Fountain Tire
Safest Highway

The Goal

Fountain Tire, a Canadian tire and auto service retailer, is dedicated to being a drivers’ trusted partner on the road - helping them with whatever problem comes their way. Tires are a safety issue. In fact, worn tires account for 26.2% of accidents1 yet nobody thinks about their tires - until they have to. Fountain Tire, as a partner on the road, set out to fix the unsafe, worn tires – to make drivers as safe as possible while driving. The other issue the team tackled was road conditions. The brand couldn’t check everyone’s tires but it could improve driver safety on the road by updating drivers in real-time on weather and road conditions.

The Target

The brand’s target was drivers of all ages, with a focus on Western Canadians where Fountain Tire has its largest footprint. It knew that drivers put off replacing their tires because it’s a nuisance and inconvenience. Which means that 50% of people drive on at least one worn out tire - a safety hazard for everyone.

Insights and strategy

The agency started by analyzing regional collision data – which showed Alberta has some of the most dangerous roads with 16 collisions an hour. Further analysis showed Highway 44 was among the deadliest – so the brand set out to make it safer.

The brand knew people put off replacing their tires – it’s an inconvenience and a grudge purchase. But tires are the forgotten safety equipment on our cars and by addressing this issue, it would lead to safer highways. So, rather than forcing drivers to come to the brand, the agency’s strategy was to go to the drivers. The team used digital technology to make drivers safer where they already were, on the road.

The Plan

First, the agency installed a Tire Tread Reader at a gas station by the highway’s entrance. Drivers unknowingly drove over the reader, which 3D-mapped all four tires, as drivers filled up their tanks, to instantly alert them if their tires were safe or not. A Fountain Tire rep then gave every driver a customized tire safety report. 31% of tires failed, which the brand replaced, free of charge.

To keep drivers even safer, the team brought real-time safety alerts to them on the road. Pulling in data from social, digital, and mobile platforms to highway billboards, it directly targeted drivers where and when they were at risk.

Technology and tools

The team leveraged Quick Tread® — Hunter Engineering Company’s drive over digital tire tread depth measuring tool — which automatically measures the tread depth of each tire in seconds, and used in Fountain Tire garages, and brought it to drivers on the road. Using 3D-image technology, the team took samples of 280,000 data points off of each tire in real-time to assess its condition and safety instantly.

It placed digital LED boards along Highway 44’s most dangerous stretch, which the team updated in real-time, for 14 days. The team also identified five safety-related variables (ice, snow, visibility, winds, and collisions) and pulled data from Waze, Twitter, and The Weather Network. The digital boards were updated in real-time, changing as rapidly as the conditions. Providing drivers with safety information where and when they needed it.

User experience

The Safest Highways made an inconvenient hassle - checking and replacing people’s tires – effortless by checking drivers’ tire tread for them, where they already were. And by intercepting their routine at the gas station, the team worked with, not against drivers’ existing behaviour. The agency made it equally easy for drivers to stay informed about road conditions by aggregating disparate weather and traffic data into one place and pushing it to drivers where they were looking – the road.

Supporting channels

Awareness of tire tread safety was amplified with a video of the activation. By showing real people who were unknowingly driving on worn tires, the team triggered a wider audience to question their tread, while positioning Fountain Tire as a partner to trust.

The Results

Safest Highways campaign generated 2 million media impressions in a population of 4 million. The video had a 28.46% completion rate, 2x the benchmark. Tire sales increased by 8% locally and 4% nationally, doubling the brand’s campaign goal. Most importantly, it helped turn one of Alberta’s most dangerous highways into a much safer one. One set of tires, one data point at a time.