The main ambition with this campaign was to encourage drivers to have more responsible behaviour on the road.Within this goal a set of aims were defined:Create an emotional connection with the target, Deploy an untapped fear, and Convey a sense of irreversibility The role of this advertising is to call the attention to an everyday problem by encouraging drivers to change their behaviour and showing them that if they don’t drive within speed limits they are potentially perpetrators/victims of road accidents. Since part of the media solution involves the creative idea it is only fair to associate both. Therefore to achieve our campaign’s goal the spots had to be intrusive, full of impact and had to depict reality. Showing real stories with real people with no numbers. Revealing the faces behind the figures.The creative idea was to use people who have been seriously injured in road accidents and got tetraplegic and paraplegic. Each commercial shows a person doing a daily task like opening a letter, buttoning a shirt or taking shoes off. To capitalise the emotional impact, each film features one person doing a simple task.

The media idea is based in three pillars:1. “Be truthful” – Ensure that the real time they took to do the specific task was respected. For example it took Teresa almost 2'45'' to open a letter, it took Helder 1’55” to button his shirt and Henrique 2’01” to take his shoes off. The campaign signature was "more haste, less speed". Which implies unorthodox length, completely unusual in Portugal.2. “Force people to see the ads” - The ads have been aired in the three Portuguese channels on the same day and at the same time on prime time - immediately before the night news. This is the rule whenever possible for preventing people from zapping and to assure the attention until the end.

3. “It can happen to anyone” - To reinforce further the desired emotional response and to guarantee a continuous dialogue with road drivers we created 12 unique TV commercials, airing a different film each month. By the time of this application the fourth film was about to go on air.Results: So far so good. The immediate reactions were highly positive. The campaign made a great impact:Generated an high level of media attention – during the first month we got 82 publicity references; Was noticed on all the national televisions – the victims were invited to national news and to participate on several talk shows.

In Meios & Publicidade’s (national reference advertising journal) weekly survey, the audience’s preferred ads were the Road Prevention campaign.

Ultimately, BBDO and the client (PRP - Prevenção Rodoviária Portuguesa) made the media team.

Due to the client’s nature, (PRP) as a governmental entity and having a particular status among the media, there was no media agency involvement. This resulted in a deeper contribution from BBDO on all media ideas.The key contribution given by the team had to do with the essence of media itself. Not just the vehicle but also the usage of the media’s length as message reinforcement. Portugal ranks number two in the International Road Traffic and Accident Database (OECD).In 1999, five people were killed everyday and nearly 190 were seriously injured in road accidents, being the speed the major cause.The Portuguese Road Prevention Department is highly committed to reducing accidents and road deaths.

The idea was to put media to the service of creativity, independent of its restrictions; hence BBDO intended to adapt the media to the idea and not the opposite. The end result was that media followed creativity and enhanced the idea, not just by delivering to the right audience.

Ultimately, BBDO and the client (PRP - Prevenção Rodoviária Portuguesa) made the media team.

Due to the client’s nature, (PRP) as a governmental entity and having a particular status among the media, there was no media agency involvement. This resulted in a deeper contribution from BBDO on all media ideas.The key contribution given by the team had to do with the essence of media itself. Not just the vehicle but also the usage of the media’s length as message reinforcement.