The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2016–2017
Hövding turned its bike bell into a geolocated message to the mayor
Edelman re-engineered the Hövding bell so each ring registers a location and emails the Mayor of London, turning frustration into civic data.
Hövding
the move
Hövding, a Swedish bicycle-helmet brand, wanted to raise awareness and demonstrate its innovation in London. The agency Edelman saw that cyclists felt stuck in snarling traffic and wanted to turn that frustration into something that could make cycling safer.
They reinvented the Hövding bicycle bell: a wireless Flic button that, when clicked, beeps on the rider's phone, registers the location on an interactive map, and sends a message to the Mayor of London reminding him of his pledge to improve cycling infrastructure.
500 committed cyclists from the London Cycling Campaign and Mynewsdesk's network joined up, so the campaign was carried by the riders themselves rather than a media buy.
The result merged brand awareness with civic action: the product's own use became the campaign, and each ride added a data point to a map of where cyclists feel endangered.
why it works
- Cyclists already feel frustration in traffic; the idea gives that feeling a target.
- Every ring produces a geo-position, turning individual rides into a shared danger map.
- Routing the message to the Mayor concentrates the pressure on one decisionmaker.
- The campaign used the riders themselves instead of bought media, so it spread by being used.
what transfers
Channel an individual's frustration into actionable data aimed at one powerful recipient, turning a complaint into both evidence and pressure at once.
what came after
Sales of Hövding's helmet doubled. About 5,000 riders registered locations, giving the Mayor's office a picture of where London cyclists feel unsafe, and the Mayor's office adopted the bell. The campaign reached more than 100 million people through earned media and won a 2017 industry award for community building.
references
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