CASE STUDY: Nokia's OVI Maps catches attention and cheating cabbies in Singapore

Nokia pitched their GPS service OVI Maps against the discretion of cab drivers in navigating the streets of Singapore to prove the application can save you both money and time.

Ovi Maps
Ovi Maps

Background

OVI Maps is a GPS service by Nokia. It calculates optimised routes to get you from Point A to Point B in the fastest amount of time.

Aim

To prove Ovi Maps can help you do more than get from point A to B. Ovi Maps can help you save time and money, even make Singapore a bit more honest.

Execution

Armed with digital cameras, the team boarded taxis in Singapore and asked to be taken to various destinations. They use the Ovi Maps navigation system to cross check if the cabby is taking the best route.

In one instance the optimised distance according to Ovi Maps was 1.1km but the cabby ended up traveling 4.4km, blaming the longer distance on construction works and a missed turn.

The team caught cheating taxi drivers on camera deliberately taking longer routes and cheating commuters or 'taking them for a ride'.

Results

The unbranded viral videos quickly spread across social commentary websites, digital news dailies and newspapers.

More than 28,000 views were recorded online. Despite the fact that the Nokia logo only appeared on the actual device, the brand was picked up and mentioned many times over.




Credits

Client: Nokia
Brand: Ovi Maps
Campaign name: Don’t Let Cabbies take You For a Ride
Agency: JWT Singapore
ECD: Tay Guan Hin, Ali Shabaz
Copywriter: Chew Hui Chin
Art directors: Natasha Tjandra, Mo Chong
Producer: Frances Tan, Sandra Ong
Production: Warren Klass, Two Oceans
Audio: AMX Audiophiles
Account services team: Ong Aimai, Patsy Khoo
Exposure: Online
Duration: April 2009 –present

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