Silent Bus Sessions
ElectriCity
Issue 37 | December 2015
Agency
Forsman & Bodenfors
Creative Team
Art Director Anders Eklind Copywriter Björn Engström Designers Karin Nolmark Jerry Wass
Production Team
Agency Producer Jens Odelbring Digital Producer Peter Gaudiano Produktion company Acne Film director Torbjörn Martin
Other Credits
Account Supervisor Cilla Pegelow Account Executive Jessica Edström Helena Lignell
Date
September 2015
Background
The 55 bus was the first fully electric bus line in Gothenburg, Sweden. Behind the new electric bus route lay a unique cooperation between industry (Volvo Buses), science, city and region.
The challenge was to raise awareness of the new ElectriCity project among a broad audience in Sweden, not just younger people, who were hard to reach, but also opinion-formers, politicians, city planners, and people from bus operators and public transport authorities, both nationally and internationally.
Idea
With a limited media budget, social media and pr seemed to be the solution.
Two of Swedens hottest young pop stars, Seinabo Sey and Zara Larsson, were asked to perform acoustic concerts on the new, quiet bus in front of unsuspecting passengers while it ran on its regular route across Gothenburg.
Hidden cameras captured the surprise and the delight of the passengers while studio quality microphones made sure the sound was pure and unaltered, demonstrating the bus was so quiet it could be used as a recording studio for live music.
To enhance the authenticity, there were no logos or slogans in the videos, just the facts.
In the Silent Bus sessions, Seinabo Sey did an a cappella version of her international hit "Younger" while Zara Larsson perfomed a brand new song. The videos were posted on the artists' own Facebook pages and YouTube channels.
Results
Viewers who wanted to know more about quiet, sustainable transport could click through to the ElectriCity homepage, which 6,2% did.
There were 2.6 million views on Facebook and YouTube (Sweden has 9 million inhabitants).
110 000 likes, 139 editorials in leading news and entertainment media as well as trade press covering automotive, buses, public transport and sustainability.
Opportunities to see measured at 208 million.
Our Thoughts
It continues to be the way advertisers can get views. While no-one is interested in watching an advert making a claim about a product or service, people will watch videos about real people in real situations
The YouTube star Casey Neistat says people don’t want to be sold stuff but they will buy ideas. If the idea is strong enough, then they will share it. And that is the holy grail of social media today, getting people to broadcast your message for you as they did with the ‘silent bus’.