All Belgians can be late for work on the first day of school

Volvo Belgium makes a general appeal to allow all Belgian drivers to be late for work on the first day of school. This is how the brand wants to offer Belgian parents a less chaotic morning rush. The ‘Be Safe, Be Late’ campaign is a reaction to the results of a survey on national road safety conducted by Vias institute, which showed that stress of bringing kids to school and trying to be on time for that first meeting is a major cause of reckless driving and accidents.

Most exciting day of the year

The campaign, aimed at all Belgians, is an initiative by Volvo and has already gained support from an impressive group of Belgian companies, who will allow their employees to arrive late for work on the 1st of September. This exciting day marks the first day of school for children in Belgium aged 3 to 18 years old. Their parents are often just as stressed; 40% of the Belgian parents say they feel stressed, and 25% even feel anxious, according to a survey conducted by Volvo. These sentiments of pressure lead to more accidents, according to the Vias institute survey: commutes from and towards school occupy 85% of the traffic during morning rush (from 7 to 9 am) and unfortunately, 44% of accidents occur during this intense period in traffic. That’s why FamousGrey came up with the ‘Be Safe, Be Late' campaign for Volvo to make the 1st of September the safest day of the year instead. 

The true stars of the campaign…

The powerful message of this campaign does not only appeal to parents, but also calls for employers to offer more flexible working hours on this particular day. And of course, children steal the show in this campaign, as they are our most precious passengers. The images of the campaign were shot by Belgian photographer Frieke Janssens and are spread via social media and DOOH. This is supported by PR- and influencer campaign, developed by Famous Relations.

 Of course, Volvo sets the example and has announced that they will be starting late at work together with their partners on the 1st of September. A great number of Belgian employers signed up as well, such as Deutsche Bank, Proximus, JCDecaux, Basic Fit and Mindshare. A landing page helped employers to implement this initiative by offering communication material.

Credits:

• Client: Volvo Car Belux
• Client : Balder D’hondt, Lolita Swanet, René Aerts Jr.
• Agency: FamousGrey
• Creative Director: Peter Ampe
• Creative team: Yana Gestels, Zoe De Priester
• Account team: Olivia Naudts, Matthias Roose, Klaartje Vanmulders
• Strategic Planner : Floris Adriaenssens
• Production Director: Charlotte Bodson
• RTV Producer: Marie Libouton
• Production photography : Bounce Rocks
• Executive Producer : Roxane Lemaire
• Producer : Lauranne Crahay
• Photographer: Frieke Janssens
• Post-production: FamousGrey Productions
• Editor: Sven Vanhee, Jasper De Ryck
• Post-producer: Sara De Grave
• Soundstudio: FamousGrey Productions
• Web team: Nele Boets, Stijn Swinnen, Kaspar Verstraete
• DTP: Anne-Sophie Tonnelier 
• PR agency: Famous Relations
• PR team: Kathy Van Looy, Déborah De Klerck, Astrid Mattelaer    
• Media agency: Mindshare
• Media contact: Charlotte Massa