The Duarte Highway is one of the most important roads in the Dominican Republic. It connects Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic’s capital, with the country’s northern region and Central Cibao, one of its most important industrial, commercial, and logistical hubs.
On a daily basis, over 150,000 vehicles pass through this major road.
Photo from El Inmobiliario
During daytime, those who drive along the Duarte highway are greeted with the lush greenery surrounding it.
At night, however, visibility drops, making it difficult for drivers to see the road clearly.
Unfortunately, due to lack of signages and lighting, the Duarte Highway becomes a hotspot for road-related injuries and accidents.
Clearly, this is a problem that needed solving—one that Chevrolet and Ogilvy Dominican Republic attempted to resolve in 2025.
Roadside Ads by Day, Safety Signs by Night
Chevrolet, Ogilvy Dominican Republic, National Institute of Transit and Land Transportation (INTRANT), and the Ministry of Public Works (MOPC) banded together to make the roads in Duarte Highway a lot safer.
How?
Through a simple yet highly impactful design change!
Chevrolet, together with Ogilvy, designed advertising billboards that turned into reflective traffic signs during nighttime.
This way, drivers who traversed the Duarte Highway at night had better visibility and more awareness as they traveled.
Photo from Little Black Book
According to Juan Manuel Gaitán, CCO of Ogilvy Dominican Republic, the rationale behind the “Night Signals” campaign:
“Stems from giving a new meaning to our advertising billboards, which display Chevrolet campaigns during the day, but at night transform in traffic signs, by placing a reflective vinyl on them, which is imperceptible during the day, but at night lights up when it receives direct light from vehicle headlights, making it easier for drivers to identify the traffic sign.”
That said, was the campaign a success?
The results speak for themselves:
- Over 90% of Dominicans benefitted from the campaign.
- Chevrolet achieved over 31 million impressions since the campaign’s launch.
- There was a 28% year-over-year decrease in road accidents during the highest-traffic week of the year.
What made this campaign remarkable wasn’t just the results it delivered; it was the execution.
By transforming an everyday object into something that served the public good, Chevrolet not only drew positive attention to its brand but also helped keep people safe.
This story also shows just how powerful guerrilla marketing can be for brands and the audience it targets.
When done right, campaigns of this type don’t just promote a brand or product; they also solve a problem, making business behind it all the more memorable in the eyes of a target audience.
About The Dynamic Marketing Communiqué’s
“Fridays: Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing”
Jay Conrad Levinson (1984) said that Guerrilla Marketing “works because it’s simple to appreciate, easy to execute, and inexpensive.”
Guerrilla Marketing is unconventional.
Looking beyond the traditional ways of advertising, marketers and advertisers need to spice things up in order for their brand to have campaigns that not only make an impact but also stick to their target market’s mind.
Guerrilla Marketing usually aims to have direct contact with consumers.
This type of direct contact should spark an emotional reaction that leads to consumers effectively remembering the brand.
It’s about making a big impression and making that impression last a long time (if not forever).
Guerrilla Marketing can be inexpensive.
The effect of this is being able to create a buzz around the brand, and the strategy used to market it. Almost everything is passed around through word-of-mouth.
Word-of-mouth is one of the greatest outcomes and it usually doesn’t cost anything.
This is every business’ or brand’s dream!
Every Friday, we publish tips, examples, and other useful content on unconventional ways of marketing and promotion.
Learn more about how to grab your target market’s attention and make an amazing first and lasting impression without having to spend a lot of money.
Businesses don’t really need to spend much for a guerrilla campaign. You do not need a big budget to be successful. You just need creativity and a good imagination.
Hope you find this week’s guerrilla marketing insight interesting and helpful.
Stay tuned for next Friday’s “Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing!”
Cheers,
Dyane Diasanta
Senior Content Writer
Valens Dynamic Marketing Capabilities
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