Even though Renault is one of the most popular car brands in Russia, there is a moment of the year when it lacks customers. February is a low season: customers rather buy a car on a major sale in December and January or wait till a new release in March. Test drives are the most powerful selling instruments for a car brand but without any big news it’s hard to stimulate customers visit a dealership center. We had to find a solution to keep the number of Renault test drives high in the low season without any product news and without using reach media. All we could use was Renault brand mission “Passion for life”.

We turned Renault test driving cars into psychotherapist offices and helped drivers overcome their posttraumatic stress disorder that was caused by a car accident. Russian drivers got an easy access to PTSD treatment in Renault dealership center and avoided the unwilling experience of going to a regular psychotherapist. During Renault Drive Therapy, participants had 3 sessions of professional psychotherapy inside Renault car in a safe area. Using the unique approach to test drives, Renault helped people to get back to driving.

Every fifth driver that gets into car accidents suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder – psychological trauma that causes anxiety, panic and fear of driving. Some people even abandon driving for their entire life. This problem has never been covered in Russia, so people don’t know where to seek help. Addressing this problem to a psychotherapist isn’t an option for majority of Russians as they have a habit to deal with their traumas by themselves. With 2,7 mln car accidents happening in Russia every year, these group of people couldn’t be ignored anymore. For a car brand, talking about road accidents has always been an unspoken taboo. Though the strategy of Renault was daring opposite: we focused on the audience of traumatized drivers and turned Renault test drives into a therapy for PTSD after car accidents.

Fear of driving is hard to fight without driving, but as any psychological trauma it also demands professional treatment.

On the basis of Renault test drives we created an unique course that combined both therapy and driving experience. For a month, Renault dealership in Moscow hosted 20 professional therapists with driver instructor skills. We equipped Renault test drive cars with dual control pedals and arranged a safe driving area.

Participants applied for Drive Therapy on the project website and got 3 free sessions with a therapist inside the car. The first session was held inside a parked car and included counseling, discussion of the accident, discovering deep sources of the fear. On the second session talking therapy was combined with driving in a safe area – therapist accompanied the participant and had full control over the car. On the third session they drove on the real city road.

Though Renault Drive Therapy activation took place only in Moscow, some people even came from other cities — all to fight their PTSD. After the Drive Therapy, 90.6% of participants said they were ready to get back to driving. 96.9% of participants claimed they would recommend this experience to drivers with the same problem. The project got 31,5 mln media impressions and let millions of people in Russia learn that PTSD is treatable. The project increased the number of Renault test drives by 68%.