Seminar: Develop an Integrated Marketing Communication Plan

The Think! Campaign

You are required to read the case study on the Think! Campaign for Road Safety provided below, prior to the Seminars (week 8 and 9). This case study has been adapted from a report presented by the UK Government detailing the proposed approach to execute the THINK! Road Safety campaign. The full report can be found on http://www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk/introduction.htm In the seminar, you are asked to create a communication plan to address ONE of the following area of topic, identified by Think! (A) Child Road Safety (B) Teenage Road Safety (C) Adult Road Safety (Choose ONE) Drink Driving Driver Tiredness Motorcycle Safety Wearing Seat Belts Speed

THINK! Road safety publicity: the UK Government's approach1 Introduction 1. The UK Government has an objective of reducing road deaths and serious injuries by 40 per cent (50 per cent for children) by the year 2010. Key factors in achieving that objective are improved road user behaviour and acceptance of engineering and enforcement initiatives that increase road safety. Education and publicity play a key role in raising consumer awareness and acceptance. 2. Our road safety publicity aims to:

ensure that there is a high profile for road safety as a matter for general concern complement police and local authority activities encourage broader support from private sector partners get across specific messages to target audiences generate media interest in road safety issues

3. It does this by:

involving a broad spectrum of society in promoting safer roads for everyone encouraging and reinforcing attitudes that lead to safer and more considerate behaviour by all road users promoting understanding of the need for better road safety behaviour contributing to the general aim of reducing road casualties and meeting the casualty targets for year 2010

4. Our basic approach is national publicity using a mix of emotion and facts that raise the profile of road safety. We utilise a range of media channels TV, radio, press, posters, ambient etc. - to provide a national platform to stimulate complementary regional and local authority activity and to encourage private sector companies to cascade messages to their employees and customers. A range of free publicity material is made available to local authorities and others to promote consistency of messages at national and local level. We have also entered into sports sponsorship with the Rugby Football League and the English Football League to enable us to get our messages across to a wider audience using a celebrity based approach.
This case study has been adapted from a report presented by the UK Government detailing the approach to execute the THINK! road safety publicity, The full report can be found on http://www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk/introduction.htm
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5. Road Safety advertising has been a key priority for many years. In the past, advertising focussed on specific themes such as drink drive and seatbelts. In recent years we have communicated many more messages such as fatigue and use of mobile phones. We wanted people to see that these extra individual messages were part of an overall campaign to improve road safety. So in June 2000, we launched a new campaign under one banner - THINK! - to unite our various road safety messages. The rationale for THINK! 6. The aim of Government road safety campaigns is to reinforce the need for drivers and other road users to take responsibility for their own safety and for the safety of others on the road. In the wider context, the theme of personal and social responsibility is central to the Government's philosophy and to its transport policies to encourage more responsible travel choices. 7. The encouragement of more people to walk or cycle instead of driving makes the promotion of safety for more vulnerable road users and the responsible and considerate behaviour of drivers even more important. 8. Road safety publicity campaigns raise public awareness that accidents do not just happen, rather they are caused. Public awareness campaigns can help to influence the attitudes and behaviours that cause accidents. They also create public acceptance for safety engineering and police enforcement and they give national focus and context for local initiatives aimed at making the roads safer and for third parties to carry road safety messages in the context of their own commercial activities. 9. The THINK! campaign was therefore launched:

To contribute to achieving the targets for road casualty reduction by year 2010, as set out in the Government's policy strategy document "Tomorrow's roads: safer for everyone". To use all the marketing tools available to us to get across road safety messages effectively and meaningfully. To draw together a wide range of road safety messages under a single concept. To get across specific advice to road users while impressing on all the need to THINK! while using the road. To help to stimulate a year round presence under a new road safety brand. To encourage new partnerships to associate with the brand in promoting road safety.

10. The THINK! campaign is not about the motorist as such, or the pedestrians, or cyclists, motor cyclists, etc. It is about people, about the citizen, about each and all of us. It is about how we all use our roads safely, whether we happen to be motoring, walking, cycling or whatever. This is mainly to build a mood of "we're all in it together" to have greater effect. Our campaigns need to address the following area (CHOOSE ONE ONLY FOR YOUR SEMINAR) (D) Child Road Safety (E) Teenage Road Safety (F) Adult Road Safety Drink Driving Driver Tiredness Use of Mobile Phones (Not presented in this case) Motorcycle Safety Wearing Seat Belts Slow Down Part 1: Child Road Safety in the UK 12. Our publicity to influence child behaviour is broken down into various age bands. Our general approach is to:

Target groups that have the most influence over the child / young person. Sometimes this is the child / young person themselves and other times someone close like a parent. Work with stakeholders who have the power to help us deliver the messages. Our key stakeholder group is the Road Safety Officers (RSOs) who work in local councils and who have very good established channels with the local community. Our road safety material is disseminated primarily through them. Use a mix of marketing tools that compliment and reinforce each other to get the points across effectively e.g. advertising to children, direct marketing through RSOs, PR and websites. Adapt the messages and tactics in the light of changing circumstances and research findings.

(A) Children in the 7- 10 age range The campaign aimed at this age group has three elements:

Pedestrian safety In car safety (Not presented in this case) 4

Cycle safety (Not presented in this case)

(I) Pedestrian Safety 13. Tactics start to change for this group, as it is likely that during this age range children will start to cross roads independently. Children themselves are therefore a key target for the publicity. It is also particularly important that publicity aimed at this group appeals to boys, as they are more than twice as likely to be involved in a road accident as girls. We also want to reach parents and teachers as well. 14. Our main messages are:

Stop, look, listen and live. Find a safe place to cross the road. Know the green cross code. Be careful even on the roads you know. Be safe, be seen. Make sure cars can see you in the darker winter months. Wear fluorescent clothes by day and reflective clothes when it gets dark. Parents / teachers - teach road safety and know how the risks change as your child gets older.

15. Teachers are an important and influential group for this age range. (B) Teenage road safety 11-16 year olds 18. The campaign for this group has two main elements:

Pedestrian road safety Cycle safety

19. In this age range, parents start to become less influential. Research shows that for this age group peers are the first reference point; Teachers still have some power and influence, but parents rank below teachers as someone to listen to. Therefore, our campaign primarily targets the young people themselves and then teachers and to a lesser extent parents. Our main messages are:

Traffic is the single biggest killer of 12-16 year olds. 11-16 year olds are more at risk of being killed or seriously injured as pedestrians and cyclists than any other group. Teens themselves are not aware enough of the dangers of traffic. They think they are more likely to be mugged, bullied or offered drugs than be involved in a road accident - but almost one in two know someone who has been involved in a road accident. Distractions are a big danger - talking on mobile phones, listening to 5

personal stereos or just not paying attention. Teen cycle safety 20. Our main target here is 11 - 16 year olds with a large male bias. Our prime target is teenage boys as they make up over 90% of teenage cyclists in the 12 -15 age range that are killed or seriously injured. We also give advice to parents but they are a secondary target. Key messages are:

The core message for the campaign is to promote helmet wearing, which is in line with recently published DfT research, which found that "cycle helmets reduce the incidence and severity of head and upper facial injuries". Make sure cars can see you by wearing high visibility and reflective clothing. Keep your bike properly maintained and make sure using lights, brakes are working properly and tyres are in good condition. Book yourself or your child onto a cycle training course. Be aware of danger areas for cyclists, e.g. right turns.

21. The most recent teen cycle safety campaign launched in April 2003. As part of the pre campaign planning, we researched - primarily with teenage boys but with some female representation - to test three possible creative routes for this campaign. They chose the rather macabre style that focuses on skulls and straight delivery of the safety message. They firmly rejected any approach that tried to make helmets cool or softer cartoon style graphics. 22. The cycling lobby has not liked the approach we adopted arguing that it sends out negative images of cycling. Research demonstrates that their views are not representative with 9 out of 10 parents saying the images would not put them off letting their child cycle. The children themselves endorse our images enthusiastically. Part 2: Adult Road Safety Issues 23. Uniting national and local activity requires regular dialogue with stakeholders and with Road Safety Officers in local authorities. We have carried forward that dialogue via regular meetings and electronic communications, publishing a forward calendar of proposed publicity activity to help road safety officers, police, private and voluntary sector supporters and others supporting the campaign to be able to plan ahead. We have also united with a local authority organisation who send weekly email alerts to road safety practitioners. That, and the provision of free campaign materials, has produced much excellent complementary activity. 24. Following a consumer research carried out within the Australian context, the findings below are found to be revealing in terms of 6

communicating to adult on issues pertaining to road safety (Harper and Forsyth 1994)

The do s
Do be as shocking as you like. Do be as emotional as possible. Do ensure that a communication leaves us thinking that this could happen to me. Do emphasise the link between drink/drive, speed, and real accidents.

The don ts
Dont concentrate on twisted metal. Dont bore us with statistics. Dont lecture us. Dont threaten us with authority uniforms, or financial penalties. Dont suggest that we cannot have a drink. 25. Our recent national activity broken down by individual themes is shown below. (A) Drink & Drive 26. In focussing our messages, we need to reach people in their mid - late twenties in particular and older drivers, as statistics indicate these are more likely to drink drive. Research we commissioned among drink drivers in early 2002 indicated that they dismissed some of our powerful advertising as being aimed at 'drunk' drivers. They did not see themselves as being in that category. They 'knew their limits'. They felt they were able to drive safely after 'a couple of drinks', though admitted they might be over the limit sometimes. They did not think they would get stopped. 27. To tackle this, new high profile TV advertising aiming at challenging their assumptions is planned. We are also now focussing on the excuse drivers' make - "I've only had a couple of beers", "I'm only going on a short journey." We need to show that drink drive cannot only wreck lives in horrific accidents, but that it can cause many simpler accidents. We need also to highlight the substantial penalties drivers will face if they are convicted of drink driving. 28. We have also taken forward activity to raise awareness of the dangers of drugs and driving.

(B) Speed 29. The purpose of our advertising has been to raise awareness of the dangers of driving too fast and to gain support for interventions that force drivers to slow down - where it is appropriate. Market research since 1996 shows there has been an increase in the social unacceptability of driving at 40mph in a 30mph area (from 33 to 53 per cent). Research also shows high levels of support for engineering solutions (e.g. lower limits near schools, safety cameras) that cut down urban speed. Two key strands were identified during creative development research carried out to determine the best ways to gain the attention and support of the general public. One, the effect of hitting a child whilst speeding, and secondly, the use of statistics and science to support the scenario presented. Killing an innocent victim remains among the most potent messages with the public as a whole. The responses from research identified the need to avoid only a short-term 'tear jerk' effect. (C) Fatigue 30. While advertising helps to alert everyone to the issue, we are conscious that there is a complex educational task ahead in getting individuals to understand how to counter tiredness by: a) avoiding it in the first place by planning ahead; b) taking a brief rest by fitting breaks into journeys. The Department carried out focus group research on the driver tiredness campaign in 2004 and it is this new research which has given a fresh insight into how the driver tiredness campaign should be developed. The qualitative research carried out in November 2004 by Creative Research explored attitudes to the driver tiredness campaign and identified the best ways of taking it forward. Addressing the symptoms of driver tiredness together with emphasising the importance of taking a break sooner than drivers otherwise might, were areas of the campaign which the research found required more emphasis. The main findings of the attitudes among the sample were that drivers believed a good journey was one that could be made without stopping at all.

For many, the solution to driver tiredness was to wind down the windows and turn up the music and for male drivers refuelling the car or stopping for food or to go to the toilet was seen as 'taking a break'. Male drivers aged 23-27 years, felt the government's advice was unrealistic, however some business drivers were intrigued by the 15 minute rest break concept. From this research we have been able to develop a new and integrated campaign. Taking the campaign forward we will be focusing on three key areas targeted at three key audiences:

18-30 year old males - primary target group as research suggests that they are more likely to fall asleep at the wheel. Leisure drivers - driver further distances at key bank holiday times than they are used to. Driving for work - 40% of all fatigue related crashes involve someone who was at work at the time. (Loughborough Sleep Centre).

(D) Motorcycling 31. Motorcycling safety has been a concern as the rise in the use of motorised two wheelers in the UK has been accompanied by a rise in casualties. 32. The Government's road safety strategy document, Tomorrow's Roads: Safer For Everyone, has set a target to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on the roads by 40 per cent by 2010. Broadly the targets of this strategy are being met but motorcyclists are disproportionately involved in fatal and serious injury crashes. 33. Main results for 2004 show that the number of motorcyclists killed decreased by 16 per cent compared to 2003. Despite this welcome drop in casualty figures, motorcycles last year represented 1% of road traffic but accounted for 17% of all fatalities. Motorcycle casualty figures remain high and with 585 motorcyclists killed and 6,063 motorcyclists seriously injured last year, there is no room for complacency. The new THINK! motorcycle safety campaign need to encourage drivers in an urban environment to " Take longer to look for bikes", The THINK! Campaign should target drivers and riders separately with specific safety messages - to prevent either side opting out of the message. The new ad needs to contains a clear call to action to try and bring about behavioural change. 9

(E) Seatbelts 34. Our seat belt campaign, THINK! Always Wear a Seatbelt has been successful in increasing rear seat belt wearing rates. The focus of our advertising has been on rear seat belts since 1998 with a hard hitting ad showing the consequences of not wearing a rear seatbelt. In September 2003, we altered our approach in response to latest research findings, to focus on seatbelt wearing in both the front and rear of the car. A new TV ad aimed at younger drivers to reveal the effects of wearing and not wearing a seatbelt is planned. The aim of the seatbelt campaign is to tell drivers and passengers of the importance of wearing your seatbelt both in the front and the back of a vehicle. This is based on the insight that the real crash happens inside the car (impact with the screen, dashboard, and other passengers). The strategy also seeks to target short trips at low speeds in urban areas, as it is often on these types of journeys that drivers don't belt up. 35. Observations surveys indicate that higher rear seat belt wearing levels are being maintained with just under 60 per cent of adults and over 90 per cent of children wearing seatbelts (compared with around 45 and 80 per cent in the years running up to the campaign which began in 1998). Part 3: Conclusions/Where Next 36. Our effort is having effect. In its brief life, recognition of the THINK! brand is already on a par with the likes of Yellow Pages. And among younger drivers it is even higher! But the main strength of THINK! is in adding coherence to the wide range of individual road safety messages, providing a vehicle for third parties to take on messages and increasing their effectiveness in raising awareness of how everyone can contribute to making our roads safer. 37. We have achieved much, but need to do much more:

On speed we need to continue to persuade people of the benefits of keeping to legal and safe speeds. The temptations to become distracted while driving have never been greater. And research tells us that the distraction proffered by using a mobile is significantly more dangerous than many other distractions, so that is an area where publicity will be key in supporting the law. Seat belts are an area too where, though we have been successful in raising underlying wearing rates, we can still go further. Drugs and driving may be a growing problem. By no means on the scale of drink driving - but nevertheless an area where we are developing targeted publicity aimed at getting across to young 10

people and clubbers credible messages about the effects of drugs on driving ability, recognition of symptoms, what happens if you are stopped and penalties. We dare not lower our guard on drink driving. Children are our future and children in the UK are great consumers of television and of advertising. Besides the advertising we aim at them, they see and hear the advertising we aim at adults. This means that they grow up with new norms of behaviour. Young people now in their late twenties grew up with drink drive advertising and have very different attitudes from those of previous generations. Some of them still do it, but they know it is not socially acceptable. They have grown up too against a backdrop of other high profile advertising.

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