"BLEEDING BILLBOARD" Online Advert for Road Safety by Colenso BBDO

Type of Entry: Corporate or Brand Identity
Category: Posters
Title: BLEEDING BILLBOARD
Advertiser/Client: PAPAKURA & FRANKLIN DISTRICT COUNCIL
Product/Service: ROAD SAFETY
Entrant Company: COLENSO BBDO Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Design/Advertising Agency: COLENSO BBDO Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Creative Credits
Name Company Position
Nick Worthington Colenso Bbdo Executive Creative Director
Nick Worthington Colenso Bbdo Copywriter
Emmanuel Bougneres Colenso Bbdo Art Director
Scott Coldham Colenso Bbdo Account Director
Janelle Van Wonderen Colenso Bbdo Account Manager
Paul Courtney Colenso Bbdo Agency Producer
Greg Skinner Rollercoaster Production Company
Steven Boniface Photographer
Details
Brief Explanation:
They wanted people to slow down when it rained. We decided to use the conditions themselves together with the roadside billboards to communicate the message. So when it rained beautiful portraits of people on billboards started to bleed.
Describe the brief from the client:
Easter is traditionally the worst time of year for road accidents in New Zealand. The reason is the holiday rush combined with the first heavy rain after summer. The client wanted to remind people to “drive to the conditions”.
Description of how you arrived at the final design:
Take the most stunning pictures of people, place them by the side of the road at the end of summer with the words, Rain changes everything, then wait for it to rain. The posters were up for almost 3 weeks before the rains came. Then they bled. And now, every time it rains they bleed. And when the sun shines they return to beautiful portraits.
Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market:
No one died. Our clients ambition was to reduce the road toll over Easter. This year there were no fatalities on Papakura District Councils roads. To achieve this, we needed to create maximum awareness of the dangers of driving in poor conditions, to generate conversation. We made the front page of the Nz Herald & Stuff.co.nz, the two biggest online News sites in New Zealand. It also featured in The Dominion Post, Papakura Courier & the Franklin Times.