AUTOMOTIVE

Renault Road Education/ Spain Renault held a leading 14.2 share of the automobile market in Spain, but Seat, Ford, Citroen, and Peugeot followed closely behind. In an effort to carve out a niche and establish itself as the brand dedicated to road safety, Renault partnered with the National Education Authority, an organization dedicated to educating young drivers about road safety, to create awareness for the Renault brand.

With the help of Madrid-based promotion agency Ros & Asociados, the company developed a direct marketing campaign targeting teachers with road safety-themed materials they could incorporate into their curricula.

Renault sent a mailing to 6,200 schools in September 1997 with an invitation for students to enter a short story contest with the theme of road safety. The top 10 stories would become part of a collection of children’s stories, and would ultimately be distributed and sold at bookstores throughout Spain. The student with the best story received a class trip to Paris to tour the Renault factory there. Second-place was a class trip to the Spanish Renault factory.

Renault sent a second mailing two months after the first to the 1,220 schools that had participated the first time around. Included in the package were various materials that teachers could use in the classroom, including games, videos, and trivia. Materials also included information on how kids could win trips to Euro Disney with their families.