Initiative details
Young people are highly connected to their smartphones, using them constantly throughout the day—for communication, entertainment, and social validation. Their behaviors are heavily influenced by their peers and by content they consume on social media. This affinity presents both a risk and an opportunity. On one hand, mobile devices are a major source of distraction behind the wheel; on the other, they offer a powerful channel for influence and education.
The campaign with the influencer duo @viajarmaiscommenos was designed to address three of the most critical high-risk behaviors among young drivers: 1) digital distraction while driving, 2) failure to use seatbelts, and 3) excessive speed. These behaviors are key contributors to road accidents involving youth. By using trusted digital voices, the campaign created an authentic connection with the target audience, addressing their habits through real-life scenarios and emotionally charged storytelling. The initiative aimed to foster a cultural shift—making road safety a relatable and visible part of the digital conversation for this age group.
The campaign with the influencer duo @viajarmaiscommenos was designed to address three of the most critical high-risk behaviors among young drivers: 1) digital distraction while driving, 2) failure to use seatbelts, and 3) excessive speed. These behaviors are key contributors to road accidents involving youth. By using trusted digital voices, the campaign created an authentic connection with the target audience, addressing their habits through real-life scenarios and emotionally charged storytelling. The initiative aimed to foster a cultural shift—making road safety a relatable and visible part of the digital conversation for this age group.
Initiative date
Who was/is your target audience?
Young adults 17-25
Car drivers
Topic
Create awareness
Organisation details
Ascendi
Enterprise
Portugal
Porto
Contact name
Marco Pereira
Telephone number
+351916329467
mapereira@ascendi.pt
Website link
Project activities
If you work together with external partners, list the most important partners and briefly describe their role.
The campaign was developed in close collaboration with the influencer duo @viajarmaiscommenos, who co-created the content and authentically engaged their audience across digital platforms. Their strong digital credibility with travel-conscious and safety-aware audiences was instrumental to the campaign's effectiveness.
An external creative agency supported the audiovisual production, ensuring high standards of quality and alignment with storytelling objectives. Ascendi led the strategic and technical coordination, validating safety messages and overseeing implementation.
Key institutional partners with national responsibility for road safety—the Road Safety National Authority and the Portuguese Police Forces (GNR and PSP)—actively supported the campaign. They engaged with the influencers’ content through their official digital channels and contributed to amplifying the message. One of the videos even featured their direct participation, reinforcing the campaign’s credibility and ensuring alignment with public safety priorities. This collaboration strengthened the legitimacy of the message and demonstrated a unified commitment to promoting safe behaviors among younger audiences.
An external creative agency supported the audiovisual production, ensuring high standards of quality and alignment with storytelling objectives. Ascendi led the strategic and technical coordination, validating safety messages and overseeing implementation.
Key institutional partners with national responsibility for road safety—the Road Safety National Authority and the Portuguese Police Forces (GNR and PSP)—actively supported the campaign. They engaged with the influencers’ content through their official digital channels and contributed to amplifying the message. One of the videos even featured their direct participation, reinforcing the campaign’s credibility and ensuring alignment with public safety priorities. This collaboration strengthened the legitimacy of the message and demonstrated a unified commitment to promoting safe behaviors among younger audiences.
Please describe the project activities you carried/are carrying out and the time period over which these were implemented.
In 2024, Ascendi partnered with travel influencers @viajarmaiscommenos to launch a digital road safety awareness campaign. The project included the co-creation of three thematic videos covering: 1) digital distraction at the wheel, 2) the use of seatbelts, and 3) the dangers of excessive speed. The content was produced to fit the tone and storytelling style of the influencers, ensuring authenticity and high viewer engagement. Distribution was executed primarily through Instagram and YouTube, with organic and paid promotion strategies, maximizing reach and visibility. The videos were strategically released over several weeks to maintain attention and allow each message to be individually absorbed. Each piece of content combined cinematic storytelling with clear safety messages, reinforced by emotional appeal and real-world context. Internal coordination included messaging validation, safety oversight, and performance tracking.
In terms of implementation, what worked well and what challenges did you need to overcome?
The campaign's success was largely driven by strong alignment between the influencers’ voice and the message’s tone—ensuring the content felt natural, credible, and engaging. A key challenge was maintaining message accuracy while preserving the influencers' creative freedom, which was managed through close collaboration and briefing. Ensuring compliance with road safety regulations during filming was also critical, particularly for scenes simulating risky behaviors. Another challenge was timing content deployment for maximum visibility without overlapping with other campaigns. The combination of organic and paid promotion proved effective, amplifying reach and generating both immediate interaction and long-tail engagement. The influencer format worked particularly well in fostering identification with the target audience—particularly younger and urban users.
Evaluation
Please summarise how you have evaluated the initiative’s impact (e.g. social media reach, survey, feedback forms, statistics).
The campaign’s impact was measured using the key performance indicators commonly applied in digital communication campaigns—namely, reach, video views, and engagement rate. Performance was tracked across Instagram and YouTube using the platforms’ native analytics tools, allowing real-time monitoring of user interactions, retention, and audience behavior. In addition to quantitative data, qualitative insights were collected through comments, shares, and direct feedback from followers, indicating strong emotional resonance and message retention.
The campaign also benefited from cross-sharing by institutional and media partners, amplifying visibility beyond the influencers’ core audience and reinforcing credibility. These combined results validate the effectiveness of using influencer partnerships to deliver road safety messages—particularly to digitally native, harder-to-reach segments of the population.
The campaign also benefited from cross-sharing by institutional and media partners, amplifying visibility beyond the influencers’ core audience and reinforcing credibility. These combined results validate the effectiveness of using influencer partnerships to deliver road safety messages—particularly to digitally native, harder-to-reach segments of the population.
What has been the effect of the activities?
With over 2.1 million video views, more than 19,000 interactions, and a notable 7% engagement rate, the campaign effectively reached a broad and diverse digital audience.
By focusing on emotional storytelling and relatable real-life scenarios, the campaign successfully generated awareness and prompted reflection on high-risk behaviors such as distraction, speeding, and seatbelt use. While direct impact on accident reduction is difficult to quantify, the initiative clearly contributed to increased knowledge and stimulated meaningful conversations among the target audience.
The campaign also fostered a positive shift in perception, presenting road safety not as a limitation, but as an act of responsibility and care for oneself and others. This was reinforced by the content’s organic sharing and continued presence in digital communities, amplifying its long-term visibility and relevance beyond the initial publication.
By focusing on emotional storytelling and relatable real-life scenarios, the campaign successfully generated awareness and prompted reflection on high-risk behaviors such as distraction, speeding, and seatbelt use. While direct impact on accident reduction is difficult to quantify, the initiative clearly contributed to increased knowledge and stimulated meaningful conversations among the target audience.
The campaign also fostered a positive shift in perception, presenting road safety not as a limitation, but as an act of responsibility and care for oneself and others. This was reinforced by the content’s organic sharing and continued presence in digital communities, amplifying its long-term visibility and relevance beyond the initial publication.
Please briefly explain why your initiative is a good example of improving road safety.
This campaign exemplifies how road safety messages can be effectively integrated into digital culture. By leveraging trusted digital voices, it brought the conversation to spaces where traditional communication often fails to reach. Its creative, story-driven format allowed for the delivery of complex messages in a simple and memorable way. The model is replicable across different regions and audiences, provided there is a strong match between influencers and message. The campaign demonstrates that social influencers, when used strategically, can play a critical role in shaping safer behaviors and perceptions—especially among younger and harder-to-reach audiences.
How have you shared information about your project and its results?
The campaign’s results were shared internally with stakeholders and partners and externally through Ascendi’s digital platforms and newsletters. The videos themselves served as both content and result—generating organic engagement that extended visibility. Campaign outcomes were also featured in presentations and institutional updates, demonstrating the effectiveness of influencer partnerships in achieving communication goals. Select media coverage further supported public awareness and credibility.