The Smiling Car
Semcon
Issue 41 | December 2016
Agency
Forsman & Bodenfors
Creative Team
Creatives: Karin Jacobsson, Stefan Thomson, Gustav Johansson, Jens Englund Designer: Magnus Almberg Account Supervisor: Susanna Glenndahl Thorslund Account Manager: Helen Johansson Agency Producer, Film: Åsa Hammar
Production Team
Production company: Social Club Postproduction: Gangsters Director: Henrik Lagercrantz Producer: Sara Lindblom Music: Music Super Circus Exec Producer: Henrik Andersson D.O.P: Henrik Stenberg Editor: Johan Wik Sound: Gangsters Casting: Stenmark Casting
Other Credits
PR Strategy: Bjarne Darwall Planner: Klara Knape Media/PR agency: Matter
Date
September 2016
Background
Semcon is a global technology company that develops products based on human needs and behaviours.
Idea
This campaign is about proving the Semcon brand and offer in an automotive context and to tap into one of the most trending topics in media right now – self-driving cars. The new behaviours and needs that will arise in the near future when the streets will be populated by self-driving cars were demonstrated and dramatised.
Until now, most attention has been put on the interaction between the driver and the self-driving car. But with this new communication concept, The Smiling Car prototype, Semcon proposes to create a safer interaction between self-driving cars and pedestrians.
Research shows that 80% of all people seek eye-contact with the driver before crossing the street. So would you cross the street in front of a self-driving car? This was the starting point when creating the campaign.
The campaign was a PR-driven activity, aiming to create attention and conversation in media and SoMe. No media has been purchased apart from limited SoMe-distribution on Facebook.
Results
The campaign got a tremendous amount of attention and generated articles, blog posts, tweets, SoMe mentions, shares, in major media such as for example Discovery Channel, Forbes, Fast Company, Die Welt, Popular Science and numerous articles in prominent trade press. The total reach for press was 512 000 000 and in social media the reach was 194 000 000 potential viewers globally. So far.
The daily traffic to the Semcon website has increased with 100 % and has stayed on that level.