2014 started with more deaths on Australian roads than ever. As the country’s largest insurer we wanted people to start thinking about car safety before it was too late.

We got people to reappraise the cars they drive and buy based on safety ratings, rather than cosmetic features (like colour) which we know determine a majority of purchases.

We opened the Crashed Car Showroom, an interactive experience that demonstrated the importance of car safety ratings. Crashed cars filled the showroom and became our unique media channel that delivered our safety message. Each car was turned into a custom-built digital experience, using data from decades of crash tests and over 50 million insurance claims. Each installation gave people actionable safety advice about improving their current cars safety or information on which car to buy.

The entire showroom experience was replicated online to reach a wider audience.

A custom-built simulator led our multi-platform campaign. To make car safety a national priority, we let the public, journalists and TV presenters crash test different cars.

Using Oculus Rift and Unity 3D graphics they became crash test dummies and crashed two cars at 60km/h. One had a 2 star safety rating; the other a 5 star rating, showing how the rating could save their life.

The crash physics were built using data from decades of crash tests and 50 million insurance claims.

We then re-created the experience online, using PR, content and pre-roll to get the nation to experience the safety message.

The Crashed Car Showroom put car safety back on the national agenda.

The design helped the showroom achieve incredible foot traffic of 930,000 people. It also allowed people to experience the showroom like a gallery, with people moving from display to display.

With the design applied across all media the showroom earned 46,000,000 media impressions, appearing on 7 national news shows for over 11 minutes. It was discussed on 127 radio stations, written about in every national newspaper and appeared online around the world.