80% of young drivers admit to talking on their mobile phones while driving, and VicRoads, the Victorian road traffic authority, were having difficulty communicating the dangers of this behavior – specifically, you’re up four times more likely to crash, and 23 times more likely if texting.Knowing this, we developed a campaign that bucked traditional media and communication tactics, which looked to engage its target audience by speaking with them through a medium they were interested in and familiar with – an iPhone application.Using world-first gaming technology and supported by a widely seeded PR campaign, people could download ‘CityGT’ (a non-corporate branded driving game) to their iPhones, and play wirelessly using their phone as a steering wheel on the Federation Square big screen. While playing, the game is suddenly hijacked by an unexpected phone call, reminding players about the dangers of talking on mobile phones while driving.

Seeded prior to launch on various high-profile gaming and driving websites, CityGT was officially launched on September 6th 2009 in Federation Square, Melbourne.With the world-first opportunity to interact with the big screen at Federation Square through iPhones, crowds flocked to the inner-city landmark to practice their driving skills and witness the functionality – at the same time, each receiving the important message that VicRoads were looking to remind drivers about.The launch was featured on all major news networks that night, and generated significant amounts of online discussion. In addition, a tour of major regional areas around the state of Victoria where people had the opportunity to play the game on mobile Scooterlites, and an assortment of non-traditional and engagement methods, continues to drive the ‘newsworthiness’ of the message.

Featured on every major Australian news network on the night of the launch, the campaign significantly exceeded its cut-through expectations – both through television and online news.In addition to generating PR value equivalent to a significant media spend (beyond that of any standard VicRoads budget), the app was downloaded over 30,000 times in Australia in its first month, and rapidly climbed the list of ‘Featured Apps’, eventually ranking number 3 in the ‘Hottest Apps’ section, and benefiting greatly from the consumer-generated reviews. Driven by the online buzz, the game’s website gained hits from over 35 countries around the world.Coinciding with a planned relaunch of the VicRoads brand, under which the client was wishing to throw off their austere image, the client is thrilled and has immediately commissioned further innovative and behavior-changing jobs within the agency.