How an Insurance Company Hacked Learner-Driver Homework / AAMI "SMARTPLATES"

The problem

Young drivers in Australia have a noticeably higher accident rate than other age groups. When AAMI and Ogilvy looked into why, they found that the way learners study for their license hadn't changed in about 50 years. Students were required to log their driving hours by hand in a paper logbook.

The insight

The idea was: instead of focusing on compensation after a crash, why not fix the learning process itself? Research showed that learners' biggest complaint was the hassle of keeping up with that old-fashioned logbook. It was a chance for the insurance company to shift from being "the one who pays out after an accident" to "the one who helps prevent it in the first place."

The idea

What they made wasn't a commercial — it was a smartphone app. Using GPS, it records driving time, route, weather, and traffic conditions in real time, replacing the paper logbook with a digital one. It also has a feature that blocks calls while driving. All the recorded data gets turned into a visual learning plan that students, parents, and instructors can use to check progress and spot areas to improve.

What happened

This initiative by Ogilvy Melbourne was officially adopted as a valid record-keeping method in South Australia, and later expanded to Queensland as well. It won seven awards at Cannes Lions, including one Gold.

Afterthought

An app made by an ad agency ending up officially recognized as a state's record-keeping method — that's not something you'd normally expect. I think the real reason this won Gold is the sheer leap of imagining an insurance company becoming part of the infrastructure for getting a driver's license. Something that had stayed paper-and-pen for 50 years, flipped on its head by an insurance company.

Awards

• Cannes Lions Gold 2017

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