During April and May, Colombia experiences the most rainfall and the largest number of electrical storms of the year. Bogotá, the country’s capital, is one of 5 cities with the most lightning strikes in the world. There are deadly repercussions to this problem, as lightning causes immense property damage and loss of life every year. We wanted to explore solutions to this problem rooted in the core brand promise of Seguros Bolivar.

Bolivar Insurance has always sought to use its marketing to communicate how its products and services bring people a sense of security and peace of mind. For the first time, the brand devised a marketing solution that not only communicated peace of mind to people, but dramatically provided actual safety and peace of mind to people.

Bolivar Insurance erected the world’s first lightning rod billboard over a highly trafficked area in Bogotá, using technical expertise from local scientists to design an original solution that kept people safe. This billboard piqued the country’s interest and generated a national discussion, and talks are now underway to install this design on billboards across the country to protect Colombia’s people.

We enlisted the expertise of Daniel Aranguren, a Colombian electrical engineer, PHD and MIT-educated scientist, whose specialized training helped us to design our Lightning Rod Billboard. He served as a technical consultant and later was an ambassador for the brand who spoke extensively to national media about the science behind the billboard.

We erected the billboard during the months of April and May, when Colombians are most at risk from lightning strikes, and we placed the board strategically to draw attention to the issue of protection from lightning.

Daniel Aranguren, electrical engineer, PHD and MIT scientist specialized in the prevention and proper handling of the energetic power of lightning. He selflessly engaged in the project and became our ambassador, speaking to the national media about the Seguros Bolívar lightning rod billboard.

Liliana Guáqueta, a government civil servant and city council member was inspired by the lightning rod billboard and sponsored legislation requiring public billboards in Bogota to incorporate a lightning protection system similar to what we created for Seguros Bolivar, which would protect citizens and reduce the amount of death and destruction caused by lightning.

We had an increase of 95% in the brand’s activity during the first week of the campaign, both in mentions and the brand’s proactive communication. More tan 700,000 people saw the billboard in person, and a wave of news reports and postings about it appeared in news reports and online.