During the peak of road trip season in the summer, NHTSA was looking to kick-start a multi-channel, high-octane campaign to stop speeding. The campaign aimed to reach young men, with a secondary target of men who speak and consume media in Spanish. To reach these groups, the GSTV team was challenged to make an emotional connection while tapping into this audience’s interests and media consumption habits.
The GSTV creative team saw an opportunity to ideate either a sports-adjacent concept or integrate the gaming world into NHTSA’s new campaign around SPEEDING. Ultimately, the agency and GSTV landed on a retro racing-game content segment to better resonate with its driving audience and contextualize the campaign tagline “SPEEDING CATCHES UP WITH YOU”. For the retro-racing game-themed content, the message would be clear: “LEAVE THE SPEEDING IN THE GAME.”
The GSTV creative team and content studio, IGNITE, started first with a mock image, made using AI, specifically Bing Create and Photoshop’s Generative Fill. The team then set to work creating the design from scratch, apart from the car model purchased on CGtrader. The 3D modeling and animation were all completed in Blender. A full racetrack was designed complete with road signs, checkpoints and a tunnel section. The IGNITE team made their own modifications to the car model, including a rig to make the steering wheel actually steer the tires.
The car was animated as a full loop around the stage, with various cameras set up - some moving with the car (behind, POV, overhead) and a few stationary cameras for the car to pass by. Most surfaces are flat-shaded, but the few textures used (billboards & the speed limit sign) were created in Photoshop. They were made purposefully low-resolution to stay consistent with the retro game look. Photoshop was also used to design the UI elements. Everything was then put together in After Effects; editing, color grading, UI animation and sound editing. The sounds and music were acquired from Storyblocks, with final mixing being done in Adobe Audition.
The content was produced in both English and Spanish in partnership with Voices.com and distributed across 3,550 fueling stations on GSTV’s network, running in tandem with the PSA spots during peak summer travel time, and included digital retargeting for A18+.
As with any campaign, ultimately reaching consumers in a way that drives impact was the biggest challenge. In a landscape where it has become increasingly difficult for marketers to reach their core audiences – especially the 25-34 set that is watching less and less TV – marketers have no choice but to rethink how they engage consumers. That is why NHTSA and GSTV are a great fit. GSTV’s power lies in its ability to capture the undivided attention of audiences at scale and it has truly positioned itself as the last screen experienced before intent. As drivers hit the road after fueling up, they witness an important message on GSTV.
On GSTV, a measurement study conducted by Mfour found that the campaign drove message linkage (+46%) and increased awareness (+74%) of the campaign. The exposed audience was significantly more likely (+231%) to recall the ads on GSTV vs. the control. The ads on GSTV also drove intent to act. The total exposed (+18%) and those who do not obey the speed limit 100% of the time (+41%) were significantly more likely to obey the speed limit vs. the control.
