Despite years of government scare tactics, inexperience, speed and the ever-increasing distraction of smartphones mean that 1 in 3 young Australian drivers crash within their first year of driving, and 2 die on our roads every week.

Our objective was to reach out to young drivers in a new way by using Samsung’s strongest connection point to the young - the smartphone.

To do this we created a promotion called S-Drive to encourage and reward safe driving. At its heart is an app that monitors driving behaviour, giving out points for every safe kilometre travelled, which can be redeemed for rewards.

S-Drive used a completely new approach to road safety advertising. By encouraging and rewarding safe driving rather than using shock tactics, we were able to engage a young audience who are resistant to lectures and government warnings.

A social component also incentivised friends to reach out via Facebook or their phone contact list to create Drive Teams who could then win team-only rewards by motivating each other to drive safely. This reinforces the deadly 1 in 3 statistic while taking traditional peer pressure and using it for good.

The desired outcome for S-Drive was to encourage youths to actively change their driving behaviour for the better.

A fresh, new approach that has successfully engaged participants to actively change their own driving behaviour for the better. Drive Teams have also turned peer pressure into a positive force.

Results after 6 weeks:

2,500 active participants.

20,000+ S-Drives undertaken.

1,000,000+ safe kilometres travelled.

50,000+ rewards claimed.

0 road fatalities – the lowest death toll in the launch region since 1936.

Program participation has climbed week-on-week instead of declining after launch like traditional advertising campaigns.

Speed and mobile related infringements are also down 25% and all participants interviewed experienced a significant change in their driving behavior.

As one of the largest manufacturers of smartphones, Samsung is in a perfect position to use them as part of a promotion.

Targeted at a city with one of the worst youth accident rates in Australia, S-Drive launched with live activations at universities and surf festivals. The promotion also included print, posters, outdoor, ambient, radio, YouTube videos, social and PR – all directing people to sdrive.com.au to learn more and sign up.

The ambition was to make safe driving enjoyable and even fun and let Samsung turn a distraction on the road into a life saving tool, creating a new level of brand engagement.