The Campaign

Meet Graham, the only person designed to survive on our roads. Part interactive sculpture, educational tool and ultimately a catalyst for conversation and earned media, Graham shows us how humans would need to change to survive a car crash. Over several months a trauma surgeon and a road safety engineer collaborated with a world-renowned artist using decades of road safety data, medical research and creativity to deliver evolution underpinned by evidence. Their goal was to create a visceral experience with a simple, unavoidable message. If you don’t look like Graham then you need to slow down on our roads. During the process key weaknesses in the human body were identified and modified, each change told a new story, showing what happens to our bodies in common crash scenarios.

Execution

We focused on driving earned media support and PR coverage. With a paid media spend of $0 to support the lanch, we leveraged existing TAC channels, community partners & influencers. To introduce Graham to the public, we went through several steps: • Seeded Graham with influential science, art culture, road safety publishers and broadcasters. • Revealed Graham to the public on Thursday 21st of July at the State Library of Victoria, including media opportunities to interview our project specialists. • Created an online experience at www.meetgraham.com.au where people could go beneath his skin and examine the modifications behind his anatomy. • Opened the conversation up to the public by posting content to TAC and partner social channels. • Graham toured galleries to locations where people are four times more likely to be involved in a road accident. Visitors could use Google’s new AR technology Tango to delve deeper into his form and better understand his anatomy.

To date 287,282 people have visited Graham in the flesh, with an 86% increase in gallery visitation and 1 in 6 people in regional areas having seen the exhibition. Beyond the exhibit, Graham sparked a global road safety conversation - 1.2 Billion earned media impressions in the first week, with a paid media budget of $0 and Graham was the #1 Trending topic on Reddit, Twitter and Facebook. $29 million dollars in earned media against a paid media budget of $0 Graham has been adopted by the W.H.O. as the global face of road safety for 2017. An indication of the cultural impact comes from Google. Search for ‘Graham’ and the entire first page of web results, and first 15 images, are all of the ‘Meet Graham’ campaign, achieved organically through user action ($0 on SEO).

The Situation

‘Meet Graham’ is a campaign with PR at its heart. With no paid media to support the launch, and the need to influence public dialogue and utltimately change perceptions around the road safety conversation, Graham set up to create a visceral reaction in all who saw him ensuring that he would be discussed and shared on around the world. He started a real world conversation, utilising earned-media tactics to influence public dialogue and ultimately change perceptions and behaviours to make safer roads for all Australians.

The Strategy

People understand that car crashes are traumatic, but as soon as you try to explain concepts like ‘kinetic energy’ or ‘impact force’ their eyes glaze over. TAC wanted to break public apathy and prioritise safe road behaviour again. We had to ignite a real conversation. One that took place on the news, through respected voices, and most importantly, between people. Our strategy was to bring Graham to life in the flesh, rather than solely a digital experience. We knew that the visceral nature of experiencing Graham face to face would create an opportunity to get influencers and press clamouring to share their experiences, and the core message of Graham, on with Australia and the world. Driving this public dialogue, rather than making another ‘shocking’ TV campaign, would ensure Australian’s stop and considered their own vulnerability on the roads as an issue worthy of attention.