The E.V.A Initiative

Background

Most cars were designed for the average- sized man and tested mainly on male crash- test dummies. As a result, women were 47% more likely to be seriously injured and 17% more likely to die in a car accident.

But not in a Volvo. Since the 1970s, Volvo had gathered crash data regardless of size or gender.

With the E.V.A. Initiative (Equal Vehicles for All), the objective was to close the gender crash gap.

Idea

Volvo’s philosophy has always been to put people first. 60 years ago, they gave away their three-point safety belt patent. So, to highlight the fact that women were more at risk in collisions than men and to make all cars safer for them, Volvo offered all its data free to its competitors.

A digital library with data from more than 43,000 collisions and 72,000 people was built and made openly available to any company to learn from.

Now anyone could download more than 40 years of research and learn how it led to some of Volvo’s most innovative systems such as the seat that reduced whiplash risk by half or the safety belt designed for and tested by pregnant women.

Then, in a global campaign with film, print, social, outdoor and PR, the numbers were given a face to dramatise how the injustice had personally affected women.

Results

The campaign became news and sparked a global conversation about equal road safety. So far, the film has collected over 12 millon views and has reached over 70 countries. It has appeared in over 450 articles generating over 115 million social media impressions.

While other carmakers embraced the initiative, such as electric vehicle startup Uniti, more than 11,000 people downloaded the data, which gives hope that safety will be improved for women in all cars.

Our Thoughts

Volvo’s declared ambition is that by 2020 there will never again be a death or serious injuries in a Volvo.

And that’s what is so clever in this campaign. It covertly implies that women drivers are all at risk in other cars. Volvo’s ‘generosity’ in making their data free to download is actually a statement of product superiority.

There was a time when Volvo seemed to be walking away from safety as the brand discriminator. After all, it was reasoned, all cars should be safe these days. Again, that’s why this idea is so clever. It reminds people that Volvo invented the three-point safety belt, side-impact bars, side-impact airbags, blind-spot monitors and plenty of other systems, but it also points forwards in time, to when Volvos will still be demonstrably safer than their competitors.