In Flanders, house fires cause numerous deaths every year. Most victims die from smoke inhalation whilst asleep. To get wake everyone to wake up to this fact, the Flemish Authority commissioned us to organise an awareness campaign.
Information campaign smoke detectors for Wonen Vlaanderen
How we sent out smoke signals and caused a great stir
Government
Creative concept
Campaign development
Film & photo
Print studio
The challenge: To persuade all homeowners to install smoke alarms and to maintain them.
Our strategy: wagging your finger doesn’t work but drawing attention in an absurd way does.
How can you get everyone to protect themselves against the risk of fire without lecturing anyone? By using humour. We created a family that didn’t choose the simplest path to protect itself against the risk of fire. Instead they chose the funniest. Fortunately there are easier ways to protect yourself by installing smoke detectors. This way you can save lives without all the fuss. By delivering the message in this light-hearted way it penetrated as easily as smoke.
The campaign: Bring a private fireman into your home, but do not take it too literally.
Our family literally brought a firefighter into their home instead of simply installing smoke detectors. A serious breach of privacy and pretty absurd to begin with. The campaign was launched at Batibouw by giving away one thousand smoke detectors because every home should have them. The family’s saga was so popular that we came up with a sequel. This time we shared tips to prevent CO poisoning. After all, sleeping with a gas mask on is not exactly practical.
Smoke detector sales increased as a result of our campaign. As for the firefighters, they were burning with enthusiasm and even proposed to help spread the campaign. A well-deserved pat on the back for us!
MEDIA: radio, TV, social media, posters and a leaflet with more details.
Result: hot in firefighter circles and with the target group
Our campaign gave the sale of smoke and CO detectors a boost. As for the firefighters, they were burning with enthusiasm and even proposed to help spread the campaign. A well-deserved pat on the back for us!
How about using the same campaign for students? No way.
At the start of the academic year we translated the message to their life-world. Students don’t have to install the smoke detector themselves but more than anything else they mustn’t SABOTAGE them. They often do this so they can smoke without triggering the detector or because they use the batteries for their bicycle light or remote control. Like everyone else, they must be made to realise that smoke detectors can save lives. However, making students realise the use of smoke detectors is far from easy because young people tend to think they are immortal. Unless you find a way to make smoke detectors cool. And that’s precisely what we did.
Stupid smoke detectors became a smart hit that hit a nerve with students.
When a popular DJ decides to use the sound of a smoke detector in a remix then smoke detectors suddenly become interesting. So we sent DJ Yolotanker, star DJ on radio station StuBru, on a tour of student digs. Nice content material. He tested the smoke detectors and used the sound for a new track. The song was posted on Spotify and received airplay on StuBru and Radio 1. Of course the track came with an impressive video and a party with DJ Yolotanker at the student digs of the competition winner.
Countless views and a ridiculous amount of PR.
DJ Yolotanker and minister Matthias Diependaele were asked to present the campaign on air on Studio Brussel and Radio 1. HLN and other news sites also featured the campaign. The video was eagerly shared on social media and five hundred students took part in the competition. This way our message reached the intended target group and latched on like an earworm.
MEDIA: social media, Spotify