For anyone who doubts the effectiveness of advertising, let me take you on a ride down New North Road for a few minutes.

Picture this. It was opening night of the Rugby World Cup and I found myself having to drive from my Kingsland Apartment (adjacent to Eden Park) and find my way to Newmarket. The time was 4pm and I had just made a last minute change of plans due to the reported full house at Queens Wharf. Instead of travelling by train to Britomart as intended, I would now drive to Newmarket. This is a hassle in normal peak hour traffic let alone at a significant international event that would see me fighting through the traffic of 60,000 rugby fans.

Yet as I pulled out of my apartment it was apparent that the roads were empty. I had not seen Auckland roads this clear and open before. I found myself in Newmarket inside of ten minutes and enjoyed easy driving on uncongested roads for the rest of the evening.

Not so the trains and buses. An effective advertising campaign had been run by Auckland Council to promote the merits of public transport to sports fans. This campaign was so successful it caused untold headaches for Auckland’s overburdened transport system and at the same time emptied the roads nicely for my wee jaunt.

Some fans, persuaded by the pro-public transport message, found it took up to two hours to get to the game, missing the fantastic opening ceremony in the process.

Now I don’t want to get drawn into the merits of Auckland’s public transport but as an advertiser what stands out for me is the fact that 95% of sports fans were convinced to use public transport in favour of using their own car – a tall order in New Zealand.

I have always believed that your audience will engage with your message if it connects with them and if there is an element of self interest at stake. The best toaster advertisement in the world is not going to convince you to buy a toaster if you’re not in the market. But if you are looking, an opportunity exists to present an option and to promote it above the other options on offer.

People were interested in the announcements around public transport. They listened. They headed. This is a classic case of advertising working too well – and causing headaches as a result.