We turned a classic billboard in a useful element for society

Along Km 65 of the Pan-American Highway - a long and empty road with not many places to stop, we built a billboard with parking spaces that resemble bedrooms, where drivers can stop to rest before continuing their journey, helping them to arrive safely at their final destination.

It´s a billboard created by a Homecenter that besides offering something for the house, turns itself into one when people need it the most.

The billboard is located at kilometer 65 of the Pan-American Highway. It was installed on December 23rd 2015 and will be there until the end of May 2016.

It is free of charge, with 24/7 security and provides coffee and other amenities for stoppers.

To further amplify this idea, we used Sodimac Homecenter’s social networks (Facebook, Twitter and Youtube) to publish a video - case that due to its success, was also played on national TV.

The products used to decorate the houses were real products sold at sodimac,so they were promoted with a QR code, allowing people to scan and shop for them with free shipping.

The idea achieved over 130 million media impressions through TV, Internet and the billboard itself.

The indicator "Positive Sentiment towards the brand" increased by 188% in February 2016 vs. 2015, reaching the highest peak in history. This is attributed to the content generated during the month that showed high interaction postings. It is a KPI that is related to the attitude and opinion of a user to a brand, analyzing the emotional response.

The idea caught the interest of the Ministry of Transportation who invited our CEO to be part of a road safety conference. We are working with them towards the expansion of the idea by building more billboards like this in other roads in the country.

70% of the sales of the products that decorated the resting station were sold online in the first month the promotion was activated. Online shopping represents less than 1% of the companies sales.

Sodimac Homecenter’s resting house billboard turned a classic billboard into a whole new brand experience for our consumers. Through this idea we created a service that did not exist in Peru, a place where tired drivers could rest safely like in their own homes. Inside our billboard, assistants would offer visitors a good night kit that included sleep masks and free coffee. Also, if attracted to any of the products used in decoration, people could buy them immediately with free shipping. A gratifying interaction with the brand where people needed it the most, that could also save their lives.

Through the Ministry of Transportation we found out that 1/3 accidents on the highway occur due to tiredness while driving, which is important to note when considering that more people are on the road during the summer.

Our target audience is men and women, ages 25 to 64, who are interested in taking care of their homes and make their home a better place to live.

Because of this, we created a billboard along the Pan-American Highway(road that connects all of South America)that allows tired drivers to stop and rests, helping them get home safely. The billboard is visible to anyone that drives by it and during the weekends amenities such as coffee and water are provided. The call to action is for people to use the space to rest when they are tired and still haven’t gotten to their final destination. This also promotes responsible behavior between those who drive.

Many of the communication efforts in traditional media like television and newspapers are focused on showing the commercial offer, so non-traditional and resources become an opportunity to give more emotional messages.

Important communication channels are our social networks, mainly Facebook. This social network allows us to have direct interaction with the consumer out of our stores, where they live their daily lives. A similar function is found in Out of home media, where messages the brand give are less transactional.

We needed take good advantage of the opportunities for the brand to connect with consumers, providing relevant content, collecting insights that are directly and indirectly related to our business.