Police Citizens Youth Clubs (PCYC) and advertising agency ZOO Sydney have produced a thought provoking campaign that questions our driving habits.

In the next 24 hours 4,800 Australians will be involved in a car crash – 550 people will be injured and four will die. It’s an eye-opening statistic and one that PCYC is attempting to reduce with the help of ZOO Advertising.

Simon Cubbin, ZOO Sydney’s managing director, said: “Research shows that many drivers are numb to the impact of traditional shock and gore messaging. Yet, the fact is that these tragic daily accidents are almost always avoidable, and we want to find a way to get people to think differently.”

The campaign commenced with a radio release in October and will soon be followed by a social media and print campaign in 2015.

 

The radio ads encouraged learner drivers to enroll in the PCYC Safer Drivers Course and promoted a broader message of driver safety and safe driving habits.

The radio medium gave PCYC the perfect opportunity to communicate with a large proportion of drivers while they were driving. Drivers were questioned about their driving habits in real time; questions like “Where are your hands now?” and “How close are you to the car ahead?”

PCYC NSW general manager of marketing, communications and events, Mr Phillip Ross, said the “PCYC Safer Drivers Course radio adverts produced a 30% increase in web site traffic in the first few weeks of the campaign launch. Whilst it’s early days, we are thrilled with the impact the campaign is having already and know that our efforts make a difference. ZOO has been committed to our cause. They have been personal and professional, and have become an important ally in our efforts to develop a safer driving community. The ZOO team seemed to understand our audience and stakeholders, and this is part of the reason the campaign is resonating so well. This issue is just too important to ignore, and we are thrilled with the campaign’s success so far.”