EventStream – Air Tax

10 Nov

From experiential and guerrilla marketing to viral campaigns and pop-ups, EventStream is where we comment on the events that have caught our eye from across the world. Today, it’s the GPI Holding Air Tax campaign.

 

GPI Holding – A taxing journey

It seems that we get taxed on everything these days. But air tax…? Allow us to explain…

Air pollution is a major issue in Georgia, with car fumes being one of the largest contributing factors. So GPI Holding, a car insurance company, came up with the idea of air tax as a way to expose the hidden costs of driving an air-polluting vehicle.

 

The Concept

The idea was to raise awareness of low quality air, and how car fumes are contributing to this. The issue of car fumes was something that most people were already aware of but no action was being taken. People were reluctant to pay money to upgrade their cars as they saw no personal reward for doing so. GPI Holding recognised this and took radical action to show their customers how they could both improve the quality of air and save money on insurance by upgrading their vehicles to an acceptable standard.

It was decided that the best way to deliver this message was to get event staff to dress in law enforcement outfits and gas masks. The aptly named Ecopolice would then give out ‘fines’ for air tax to the public. Of course, it was expected that people would get a tad annoyed when charged air tax, therefore it was important that the event staff involved in this campaign were carefully chosen so they didn’t further aggravate people and were able to deal with a tricky situation with ease.

 

The Campaign

The campaign was impressively executed, with over 60,000 tickets being issued by the Ecopolice. It’s fair to say that the success of the campaign was maximised when politicians and news broadcasters got involved by delivering fake statements about this new tax. When charged air tax, people were directed to a website where they learned the truth about the campaign and the fact that the less a car pollutes the air, the more they would save on car insurance.

 

The Highlight

While people had previously been warned about the amount of money they could be wasting by driving these air-polluting cars, they’d never taken notice. This campaign was a great way to grab their attention, especially since the excess cost was presented as a tax. People don’t always realise how much money they’re wasting but when it’s broken down into an actual figure and charged as a tax, they take notice. Not only did the campaign save people money on their car insurance, it also educated them on the important issue of pollution whilst highlighting how small changes can make a big difference.

 

The Result

As well as raising much-needed awareness about air pollution, the campaign also had staggering results. GPI Holding increased sales by 400% and grew their customer base by an impressive 25%.


 

If you’re planning an event and you need some persuasive promotional staff to get your message across, contact us and we’ll help you find the perfect event staff.