The parking ticket convertor
Issue 11 | July 2009
Agency
GOSS, Gothenburg, Sweden
Creative Team
Copywriters: Johan Nerman, Elisabeth Berlander, Ulrika Good, Michael Schultz; Art Directors:Gunnar Skarland, Albin Larsson, Mattias Frendberg, Jan Eneroth, Mimmi Andersson; Graphic designer: Louise Christiansson
Production Team
Elin Andreasson, Lena Björklund Henriksson
Other Credits
Account Managers: Anna Troglin, Monica N Persson, Lena Kling; Account Supervisors: Johan Good, Stig Lundstedt, Fredrik Toreskog
Date
Autumn 2008 to Present
Background
Cycle shops are usually fairly conventional when it comes to marketing, concentrating their activities around seasonal ‘Sales’ initiatives.
Sportspec wanted to talk to people outside these traditional ‘Sale Now On’ periods.
Idea
When is the best moment to talk to a car-driver about the benefits of cycle ownership? When he has just been given a parking ticket.
In Göteborg, whenever a motorist was fined, an envelope was placed under the windscreen wipers right beside the ticket. This could be used as a money-off coupon against the purchase of a new bike.
Results
So far, over one thousand discounts have been offered to motorists who have been given parking tickets and one in seven has been converted into a discount on a new (and often very expensive) bike.
Our Thoughts
This started with a great insight. When are car owners most likely to be favourably disposed towards cycle ownership? When their cars have just cost them a packet.
Many agencies would simply have been pleased with that idea and would have left leaflets on every windscreen in town but Goss took it one step further. You have to interact with the piece to find out what sort of discount you get by sliding the parking ticket inside Sportspec envelope. The little window reveals how the bigger your fine, the bigger your discount. This is relevant, branded and sympathetic.