In September 2017, Volkswagen launched the New Polo. A popular car in the crowded B-segment of smaller cars, but with fierce competition in the car market it had to make a stand for itself to promote its newest iteration. Fortunately, it comes standard packed with technology making the car one of the safest in its category. But how do you turn safety into something interesting for an upscale audience which wants to be convinced in both a rational and emotional way when choosing which car to buy? We had to raise awareness for the New Polo by continuing to build on its known safety elements, but adding a layer of excitement as well.

We fitted the Polo with an SLR camera using a wide-angle lense. A webcam connected the camera to the Polo’s dashboard. If the webcam detected the pedestrian detection icon lighting up, the camera automatically took a picture of whatever was happening in front of the car. Driving around with this setup resulted in a series of pictures demonstrating the real-life use of the Polo’s pedestrian detection. Thus, making an abstract piece of technology tangible and showing its life-saving potential.

Three of these pictures were used in a national outdoor campaign to support the New Polo’s launch. To reinforce the pictures we opted for a simple but direct copy line: “Saved by the New Polo”. This highlighted the fact that these were real people and that they Polo’s safety isn’t only for those on the inside, it’s for those on the outside as well.