Winter driving isn’t anybody’s idea of fun, but Michelin is seeking to educate and entertain consumers on the finer points of the topic with a new website called the Michelin Winter Driving Academy.

The site, with design and creative by Montreal’s Neuron, launched this month and features a three-step series of chapters – ‘Prepare for winter,’ ‘Maneuvering’ and ‘Braking’ – with educational text, video and interactive diagrams. At the end of the series is a quiz designed to reinforce everything the reader has learned. The site will be active until the end of winter, when it will then take on a more spring-oriented content slant.

The Academy website is being promoted mostly on the web with a media buy, handled by MediaCom, including leaderboard and big-box ads on sites such as TheWeatherNetwork.com and through the VideoEgg ad network. OOH was secured in Montreal on scrolling billboards and on-air brand spots were purchased on the Weather Network.

This is the first time the company has created a targeted website to deal with the topic of winter driving. The strategy was to make it as easy as possible for the target audience to access and understand, and so the video-based concept was born, says Nadine Lussier, communications manager, Michelin Canada. ‘Everyone’s busy, and in the evening kind of lazy, so to watch a video is an easy way to learn,’ says Lussier.

www.michelinman.ca/winter-tire/winter-driving