Give a Beep

Background

Hövding, an innovative bicycle helmet brand, wanted to do an engaging brand building campaign in London, demonstrating curiosity, innovation and care for London cyclists. A campaign on cyclist's safety was much needed, since there is a cyclist involved in a traffic accident every other hour in the greater London.

Idea

Cyclists feel frustration in the London traffic. What if they could turn this personal frustration into a movement that would improve the cyclist's situation in the future?

The idea was to re-invent the bicycle bell, giving it more features than just giving an alarming sound. Using a simple flic button, a bell was invented that sent an email to the mayor every time you pushed it – and the location of this frustration was plotted out on a real time London map. Of course it still sounded, but now through your smart phone. Together with a partner MyNewsdesk, they teamed up with London Cycling Campaign and handed out 500 flics to cyclists.

Results

The campaign reached more than 100 million people through earned media. But more importantly, 5 000 shared locations provided enough data for the Mayor's office to see where in London cyclists feel frustration. Thousands of emails to the Mayor and vast coverage in the news, made it hard for the Mayor's office to neglect the campaign. In a direct letter, the Mayor asked for the findings, to include in the city's future cyclist programme. And Hövding was helped to move from "only" saving lives every day to also saving lives tomorrow.