There are still over 10,000 cats every year who are injured or killed by cars in Japan, no matter how advanced car technology becomes or how safely we drive. What’s the cause? After a behavioral study of cats, we discovered their unique habit of taking shelter inside and under parked cars especially during the cold winter season. Often drivers started their cars without noticing the sleeping guests, causing unwanted tragedies. This prompted Nissan to take action and apply their innovative thinking for our cuddly friends.

Simple action with catchy name to create new behavior.

We came up with a simple action and named it “Knock Knock Cats,” which is very ‘catchy’ to Japanese ears.

Expand Awareness through Social Media.

We started off by posting the announcement of this project with a hash tag #KnockKnockCats though Nissan’s social media account (Facebook/twitter). The catchy-ness of the name and great insight soon went viral through social media. We also co-created an online movie with cat lovers for promotional purposes.

Created free download materials for co-creation

In response to demand from cat lovers, we created a special icon, a sticker and a poster for free. This encouraged people to share #KnockKnockCats even more.

Additional Driver Specific Placement

The project was also promoted on car navigation and radio which are known to be the ideal means to give reminders to drivers.