This work exemplifies the "Creative Data" category, particularly in "Use of Real-Time Data" by using dynamic creative optimization technology to serve the Dutch public and solve crime in real-time.

Special Investigative Media uses immediate crime scene details from the Dutch Police Force - location, time, severity—to build and deploy targeted digital assets to gather eyewitness accounts, modernizing community engagement. By harnessing real-time data, the Dutch Police have innovatively engaged the public, ensuring timely, relevant, and precise communications.

We repurposed the power of real-time data to keep citizens safer, and in doing so, changed the future of crime solving.

In 2023, the Dutch Police Force was facing on confluence of societal issues leading to a growing load of unsolved cases: Dutch citizens were feeling less & less safe. In 2023, 20% of citizens said they were the victim of a crime. A 3% increase in only one year.

Meanwhile, the Dutch Police Force was overwhelmed. The Force faced unsurmountable staffing shortages, resulting in one of the lowest police per citizen rates in Europe.

Eyewitness tips could help mitigate the accumulation of unsolved cases, but traditional calls for witnesses were not reaching the right people in time. Eyewitness tips can be the difference between finding the right perpetrator and cases going cold. But time is of the essence: even the smallest detail provided by the public can lead to a breakthrough, and studies show that the sooner eyewitness reports are given, the more accurate they are. Old tactics, such as physically going door-to-door, were no longer feasible. The Force was struggling with knowing how to find the right people, at the right place, at the right time - many of whom didn’t even realize they’d witnessed a crime.

Situation: A desperately understaffed Dutch Police Force faced an increase in unsolved cases. What could help? Everyday citizens. Prompt eyewitness tips became the critical divide between solving crimes and letting them go cold.

Brief: The traditional method of going door-to-door for witness accounts became untenable for this strapped Force. The Dutch Police needed a revolutionary approach to engage a broader audience of potential witnesses, effectively modernizing their outreach efforts.

Objective: The mission was clear: forge a new, more efficient path to gather essential tips that could crack cases wide open. The urgency to adapt and innovate was not just about keeping pace—it was about redefining the future of law enforcement in the Netherlands.

From selling to safeguarding—real-time media reimagined for the greater good: The most powerful tool used to reach citizens—the sophisticated mechanisms of media—can be redirected for societal good. Typically harnessed to drive conversion, we envisioned these tools as instruments of public safety. This pivot not only repurposes existing technology for crime-solving but also redefines the relationship between media and the public, transforming everyday marketing channels into lifelines of community security and engagement.

We transformed our media algorithms into a real-time crime-fighting engine. Introducing: S.I.M: Special Investigative Media

Within minutes of a crime occurring anywhere in the Netherlands and being logged by the police, our marketing technology platform is notified, analyzes data, and automatically builds a series of creative assets tailored dynamically to a crime’s specifics: its location, time, severity, type, and more. Once complete, hundreds of assets calling for witness accounts are deployed in digital media to a geotargeted population of potential witnesses, down to the very zip code.

Whenever a crime is logged in the police database, our AI-powered Feed Management system is notified. It instantly begins analyzing and organizing unstructured data—location, time, severity, images, surveillance footage—preparing it for dynamic creative optimization.

Then, our advanced Creative Builder automatically generates assets customized to a specific crime. Depending on the data available and the severity of the crime, these simple and striking assets feature maps of the crime’s location, CTV images, video collected from witnesses, or even simple text.

Using hyperlocal targeting with a proprietary Mapbox API, assets are precisely directed and deployed across Programmatic (AdForm), Search (Google, Microsoft), and Social (Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat) platforms. This ensures messages reach the right potential witnesses within minutes. CTAs encourage citizens to provide tips via the police website.

If unresolved after 10 days, assets automatically update with new details. Once solved, campaigns end. Case closed, thanks to media.

Special Investigative Media created a more efficient police force with a deeper connection to the public. Our tool activated the most powerful public safety network ever assembled:

17,500 cases leveraged S.I.M

50M Impressions

8M Unique People Reached

16% Click Through Rate, compared to platform average of 2.5%

450,000 citizens clicked on assets

500 cases solved and counting

A year into S.I.M, the Dutch Police Force is increasing investment into the program by 25%. They even appointed a new role: Special Investigative Marketer.

We repurposed the power of media to keep citizens safer. And in doing so, we changed the future of crime solving as we know it.