Drive Social

Television advertising

The problem we need to solve

The Safer Journeys strategy is based on applying the Safe System approach, which aims to make the road transport system more accommodating of human error. One way to achieve this is to make road users more tolerant of one another. It's a fundamental change that requires shared responsibility between road users, transport system designers and influencers.

The objective

Create demand for road safety by changing the way people think about the road.

We want to cut through the (worst case scenario) complacency of many and make unsafe road behaviour intolerable to everyone.

The strategy

Get people to think of the road as a social place.

As is the case with most social places, responsible road users must behave in a way that the majority of people would deem socially acceptable.

If people agree with this notion, they are well on their way to accepting that the way they behave on the road affects everyone.

The way in

A fresh, frank, inclusive conversation about the way we all drive.

The idea

Drive Social, a new initiative with a simple, open-ended question at its heart, 'If we stopped thinking 'cars' and started thinking 'people', would it change the way we drive?'

We tested this thought, and the answer we got was a resounding, 'Yes.'

The approach

Drive Social is deliberately provocative. We're asking people a question, and giving them the tools and information they need to discuss it and decide for themselves.

Why? Because making up your own mind is far more effective than getting told.

The campaign

Television

A television advertisement launched Drive Social to a large audience on Thursday, 28 February.

The advertisement begins with a group of strangers standing on a road. As the sun rises they begin to warm to one another. Introductions are made and hands are shaken. It's warm, friendly, social stuff that culminates in the group coming together for a photo. At this point it's revealed that they are, in fact, commuters who share this road every morning.

The ad leaves the viewer with an open question, 'If we stopped thinking 'cars', and started thinking 'people', would it change the way we drive?'

drivesocial.co.nz

Another aspect of the campaign is drivesocial.co.nz. The television ad and other supporting media channels (including social media, online advertising, outdoor advertising and bus-backs) direct people to a unique online experience that lets them see who they share the road with.

The experience, which works on mobile, tablet and desktop, does this by collecting and comparing the drive we do most often: our weekday morning commute.

Then it goes further. Drawing from Facebook data, the experience shows road users what they have in common with each other. Why? Because establishing commonalities is a great way to bring people together.

The experience culminates in a live, personalised, shareable one-page summary: a snapshot of a driving community who travel on the same roads, at the same time, every weekday morning.

Radio

Radio is a very important part of Drive Social. The radio campaign, running across 16 stations, kicks off with a nationwide broadcast.

In a warm but rousing rally cry, an announcer appeals to all New Zealanders, asking them to Drive Social.

The campaign continues with talkback discussions, DJ ad-libs, and a series of station-specific Drive Social summary pages on each station's Facebook page. The radio presenters even lend their voices to the cause, featuring in the online experience as narrators.

In summary

Drive Social is the first step in an ongoing marketing strategy. It's a warm, human approach that aims to change the way people think about the road and make all road users more tolerant of one another.

Further information

• Drive Social - Questions and answers (PDF, 133 KB, 5 pages)

Radio advertising

Outdoor advertising