Volvo is famous for safety. But in the premium car market, all cars are seen as safe enough. So why be interested in Volvo?

Our brief was to reverse this – make Volvo safety relevant, innovative and famous again.

Our answer was a product called Volvo LifePaint: a reflective spray paint, applied to clothes, which makes cyclists visible and safer on the roads at night.

It sounds crazy – a car manufacturer helping cyclists stay safe. But that’s exactly the point. Wherever cyclists share the roads with motor vehicles, cycle safety is a big public issue. And it’s one that puts cyclists and drivers into arguments. By “crossing the divide” and helping cyclists, Volvo went against the expected position and got itself noticed. It became part of the debate – in a good way.

Equally important, it demonstrated Volvo’s unique and radical “Vision 2020”, a promise that “by 2020, no-one will be killed or seriously injured, in or by, a new Volvo”. Technology in the car help make this happen in real life – but this only helps if you are riding your bike near a Volvo. Volvo LifePaint puts that Vision into the hands of cyclists all over the world, by helping them to avoid being hit by all vehicles, not just Volvos.

By deliberately entering this hot topic, we created a storm of attention – billions of impressions worldwide, valued at up to £276M.

We didn’t stop there. By restricting sales of Volvo LifePaint to Volvo dealers, we brought people into dealerships and onto Volvo’s website. To date we have sold 75,029 cans worldwide at £10 each and it continues to sell. These visits have a direct commercial value to Volvo, by bringing people in to dealers where they are more likely to buy cars. It’s estimated this has led to extra cars being sold – 298 in the UK, 1013 worldwide, with a revenue of £8.7M/£29.8M.

And because we sell the cans, at a price which covers all costs, it hasn’t cost Volvo a penny.