Gjensidige and Trygg Trafikk: Keep Focus

Drivers distracted by their mobile phones is an increasing problem on Norwegian roads. Together with Trygg Trafikk, Gjensidige wanted to place this problem on the agenda. Through an innovative video-application and hugely successful PR-work, distracted drivers was one of the most mentioned subjects of this year’s summer and the campaign had a reach of over 30 000 000.

Distracted drivers is an increasing problem on Norwegian roads. In a recent survey, 1/3 of the Norwegians admits to being distracted while driving. This gives a potential of over 1 million accidents.

The objective of the campaign was to put the problem of distracted drivers on the agenda. For Gjensidige this was both for CSR and because they’re Norway’s biggest provider of car-insurance and would obviously profit from fewer accidents.

Gjensidige got together with Norway’s biggest traffic safety-organization, Trygg Trafikk (TT). With the help of a mix of traditional and social media and a nation-wide effort, the strategy was to play on both emotion and facts to change behavior in the publics.

We began the media effort before the main motor of the campaign was introduced with a survey that showed the extent of the problem. The results were distributed as a localized press release with the help of TT and Gjensidige’s local offices.
The main motor of the campaign placed viewers in an interactive video using both pictures from their Facebook profile and calling them on their phone. This solution, first created by Tjarnargatan on Iceland, gave a huge emotional impact. To launch the video we held an event where celebrities competed in texting while driving go-karts. The winner: the one that actually stopped the kart to text. We used cases, research and ambassadors to make sure the subject stayed on the agenda for as long as possible.

The media effort resulted in over 170 articles ranging from national TV to local papers. The reach in traditional media was over 21 700 000, which is four times Norway’s population. In social media the reach was 8 500 000. Only 500 000 reach was bought, resulting in an organic reach of 29 500 000. All through summer, distracted drivers was one of the main stories in media. In a survey done after the campaign, 1/3 of the respondents exposed to the campaign answered that it had changed their attitude towards mobile phone usage while driving.