The Waze navigation app collects user-generated data on traffic and road conditions from its active communities and immediately analyses that data in order to provide other Wazers with the most optimal route.

You can also use it in 98 languages locally, but we still can’t do it in our mother tongue.

Zulu (20.6% of pop.) is the most widely-spoken home language in SA, but Waze uses English (6.6% of pop.) and Afrikaans (10% of pop.) as their only local options.

By using Waze on your mobile device, you share information that translates into

real-time traffic data and road mapping. You can also actively report to the community on traffic, accidents, police traps, blocked roads, potholes and more, by personally inputting information on the go. Waze collects this information and immediately analyses it in order to provide other Wazers with the most optimal route to their destination.

Our idea, Shwi by Nissan, uses this real-time data and translates it into our drivers’ home language to help them find the most optimal route to their destination.

By hacking the shareable ‘personal voice recorder’ feature, we uploaded all commands in isiZulu words that sound like danger, to help our users avoid it without the need for translation. This is a truly unique innovation because any navigation app can navigate obstacles on the road, but only one does it in a language you truly

The Waze navigation app collects user-generated data from its communities’ mobile devices and immediately analyses it in order to provide other Wazers with the most optimal route to their destination. Our idea uses the same data delivered to Wazers, but translates it into Zulu commands based on sound to help Wazers navigate local roads with a local voice. This reduces thinking time on the road and helps our Zulu drivers react accordingly and in time. Our shareable Shwi file allowed the Nissan brand to allow all South African drivers to participate on Waze, helping strengthen the perception of a technologically-motivated brand for locals.

We hacked Waze, the navigation app’s ‘personal voice recorder’ feature to create our own set of commands that are suited to our local drivers. Once our recorded commands are uploaded, Waze generates a shareable link for anyone wanting to use them on the app. A trackable QR code houses the link and we incorporated it into all our flat media. You can also access Shwi by Nissan through a landing page, as well as paid GDB banners on Spotify, Google, YouTube and other social media. These elements, along with descriptive audio ads, drove people to download the new commands and allowed our client to track the campaign uptake in real time.

Nissan prides itself as a tech-driven brand. Tech that helps keep its drivers safe on the roads. Waze too. The shareable link allowed the car brand to allow all South African drivers access to this unique service, helping strengthen the perception of a technologically-motivated brand in a local context.

100 000 Daily users, 10 million Kilometres covered and 800 000 active Waze community overall. The cost to upload a new language on Waze is $750 000.

We did it for under $5k.