We created a way to make drivers appreciate the dangers of fatigue, more deeply than any medium had before. For the first time, we took a road safety message into the medium of theatre. The issue we were tackling was driver fatigue, which strikes without warning. We took the same approach by placing our message where drivers would least expect it. We worked with a theatre company to create the first Theatre Ad, which appeared before unsuspecting audiences in a major Wellington theatre. Our Theatre Ad ran before each performance of The December Brother, from 14 August to 11 September 2010. This advertising innovation was witnessed by 6000 drivers live in the theatre and gained enough media attention to take the issue of driver fatigue to a nation of drivers who had previously not accepted it as a problem.

Creative strategic solution: For the first time, we created an ad purely for the theatre. Our audience had never encountered an advertising message here, so this entirely new medium would catch drivers by surprise, just like fatigue itself. It would also create enough PR to reach a wider audience.

Describe the different channels and how they worked together: The primary medium was the theatre. Our Theatre Ad ran before each performance of The December Brother, from 14th August to 11th September 2010. This media innovation did result in massive PR, valued at 6 times our budget. For the first time, fatigue was accepted by drivers across New Zealand.

Our Theatre Ad brought the sudden shock of fatigue to over 6,000 drivers, more successfully than any medium before. The extra PR this stunt generated was valued at 6 times our budget, which thrust the issue of fatigue into drivers’ awareness. For the first time, we succeeded in getting national recognition for an issue that drivers had previously not accepted personal responsibility for.