THE ROAD SAFETY-VERSE
Case Film
The Road Safety-Verse is a world first educational metaverse that has completely transformed how Irish children experience the Road Safety education. A virtual world that keeps children safe in the real world.
Using best practice from the education system and combining it with key insights from gaming, the Road Safety-Verse took the RSA’s presence in Irish schools from the analogue to the digital. This means they now reach more children, more often, ultimately providing a more effective and more immersive education on the importance of safer practices on Irish roads.
It launched in September 2022, and was soon after adopted as part of the Irish National School Curriculum, giving access to nearly 1 million students from a total national population of 4.9 million.
Entry Board
AWARDS:
LOVIES 2022
WINNER – People's Choice Award
BRONZE – Weird and Experimental
ONE SHOW 2023
SHORTLIST – Interactive, Online & Mobile
WEBBIES 2023
FINALIST – Metaverse, Immersive & Virtual: Public Service
ICAD 2023
SILVER – User Experience for Advertising
SILVER – Creative Innovation
BRONZE – Digitial Experiene
Executive Creative Director – Shane O'Brien
Creative Director – Robert Boyle
Art Director – Vini Bustamante
Art Director – Fionan Healy
Copywriter – Craig Babikian
Digital Producer – Barry O'Sullivan
Production Company – Solar Flare
EMERGENCY SERVICES
At the height of the COVID19 Pandemic, despite reduced traffic, there was an increase in fatalities on Irish roads. These were needless and preventable deaths, that added to the extraordinary pressure our frontline services are already facing. So this campaign was a direct appeal from the brave men and women of the emergency services who have experienced first-hand the tragic consequences of collisions on our roads. We followed firefighters and paramedics from the Dublin Fire Brigade and members of An Garda Síochána, as they went about their difficult jobs on a real night shift. They tell their stories in their own words, urging us to help them by observing better road behaviour. Only together can we save lives on our roads. The campaign is still shown every winter, and whenever it is aired there is a measurable reduction in collisions on the roads.
Executive Creative Creative Director / Copywriter – Shane O'Brien
Creative Director / Art Director – Robert Boyle
Agency Producer – Andrew Counihan
Director – Ken Wardrop for Antidote.
LOOK AT GRANDMA
Research showed us that pedestrians over the age of 65 are overrepresented in road collisions. However, neither older pedestrians nor drivers are aware that older pedestrians are at increased risk on the roads. So with this campaign we needed to target both of those groups, but do so in a way that was non-judgemental and did not victimise either of them. Thus the challenge was striking a balance between highlighting the vulnerability of older pedestrians on the roads, while at the same time not wanting to discourage older people from getting out walking. We found that balance with a cool grandma strutting her stuff to a Bo Diddly track.
Executive Creative Director / Copywriter – Shane O'Brien
Creative Director / Art Director – Robert Boyle
Agency Producer – Andrew Counihan
Director – Henry Mason for Antidote
SEATBELT RIBBON
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A simple, yet powerful press and display campaign to draw attention to the shocking fact that 1 in 4 drivers and passengers killed on Irish roads in 2020 were not wearing a seatbelt. We wanted to remind people to wear their seatbelt in a simple and impactful way, but also to be respectful to those who have lost their lives on the road. To do this we borrowed the iconography of cancer and AIDS awareness ribbons as shorthand for the seriousness of the problem while using the seatbelt material for an instant 'get'. The copy urges us to 'Never Forget' both to wear a seatbelt and those who have lost their lives on the road.
AWARDS:
SHARK AWARDS 2021
BRONZE – Print / OOH: Public Awareness & Political Party
Executive Creative Creative Director / Copywriter – Shane O'Brien
Creative Director / Art Director – Robert Boyle
ROLE:
Executive Creative Director
FOR:
BBDO Dublin
Working with the RSA has been a particular highlight of my time in BBDO Dublin. In the decade or so that they were our client, the number of casualties on the roads more than halved – reaching their lowest ever level of 130 deaths in 2021 in our final year on the account. As well as seeing a measurable difference in road deaths, we also helped to transform the RSA from being a TV led brand who focussed on scare tactics, to a behavioural science led brand that best in class on digital channels. We created world firsts in AR, VR and the Metaverse, developed the seatbelt emoji for the Unicode Consortium (currently prioritization pending) and we were awarded numerous digital and web awards never before won in Ireland. Above are just a few of the projects I am most proud of.