WCRS unveils observation test ad for Transport for London

by Noel Bussey, Campaign 11-Mar-08, 10:10

LONDON - WCRS and Transport for London is asking the public to test its powers of observation in a unique TV and internet ad.

Click here to view Do the Test

The 30-second spot was directed by Chris Palmer and is part of a campaign by the TfL to highlight how easy it is for motorists to miss seeing cyclists.

During the development and filming of the ad the agency worked closely with Dr Sam B. Hutton, the senior lecturer in experimental psychology at the University of Sussex.

With an overall budget of just under £300,000 (£120,000 was on production), and because the ad can only be watched once, most of the media budget was spent on five prime time TV slots.

The spot broke last night in Coronation Street and was followed by a slot in Stephen Hawking, Master of the Known Universe. The ad will run again tonight in The Simpsons, Emmerdale and CSI.

Also, because of the small budget, the ad has an extensive digital media plan.

Not only has it been placed up on YouTube but it has been seeded on a number of community sites with the intention of highlighting it to motoring and cycling bloggers.

It will also be planted as pay-per-click social ads on Facebook, which are also targeted towards London based cyclicts and motorists.

Credits

Client Personnel: Chris MacLeod, Nigel Hanlon
Position: Head of Group Marcomms, Group Marketing Manager
Art Director: Kit Drayman, Vince Chasteauneuf
Copywriter: Tom Spicer, Simon Aldridge
Group Account Director: Fergus Adam
Start Date:10th March 2007
Director: Chris Palmer
Production Company: Gorgeous
Exposure: 60sec TV London only, Press, online
Expenditure: £250k
Planner: Giselle Okin

Comments

DOMINIC MARTIN - 11/03/2008

Love this ad. It's a shame they went for the unnecessary rewind and reveal sequence is as I know I'll see it again. It's especially unnecessary online as you can just reload it. I'm sure it would have been much more talked about too. Still love it though. Great campaign.

Holly Brockwell - 11/03/2008

Unique? Have a look at this: http://viscog.beckman.uiuc.edu/grafs/demos/15.html Then tell me it's unique. That's copyrighted, by the way, and no, the copyright holder was not consulted.