The Drum out of Home Awards and Dorset Business Awards 2019

We are very proud to be named a finalists for the 2019 National Drum Out of Home Awards in Transport and Not-For-Profit categories, and in the Dorset Business Awards in Creative and Digital Impact 2019 for our work with the Police.

Challenge

Road safety is a serious issue and despite years of hard-hitting advertising campaigns that drove home the potentially deadly implications of unsafe behaviour on the road, the message just wasn’t having the desired impact.

Dorset Police challenged us to change this culture of ambivalence by creating an impactful road safety campaign that would alter people’s behaviour.

This was to be an all-encompassing, multi-channel campaign that would resonate with the target audience across all forms of communication; social media, radio, door drops, websites, billboards, anywhere where we could change the attitudes of road users across the county.

Actions

We started by asking ourselves a simple question; Do you think we can tell people to be more respectful and they simply will be? And from there we began to employ our disruptive thinking ethos to the problem at hand.

Road safety awareness campaigns are typically emotive with an emphasis on the life-changing outcomes such as death, serious injury and imprisonment. In opposition to this is humour, and in the popular new game Cards Against Humanity we saw an opportunity to repurpose a mechanic to use some subtler, edgier messaging that would cut through the noise that fear-mongering had been unable to.

We wanted to engender a greater feeling of empathy among drivers without being patronising while empowering other road users to feel safer, which is when we began to evolve into a concept of ‘respect’. Literally defined, the noun means, “due regard for the feelings, wishes, or rights of others.”

Seizing upon these two ideas, we found a unifying theme in ‘choices’. As individuals, it is our choice whether we respect others, something clearly self-evident in attitudes between cyclists and non-cyclists for example. Similarly, the defining game mechanic in Cards Against Humanity is the player’s choice in how to fill the blank and generate a reaction. These concepts helped us realise what became #ChoicesForHumanity.

Results

Fireworx dramatically changed the tone of traditional road safety awareness campaigns steering away from consequential messages about death, injuries and imprisonment. Instead it repurposed a mechanic (Cards Against Humanity) to use humour and subtler, edgier messaging to cut through the noise that fear-mongering had been unable to, creating a campaign that turned ambivalence into reaction and choice with lasting impact for Dorset Police.

Choices for Humanity changed the attitudes of road users across the county. The all-encompassing, innovative, eye-catching and thought-provoking multi-channel campaign resonated with the target audiences across all forms of communication; social media, radio, door drops, websites and billboards.

“It is vital that we continue to find new and innovative ways to prevent casualties on our roads.

“Everyone would like to think they are a considerate driver, but sometimes life gets in the way and one error of judgement can sometimes have catastrophic consequences.

“This unique and innovative campaign will hopefully remind us that we are all human and have the ability to make the right choices and show humanity towards each other.”

Julie Fielding, Chair, Dorset Road Safety Partnership & Assistant Chief Constable

“We are grateful to Fireworx for coming up with the original concept of #ChoicesForHumanity….

“There are 19 distinct messages within the campaign and we believe the recognisable content and unconventional format will resonate with road-users and have an increasingly positive impact.”

Kristian Ward, Communications Officer, Devon and Cornwall Police & Dorset Police

“We started by asking ourselves a simple question; Do you think we can tell people to be more respectful and they simply will be? And from there we began to employ our disruptive thinking ethos to the problem at hand.

“Road safety awareness campaigns are typically emotive with an emphasis on the life-changing outcomes such as death, serious injury and imprisonment. In opposition to this is humour, and in the popular new game Cards Against Humanity we saw an opportunity to repurpose a mechanic to use some subtler, edgier messaging that would cut through the noise that fear-mongering had been unable to.

We wanted to engender a greater feeling of empathy among drivers without being patronising while empowering other road users to feel safer, which is when we began to evolve into a concept of ‘respect’. Literally defined, the noun means, “due regard for the feelings, wishes, or rights of others.”

Seizing upon these two ideas, we found a unifying theme in ‘choices’. As individuals, it is our choice whether we respect others, something clearly self-evident attitudes between cyclists and non-cyclists for example. Similarly, the defining game mechanic in Cards Against Humanity is the player’s choice in how to fill the blank and generate a reaction. These concepts helped us realise what became #ChoicesForHumanity. It was truly fantastic to help create a campaign to improve Dorset’s roads, as a Bournemouth based agency any work to support our local community gives me a huge sense of pride.”

Daniel Smith, CEO and Founder, Fireworx

Total audience reach figures are not currently available, although a single social media post on just one day reached 166,084 people with 2,010 reactions. Road casualty figures from Dorset Council will be available at the end of 2019 which will show the impact the campaign has had on the number of people killed or seriously injured on Dorset’s roads.

However, anecdotal evidence to date indicates that by utilising some of the most effective behaviour change techniques Fireworx’ Choices for Humanity campaign will be long lasting and effective. And at just £6,000 it offered exceptional value for money.

We’re looking forward to the Gala Dinners for the Drum OOH on 21st November at the Emirates Stadium and 28th November for the Dorset Business Awards. We’ll have fingers crossed that the work done, for such a crucial service provider, gets further recognition.

If you’d like to contact Fireworx about an upcoming project, or are interested in our commitment to challenge convention and think disruptively, please get in touch with us on 01202 559 559, or drop us an email on ideas@fwx.co.uk