. 3600 people downloaded Pocket Patrol and identified beach dangers during the launch month. A further 13.2 million beachgoers learned about beach safety though live events, social media, a VR 360 film and online film. From a PR perspective, the story was covered by 144 tech websites, family blogs, as well as local and international news helping reach a total audience of 20 million. Data and metrics in the post campaign analysis returned an 81.5% increase in positive sentiment for Samsung and brand engagement results are 15% above the norm.

Our strategy was informed by the current situation on Australian beaches that shows 70% of Australians can’t identify one of the biggest hidden dangers. Rip currents. The common myth is that it’s just tourists who can’t swim that get caught in rips. However, the reality is that the biggest fatality group is over-confident males aged 25-50. The Australian lifestyle spent making the most of our beautiful ocean has created a false sense of bravado in many aussie males. Additionally, there are many other deadly dangers on our beaches to watch out for and every day lifesavers face the near impossible task of keeping an entire beach safe. Something needed to be done to get the right beach safety information in the hands of those who need it most and in a way that they would actually engage with and use as part of their daily beach routine.