Drive for Life
Situation:
Volvo Cars of North America built its brand on the premise of engineering safer cars that are fun to drive. Yet, the best-engineered car is only as safe as its driver, and data shows that drivers engage in persistent, dangerous behaviors behind the wheel. Most drivers have not retested their driving knowledge since they first earned a drivers' license, yet many things have changed since then, especially the growing number of driving-related distractions. Volvo needed a highly visible, national vehicle to promote driver safety and align its brand with this critical public purpose so relevant to Volvo's mission.
Strategy:
Ron Sachs Communications conceived and executed a highly visible, multi-year national campaign, "Drive for Life", to promote safer driving behavior, bringing together law enforcement partners, the National Safety Council, technical support from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and AAA Motor Club, with Volvo Cars of North America at the forefront. The initiative included a 30-minute television special, informative Web site, www.DriveforLife.com, a national driver poll and significant earned media coverage.
Outcome:
Over the last three years, Drive for Life has garnered more than 360 million media impressions, with coverage in major daily newspapers such as USA Today, The Sacramento Bee, Dallas Morning News and the Chicago Tribune. National television news coverage includes CNN, ABC World News Tonight and the Today Show and more than 3 million Web hits and thousands of influential on-line articles such as TheAutoChannel.com, Edmunds.com, MotorTrend.com, AOL News, MSNBC.com and the NYPost.com. Our companion television program, Drive for Life: The National Safe Driving Test, enjoyed a national cable run on PAX-TV, in addition to near-prime time airings on network affiliate stations in 20 key markets across the nation.
