Road Safety Advertising and Social Marketing

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Jul 10, 2008 - The seminar on road safety advertising and social marketing was attended by ... Websites such as MySpace, YouTube and Facebook, and the ... The Roads and Traffic Authority's Pinky campaign is a significant Australian-based ... Remember, the best posters should get their message across when viewed.
Getting the message across: What can we learn from public health advertising? Proceedings of a seminar held at the George Institute for International Health, George Street, Sydney Wednesday 10 July 2008

Sarah Redshaw Ian J. Faulks Julia D. Irwin (Editors) NSW (Sydney) Chapter Australasian College of Road Safety Sponsored by the Motor Accidents Authority

Preface Ian Faulks Safety and Policy Analysis International and Department of Psychology, Macquarie University On Wednesday 10 July 2008, at the George Institute for International Health, George Street, Sydney, the NSW (Sydney) Chapter of the Australasian College of Road Safety conducted a seminar on road safety advertising and social marketing. The seminar was aimed at professionals involved in road safety in the community at the local government and state government levels. The NSW (Sydney) Chapter of the Australasian College of Road Safety has conducted a regular series of seminars since 2003, with a continuing annual funding grant from the Motor Accidents Authority. The seminar on road safety advertising and social marketing was attended by more than 40 people registered, with speakers including: Dr Sarah Redshaw, of Driving Cultures; Dr Ioni Lewis, from the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland; Mr Russell Watsford, from the Roads and Traffic Authority in New South Wales; and Ms Kay Coppa, from the New South Wales Cancer Council.

The 'Pinky' campaign An important element of the seminar program was a detailed presentation and discussion of the Roads and Traffic Authority's "Speeding. No one thinks big of you" campaign. This campaign is of importance as it integrated a road safety advertising campaign presence not only through traditional media such as television, cinema, radio, and static advertising such as billboards, bus shelters and busbacks, but it sought and obtained a presence in the digital arena. The advertising industry is in the middle of a digital revolution that is basically about the changing role of the internet. Not only is the world wide web moving from computer screens to mobile phone screens and from fixed cable connection to wireless, it is also moving from being a delivery channel to an interactive one. Websites such as MySpace, YouTube and Facebook, and the increasingly rise and use of blogs, allow immediate and sustained connection of individuals and online communities beyond defined urban, regional and national boundaries. These individuals and online communities want to be able to generate content as well as receive it, to parody content and to appropriate it. Increasingly, the acceptability of advertising content is reliant on how internet connected individuals and online

communities want to receive it, and in a form they choose and at a time when they choose. The Roads and Traffic Authority's Pinky campaign is a significant Australian-based road safety advertising campaign that succeeds in the transition from traditional advertising delivered through traditional media such as television, print media, and radio and static roadside advertising, to a broader campaign that integrates a suite of approaches including the internet and digital marketing. Ultimately, it would seem that effective road safety advertising will need to address content though digital marketing, direct marketing, and even revisions of approaches to public relations and event management; this challenge and change of approach can be seen in the increasing diversification of traditional advertising firms to include specialist communication companies, and in the steady increase in revenue from digital-based advertising as a share of clients’ marketing expenditure. Clearly, as access and the user experience becomes faster, cheaper, easier and better, target groups will respond and participate more. Some visitors to the Roads and Traffic Authority's MySpace website posted their own modifications to the advertisements (see, e.g., below)

The Roads and Traffic Authority's 'Pimp our ads' competition New digital technologies also allow new means of interactive communication. In 2007, the Roads and Traffic Authority ran the 'Pimp our ads' competition, with partners Toyota, 2DAY FM radio, MMM radio, and Free2Go (a partnership between NRMA Motoring and Services and Subaru providing roadside assistance for young drivers, see: http://www.befree2go.com.au/)

A website was established: pimpourads.com, and an online competition was designed to challenge young people to create posters reflecting the road safety issues they thought were the most relevant. The competition ran through an interactive website that provided the tools for creating, submitting and online sharing of posters with a road safety theme. Entries received—there were about 7,500 entries received over a six week period—were published in a viewable gallery. Participants received an acknowledgment email, which contained a web address ink to their poster that they could then forward to friends, encouraging viewers to the website and more entrants to the competition. Viewers could also register their vote for the best entry. Participants were given several practical tips to assist the development of their creative idea, including: • Keep it simple; • The 10 metre test: Limit your headline to as few words as possible. Remember, the best posters should get their message across when viewed from a distance. Try taking a few steps away from your computer screen and looking at your work. Are the words big enough to be read from a distance? Do the colours look good together? Is there anything you could improve? • Is it original • What is the impact • Is it legible • Is it typo-free? The criteria used in judging the posters were also outlined: 40% Words (Are they hard-hitting and meaningful?); 30% Visual appeal (How well applied are the

graphics tools); and 30% Originality (Have you cracked something non-one's done before?) The winning entry, 'Should have crashed at a mates' by Sam Morris was developed into an outdoor poster campaign that was displayed using bus backs and taxi backs.

Other commended entries included:

The Land Transport NZ 'Stop your mate driving drunk' SMS campaign In New Zealand the Land Transport NZ ran the an anti-drink driving campaign using advertising promoting anonymous SMS messaging to people whose friends thought were likely to attempt to drink drunk:

This campaign allowed a direct marketing approach using communications technology to deliver a road safety message at an appropriate time and place to influence the decision of an individual as to whether he or she would engage in a risky and illegal behaviour.

Comments Clearly, traditional road safety advertising via media such as television, print media, and radio and static roadside advertising, is being overtaken by a transition to broader campaigns that include the internet, digital marketing and direct marketing. The evidence is that target populations will respond and participate. The challenge is to harness the possibilities offered by these new approaches, and to deliver effective and timely road safety messages.

Acknowledgments The seminar was sponsored by grants received from the Motor Accidents Authority and the Roads and Traffic Authority to the NSW (Sydney) Chapter of the Australasian College of Road Safety. The organisation of the seminar was undertaken by Dr Sarah Redshaw, of Driving Cultures.

The NSW (Sydney) Chapter of the Australasian College of Road Safety is grateful to the George Institute for International Health in providing the venue for the seminar, and to staff of the Institute for their assistance.

Should road safety ads make us feel good or bad? Some empirical evidence on the effectiveness of negative and positive emotional appeals Ioni Lewis Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety - Queensland Abstract Evidence emerging from recent research has indicated that negative, fear-based approaches may not be as effective as assumed in changing risky road user attitudes and behaviours among high-risk groups like males. The research has suggested that advertising messages that evoke positive emotions, such as humour, are potentially more persuasive with certain high-risk individuals. The presentation will discuss the key findings that have emerged throughout her program of research as well highlight some implications for future advertising campaigns.

Ioni Lewis Ioni’s research into the effectiveness of road safety advertising commenced with her Honours project in 2002, for which she was awarded the RACQ prize for Best Honours Thesis in Road Safety. Recently, Ioni completed her PhD entitled “Factors that Influence the Effectiveness of Advertising Countermeasures in Road Safety” at the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety - Queensland (CARRS-Q) based at the Queensland University of Technology.

The Pinkie campaign, ‘Speeding - No one thinks big of you‘: A new approach to road safety marketing Russell Watsford Roads and Traffic Authority New South Wales Abstract Speeding is the biggest road safety problem in New South Wales and young male drivers are significantly over represented in speed related crashes. The Roads and Traffic Authority has now adopted a new approach to make contact with a target audience that has been traditionally difficult to reach and deliver an anti speeding message that would have an impact on their attitudes, beliefs and motivate behaviour change. The Pinkie campaign, ‘Speeding. No one thinks big of you’ launched in June 2007 has not only broken through the youth barrier but has been embraced by popular youth culture. The Pinkie campaign has introduced a new paradigm into road safety marketing.

Russell Watsford Russell is the Manager, Road Safety Marketing, for the New South Wales Roads and Traffic Authority. He has worked in the road safety marketing area since 2000, developing strategies and managing the creative development of a number of high profile integrated road safety advertising campaigns. These include Pinkie campaign: Speeding. No one thinks big of you; the Brain and Mobile RBT – Paranoia campaigns among others.

The ‘Speeding - No one thinks big of you‘ campaign materials Abstract The ‘Speeding. No one thinks big of you’ road safety advertising campaign launched in June 2007 has not only broken through the youth barrier but has been embraced by popular youth culture. The following slides show the nonstatic advertising elements of the campaign: • Pinky – Television advertisement • Hectic – Internet advertisement • Slowdown Notes – Cinema advertisement

Note: These still images were compiled by Ian Faulks, of Safety and Policy Analysis International and the Department of Psychology, Macquarie University.

Top Gear magazine . . . a parody (anti-ad) of the ‘Speeding - No one thinks big of you‘ campaign Abstract The ‘Speeding. No one thinks big of you’ road safety advertising campaign has resulted in a large number of parodies and anti-ads, One of the most prominent is an advertisement for the launch of the Australian edition of Top Gear magazine in July 2008, featuring an anatomically anomalous little pinky digit.

Note: These still images were compiled by Ian Faulks, of Safety and Policy Analysis International and the Department of Psychology, Macquarie University.

SunSmart: Health promotion and social marketing approaches in skin cancer prevention Kay Coppa New South Wales Cancer Council

Abstract Mass media campaigns have played an important role in raising public awareness of the consequences of UV radiation exposure. They have also provided the backdrop for a sustained settings based approach that continues to support behaviour change and maintenance. The presentation will outline the range of complementary health promotion and social marketing approaches used in the Cancer Council's SunSmart program.

Kay Coppa Kay Coppa has an extensive background in public health and is the Manager of the Skin Cancer Prevention Unit at the Cancer Council NSW. Kay makes regular contributions to the media and written for professional journals such as Australian Journal of Primary Health and the Medical Journal of Australia on skin cancer. She conducted a study through Griffith University titled Self-Help Groups in the Hunter Region - a Qualitative Study of Their Role in Chronic Illness Management.