Driving while high on marijuana is more prevalent among young drivers than drunk driving. And, more than half the drivers rushed to trauma centres following car accidents have drugs in their system, usually marijuana.

But how does Drug Free Kids Canada convince teens that the danger is real? And how does it break through when the PSA market is already saturated with drunk driving messages? Where and how can the organization get a teen’s attention about this issue?

Research shows that the most effective way to change this risky behaviour is pretty simple: by getting parents talking to their kids about it. Research also shows that if you want to have a conversation with a teen, the place to start is on their phone.

A first-of-its-kind digital video experience that delivers unexpected SMS messages to coincide with key plot points in the story was created.

At the heart of the experience is a custom video sent from parent to teen. The video starts with a likeable group of teens casually smoking marijuana. It culminates with a horrifying crash, a cracked mobile screen, and the frantic texts of a parent waiting at home for their teen.

At the exact same time, the real teen watching the film receives identical frantic texts from their parent. The effect is an uncanny moment of connection to the unthinkable trauma of a high-driving car accident – and a real point of connection between parents and their teen.

The data story here is not about volume and complexity (although there's plenty of complexity on the back end). It’s about timing and relevance driving shock-and-awe personalization. FCB/Six couldn’t just reach out and send texts to teenagers. The team extracted three high-value pieces of information from parents (their teenager’s name, email address and phone number). Then it used the data to heighten the emotional experience and connect with the audience.

To create a synchronized, channel-jumping moment from video to SMS, the agency combined five powerful technology platforms: IBM Marketing Cloud, an on-demand video rendering engine, YouTube, a L.A.M.P. web service stack and triggered SMS. Both the data and technology are in service of a real-time communication that’s personalized to each recipient.

In the campaign’s first 60 days, site traffic to Drug Free Kids Canada increased by 1,946%. The team started 13,200 conversations between parents and teenagers. There was also an average of 113% week-over-week increase in unique video views. The campaign has generated significant earned media attention as parents and teens spread the word.