ADFX 2004 CASE HISTORIES

PENALTY POINTS
Irish drivers start getting the point
Agency: Client:	Lyle Bailie International National Safety Council
Team:	David Lyle Juilie-Ann Bailie Dawn Reid	Robert Lyle David Martin

INTRODUCTION
In 2001 the Republic of Ireland had a road death rate which was in Europe’s mid-range.
Ireland’s road death rate, at 10.6 per 100,000 population was tragically high compared to Europe’s lowest – in Netherlands, Sweden and the UK. Indeed Ireland’s road death rate per 100,000 population in 2001 was 76% above the UK level.

In the three years, 1999-2001, Ireland’s number of road deaths had settled morbidly at an average of 413 per year. Then Minister for Transport, Seamus Brennan TD, announced the introduction of Penalty Points, set for 31st Oct-02.

This case study examines the effect which the introduction of Penalty Points laws had on Irish road deaths, alongside the advertising campaign which ran during this same period to educate the public. The evidence shows how a €0.61 million investment in advertising made a significant contribution to saving 103 lives – with an economic value of €111million – and establishes a clear link between the advertising and the effect.

BACKGROUND
The National Safety Council, with a statutory responsibility for road safety education, is a well-recognised social brand which regularly scores top ten positions in Irish Marketing Journal’s Adwatch Surveys – despite being around 22nd in RTE’s league of TV spenders.

MARKETING OBJECTIVES
To educate drivers about Penalty Points and help to reduce road deaths in Ireland.

THE TASK
Penalty Points have the potential to enflame public opinion, as the experience in England shows. A flood
of negative publicity surrounds the subject in London tabloids. Regular news reports in GB feature
attacks on Penalty Points as "moneygrabbing", "greed cameras", - "a stealth tax". All this is predictable
under the psychological Theory of Reactance, which predicts how certain restrictions if perceived as "unfair" will lead to "intense emotional reactions" in which people will seek "to subvert the restriction". Hence the vandalising of speed cameras in England.

The task was to explain Penalty Points to Irish drivers without provoking the psychology of Reactance
seen in England and elsewhere.

THE STRATEGIC SOLUTION
From the outset, to set the educational message in a moral context. To win the moral argument about
speeding (the first offence to carry Penalty Points) while conveying the facts. This was a Psychology-led strategy. Context determines perceptions. It was necessary to surround the issue with an emotional context which justified the fairness of Penalty Points – and reduced the potential for Reactance.

THE IDEA
"Get the Point. Not the Points."
A simple memorable advertising message. Using a down-to-earth, factual approach – but with an edge of emotion when it turns to the lives wrecked on our roads.

THE COMMUNICATION ACTIVITY WHY RADIO?

Radio had the potential to reach into the car and act as an important Point-of-Danger message. The mix of national and local stations would achieve a reach of 83% against adults and 87% of all drivers (Source: TGI ROI 2002) A 40-second radio edit "Whats the Point?" conveyed the detail of the new legislation - 35 spots per station. To maximise radio’s impact a minimum of 50% of the spots were placed first in break to achieve stand out. There was a media roadblock on the launch day across three key drivetime news breaks (0800- 0830,1300-1330. 1700-1730) giving it an unmissable launch. Radio continued in April, July and Nov-2003 acting as a Point-of-Danger message.

WHY PRESS?
A press campaign in selected titles could reach an estimated 78% of adults and 82% of drivers, the key
audience. Press was chosen for the launch because it converted so well against the driver audience. Hand picked titles which converted especially well against drivers were used. Opinion forming titles were combined with mass coverage titles.

Due to the limited budget sites were employed that were high profile but a relatively small size. Thus mono strip ads were taken on TV pages in the titles highlighted in grey.

PRESS CREATIVE
In addition a national till roll campaign placed the message on the back of all Tesco and Super Value
shopping receipts. This was a timely reminder before people drive home. This ran from 24th November to 24th December and took advantage of the peak pre-Christmas shopping frenzy.

TV
TV began in Jun-03. All stations were used to maximise coverage running on RTE, TV3, TG4, SKY1, SKY SPORTS 1, SKY SPORTS 2 and E4. TV activity ran throughout June-August and again in November. At the end of 2003, 1841 Adult TVRS had been achieved - 93% of the adult population had been exposed to the ads at least once and 86% three times or more.

Normal Daypart delivery followed, 75% of the spots were bought in centre breaks, with 25% first in break. The total media spend across 2002- 2003 was €450,895 + VAT. An additional €158,000 +VAT was spent on production. The total spend was €608,895 +VAT. Of this, the initial media budget
in Nov-02 was €74,000.

THE RESULTS
The Road Toll in Ireland began to fall immediately. Compared to a running rate in the previous three years of 34 road deaths a month, it fell to 23 in Nov-02, 21 in December, 20 in Jan-03, 21 in February – all far below historical and seasonal levels. The radio ad ran again in April and in May. Awareness of Penalty Points was tracked at 99% of drivers and 97% of adults. However road deaths climbed upwards in May to 38 – the highest since Feb-01. The extra impact of TV advertising was needed. The TV campaign was launched in June – a simple information campaign shot to the music track "Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime", extending the power of "Get the Point. Not the Points", by reminding people of how many lives had already been saved. By August, the tracking research revealed 100% awareness of Penalty Points. The TV campaign had achieved 81% awareness and recognition with the highest risk under 24 drivers. But had the campaign done anything to stem Reactance among drivers?
The TV campaign clearly uplifted the perception that it is fair for the Gardai to issue Penalty Points by 36% - up from 45% to 61%. The core battle to communicate the fairness of Penalty Points, had produced a swing – with 61% of drivers supporting the most marginal 1-4mph threshold over the limit. Had the campaign done anything to educate drivers? Driver understanding of the maximum number of Penalty Points for speeding was dramatically increased from 19% in May, to 57% after the TV campaign.
Driver knowledge of the Twelve Point disqualification level was raised by the TV campaign from 64% among highest-risk under 24s to 91% - a 42% shift. Driver knowledge that driving without a seatbelt can attract Penalty Points increased by 21% among the worst non seatbelt-wearing, under 24s, from 66% to 80%. A clear understanding of the message was tracked alongside clear evidence of a change in driver behaviour:
Two months following the launch of the TV campaign, there was an 11% improvement in the number of drivers who felt they could not exceed the speed limit at all while continuing to drive safely (56% May-03 - 62% in Aug-03). This was further seen in actual recorded driving speeds. The Government’s Road Safety Strategy requires the National Roads Authority (NRA) to conduct national surveys into traffic speeds.
The 2003 independent Survey of Free Speeds was conducted in June, July and August. It revealed: - On dual carriageways, the proportion of drivers exceeding the speed limit decreased from 43% in 2002 to 29% in 2003 (a 33% improvement). - On national primary roads, the proportion of drivers exceeding the speed limit decreased from 44% in 2002 to 30% in 2003 (a 32% improvement). Final evidence that the Penalty Points advertising had played a major part in effecting change, supporting the new Penalty Points laws, came in November 2003.
Clearly the Penalty Points laws were the number one factor in saving lives – according to 74% of respondents. But in second place came NSC TV ads at a 63% scoring from the public – more influential than enforcement, courts, news coverage, education in schools or engineering factors. The advertising link to the effect is clear. Evidence that Gardaí enforcement levels were not producing the attitude and behaviour change are found in this tracking research. It shows a decline in the perceived likelihood of Gardaí checking speed – down from 66% likely in May to 52% in August.

PAYBACK OR RETURN ON INVESTMENT / SUMMARY
Road deaths fell by 21% comparing the 14 months before the launch of Penalty Points, with the 14 months after. In the 14 months, Sept-01 – Oct-03, 483 road deaths were recorded.

In the 14 months Nov-02 – Dec-03, 380 road deaths were recorded. Based on an economic assessment by Peter Bacon and Associates (Aug-99) for the Government, upweighted for inflation, we calculate that the economic cost of each fatality is €1.077million. Therefore the economic payback is €111million – and a human gain of 103 lives who would have been lost – against an advertising investment of €0.61million. On Friday 2nd Jan-04 the Irish Independent ran a front-page story under the headline "Drivers get point as death toll lowest ever in 40 years!"