IMPRESSIVE RESULTS FOR SEATBELT CAMPAIGN

Your head can think, speak, eat, read this text and … kill. It’s simple. Drive at a speed of 50 km/h, hit a tree, and a person who weighs 70 kg turns into a 3.5 tonne piece of rock that destroys everything – the dashboard, the windshield and the head of the person in the front seat. Your head can do everything, including becoming the main character in a Road Traffic Safety Directorate (CSDD) advertising campaign which we at DDB helped to put together.

Statistics show that only one-half of people who sit in the back seat of a vehicle use a seatbelt. This statistic led to a story that encourages people to use their seatbelts. “The meaning of a seatbelt is not just safety,” says DDB creative director Vairis Strazds, who also authored the campaign. “The purpose of the seatbelt is to save lives, and so we officially named it the Life Belt.”

#DZĪVĪBASJOSTA was part of every element in the campaign – the video that was viewed by more than 155,000 people and shares by 2,000 viewers on social networks, outdoor and print advertising, and a special digital solution for visitors to the Draugiem.lv portal.

CSDD / Life Belt from DDB Latvia on Vimeo.

We launched the campaign at the “Zelta Boulings” bowling arena, where we focused on heads and their ability to kill those who sit in front seats with a set of special bowling balls with stone heads. The arena has a special CSDD lane for those who want to test the balls. A special invitation may be won by looking at the solution on Draugiem.lv.

The first results of the campaign are positive. A Snapshots Internet survey found that more than one-half of the people of Latvia have noticed the campaign, and more than 90% have understood its main message. More than one-half of respondents said that the campaign encouraged them to use their seatbelts and to encourage people in the back seat to do so, as well.

Don’t kill anyone! If you’re in the back seat, put on your seatbelt!