The Hangover Suit was developed by Ford in partnership with the Meyer-Hentschel Institute to simulate key hangover symptoms including impaired vision, hearing and balance. The headset and goggles can recreate headaches, migraine symptoms and blurred vision. Wrist and ankle weights recreate sluggish movement and headphones simulate the sound of pulsating blood, the symptoms of sound sensitivity and headaches, often brought on after heavy alcohol consumption. Together these simulate classic hangover symptoms.

• Partnership with the Meyer-Hentschel Institute, to develop Hangover Suit

• Literature review to uncover scientific research pertaining to Hangover and Impairment

• Hangover Suit media tour – UK, Italy, Spain, Germany, Italy (now continuing through Europe)

• Expert spokespeople, Dr. Gundolf Meyer- Hentschel, Dr Richard Stephens (Hangover expert, Keele University)

• YouTube film, press release, social hub story, infographic

• The Hangover Suit his now integral part of Ford’s Driving Skills For Life programme – driver-safety training for novice drivers 13 countries each year

• The suit was launched in mid-December, 2016

• Results in this case study account for December 2016-March 31st 2017

• Contributing countries were: UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Russia

• • The success of the Hangover Suit in Europe has led to interest from other regions who are now commissioning their own Hangover Suits

• 1,049,115,950 earned impressions

• 283 print/online articles

• 24 broadcast features

• 100% positive sentiment

• 109 articles quoted a Ford spokesperson (excluding Russia)

• 47,582 earned YouTube views (no paid)

• Positive Hangover Suit coverage contributed to a 1pt. increase in favourable opinion for Ford (SOURCE: BEAT vs. previous quarter)

Ford’s Hangover Suit may look ridiculous but it drove a simple life-saving road-safety message among a cluttered sea of Christmas drink-driving campaigns.

Safety is a cornerstone of Ford’s business, in terms of products and technology, as well as addressing wider road-safety issues.

The need to create a uniquely compelling story to cut-through a ‘wallpaper’ of anti-drink-drive campaigns required Ford to think creatively, demonstrating absolute understanding of its audience in terms of consumer behaviour and media appetite. The result: over 1bn media impressions that contributed to a +1pt uplift in favourable opinion for Ford (Source: BEAT vs. previous quarter).

Strategy:

Stand out: Find new, innovative ways to evolve age-old story, supporting important anti drink-driving messages but cutting through clutter

Show don’t tell: Recreate the hangover experience in an innovative way to engage media to help tell our story

Safety (and Science) first: work with leading experts to develop insights that put driver-safety at the heart

• Target audience is drivers (adults aged 17+)

• Targetting national news, consumer-lifestyle and automotive media

PR planning

• Extensive desk research exploring consumer insights

• Media landscaping to identify white-space media opportunity

• Partnership with European scientists to understand lesser-known facts about hangovers and correlation to driver impairment

Approach

• Co-ordination with Ford Safety & Legal to ensure compliance

• Co-ordination with road-safety partners to ensure our messaging and approach was complementary

• Liaison with Ford key market teams to ensure relevance of insights and Christmas / New Year’s Eve timing

Situation

Drink-driving is one of society’s biggest taboos. With many people drinking more than usual in December, it's a peak time for drivers to take potentially fatal risks.

In Europe, alcohol factors in 1 in 6 road fatalities. And in U.K. 1 in 10 drink-driving arrests take place between 6:00-8:00am.

While many understand the risks of drink-driving, less people realise that hitting the road the morning after can be as dangerous.

According to Psychological Science even when drivers are no longer over the legal alcohol limit, driving hungover can be as dangerous as driving drunk; tiredness, dehydration and low-blood sugar can impair reaction times and decision-making.

Brief

To create mass awareness of the dangers of hungover and drink-driving in order to drive a serious road-safety message at Christmas.

Objectives

• Deliver 1 billion earned impressions across mainstream media across Europe

• Contribute to increased favourable opinion for Ford brand