‘Beat the Street’; a first-of-its-kind VR mobile game that teaches young children how to navigate in traffic. They are confronted with a range of dangerous, true-to-life situations in which they have to make choices and take action – for example, look carefully, cross the street or wait until it is safe to do so. The children receive live feedback from the motion sensors in the Gear VR, confronting them with the consequences of their actions in a playful way.

The game is a fun experience, partly because of the cartoon-like impacts. At the same time, the lessons really hit home, as players feel they’re genuinely experiencing the events, creating a real memory from which they can learn.

We developed a VR game, in which first-graders are placed in real-life traffic situations. Selected the most dangerous traffic situations and filmed these in 360°, featuring three school friends. When you play the game, you become one of the friends and have to interact with traffic situations, as well as with your friends. Collisions appear cartoonish, but the message is deadly serious.

The game was launched September 2016 as a free app for parents and as a part of the Beat the Street kit for all secondary schools in the Netherlands. To create a sense of urgency, we investigated what worries parents most when their children go to high school. Cycling by themselves was the most common worry that came up. We launched the game in collaboration with a high school. Created a website and campaign movie for the press to raise awareness and free publicity.

With very little spent on media, we created almost €600,000 in PR value and reached 4.5 million people after the news went viral.

• More than 25,000 app downloads.

• The Beat the Street kit has become a permanent feature in schools.

• The Beat the Street Kit set has become the new standard in traffic safety training in schools in the Netherlands. The programme will be launched in Belgium in October 2017.

• The ‘proud to own’ a Samsung KPI, the main KPI for brand advocacy, increased by more than 50% (DVJ Insights weekly Brand Tracker).