Wunderman Thompson and Ecox Launch 'Emergency Bikes' an Electric Bike Designed by and for Doctors
The road may be blocked, but not for doctors. Wunderman Thompson Paris, a WPP agency, announced today the launch of Emergency Bikes for Ecox, a new product created to help Parisian emergency doctors move faster through congested streets.
According to INRIX, Paris is the most congested city in Europe. Drivers spend as much as 140 hours a year stuck in traffic. For doctors and medics this often translates to what can amount to life-threatening response times. Every minute lost in traffic means a 10 percent less chance of survival for patients. To combat this issue, Wunderman Thompson Paris concepted, developed, and partnered with Ecox to create a new solution: the first urban proof medical vehicle, an electric bike designed by and for doctors. Emergency Bikes was tailor-made exclusively for doctors, replete with a large volume insulated box to carry medicine, built with an aluminum frame, and born through groundbreaking, innovative technology.
Key features of the compact sized bike include: optimised motor power (75.N.M), extended autonomy with dual 500 N.M battery to drive up to 160 km, reflective wheel bands to be seen in traffic, a 140 dB horn and long range LED signalling for emergency driving, storage adapted to the equipment of emergency doctors, large anti-puncture tires, a GPS tracker which can be located in real time, and a USB connection to connect any device.
Emergency Bikes is a unique partnership with Wunderman Thompson Paris serving as more than just an advertising partner but also a product developer. The agency actually came up with the idea for Emergency Bikes after the wave of strikes in November 2019. Ecox, an electric bike retail brand, committed to researching new eco-mobility solutions, was focused on helping city doctors improve their response time to emergency calls and made a perfect partner. Wunderman Thompson encouraged UMP (Paris Emergency Services) to use the Emergency Bikes. Working with the bike manufacturer Urban Arrow and UMP doctors, the agency developed a requirement specification document to create the bike, designed the bike, helped Ecox create the first prototype, and created the digital assets, posters, and visuals for promotion.
“We are excited to celebrate the launch of Emergency Bikes in the streets of Paris and help optimise urban medical interventions. Emergency Bikes are fast. They slide easily through heavy traffic, they park in limited spaces, and most importantly, they enable doctors to cross Paris with their medical material faster than any other vehicle, reaching every medical intervention site two times faster, on average,” said Adrien Mancel and Paul-Emile Raymond, creative directors at Wunderman Thompson Paris. “Our partnership with Ecox has been extremely rewarding and our hope is to develop a project where Emergency Bikes can be used in several emergency services across other cities and countries,” continued the creative directors.
“Emergency Bikes is our response to address the complex problems related to doctors moving around the city. We are thrilled to serve as such an efficient brand for our UMP medics, who look forward to receiving our emergency bikes,” said Mathieu Froger, CEO of Ecox. “After the pandemic lockdown, Parisians won’t use public transport nearly as much. Many of them will use their cars instead and this will create even more traffic jams. Tomorrow more than ever, the medics will need Emergency Bikes. This is our opportunity to change the way emergency services are delivered, and we couldn’t have done it without the support, leadership, and activation of the Wunderman Thompson team,” continued Froger.
The first fleet of Emergency Bikes for UMP doctors were deployed on the road on 3rd September, and the marketing campaign in France begins on the 7th of September.
