There is a certain irony in an advertising campaign that promises safety by emphasizing the absence of a human being, but Waymo, the self-driving car company owned by Alphabet, is betting that for women riders, that absence is precisely the point.
The company introduced a new national brand campaign on Tuesday called "Because Women," the latest installment in its larger "Because" platform that began in June. A 60-second spot shows women walking alone through city streets to meet Waymo's white Jaguar I-Pace vehicles, the tension evident in both the urban soundscape and the voiceover snippets of familiar advice: "Have someone walk you to your car." "Stay alert."
Once inside the driverless vehicles, the women exhale. The tagline: "Hail. Exhale."
Suzanne Philion, the chief marketing officer at Waymo, said the campaign grew directly from customer research showing that women were more likely than men to report that the service improved their sense of personal safety. The mental calculus of traveling alone — sharing your location, calling someone mid-ride, maintaining what researchers call situational awareness — was a recurring theme.
"We're bringing this story more directly to women who have been telling us now for so many years that they appreciate the sense of convenience, reliability, and personal safety that they feel in a Waymo," Ms. Philion said.
To develop the work, Waymo assembled an all-female creative team, including the director Mollie Mills, whose credits include Tonal's Super Bowl spot with Serena Williams, and the cinematographer Autumn Durald, who won an Oscar for "Sinners." (One suspects the composition of the team will be mentioned in every interview Ms. Philion gives for the next six months, which is, of course, part of the strategy.)
The campaign arrives as Waymo expands beyond its current 15 American cities and prepares for its first Super Bowl advertisement in February — a considerable leap for a company that ran its first national campaign only during the World Cup. It also arrives amid persistent public skepticism about autonomous vehicles, which have been known to block intersections, confuse first responders, and leave passengers feeling somewhat less than in control when things go sideways.
Ms. Philion acknowledged the delicacy of building a campaign around personal safety without appearing to exploit fear. "Personal safety is such a delicate and important topic to handle wisely," she said, "and we want to treat it with that care."
Whether American women will find the pitch persuasive remains to be seen. But Waymo has made a calculated wager: that for a meaningful segment of the population, the safest ride is the one with nobody else in it.
Original story published in Adweek: "Waymo Bets Women's Safety Can Help Win Over Robotaxi Skeptics"