Insight
Mediacom discovered that 70% of Ecuadorians respond to text messages while driving. It knew that if it was able to stop prevent these conversations – by silencing notifications and preventing replies – it could make a real difference. Mediacom decided to not only focus on General Motors customers, but also their friends and family.
Strategy
The agency developed an app that would stop these conversations from ever taking place by seamlessly synchronising their mobile phones with the car’s Bluetooth system and silencing notifications. Every time drivers received a message, it would send an automatic reply in Spanish: “[Nick] is driving, texting [him] could put [his] life in danger. TTYL”.
Execution
The app was developed so that Android devices would automatically sync with the driver’s car. Each phone was synced to a specific car and the app would start working as soon as the car started getting speed. The app would immediately silence all notifications for incoming messages in order to ensure that drivers kept their eyes on the road. In order to reach those who sent messages to the driver, the app would generate an automatic message to whoever would send a text by SMS or other social media app to the person on the wheel.
Results
In only 3 months, the app garnered 21,400 downloads and stopped 87,992 text messages reaching drivers. Also, tickets for texting and driving decreased by 17% (Source: National Transit Commission).