Media: Strategy Analysis - Loss of licence shocks, not loss of life shocks.

 
Client: Transport for London 
Brief: Reduce the number of deaths and injuries on London's roads by 40 
per cent by 2010 
Target audience: 17- to 25-year-old men in London 
 
AGENCIES 
Media: Mediaedge:cia 
Creative: M&C Saatchi 
Events and online: Chemistry 

Over the past three years, 18,000 people were killed or seriously injured on London's roads, with speed being the biggest single contributory factor.

In the past, speeding campaigns had used shock tactics about safety to effect change. They had been memorable, but they did not seem to be having the desired effect against a core group of persistent offenders Research told us young men were twice as likely as women to commit a minor speeding offence and four times more likely to commit a serious one.

The challenge for Mediaedge:cia, M&C Saatchi and Chemistry was to get to the heart of what was important to these people and understand what makes them speed.

Focus groups revealed two critical insights. The first was that, unlike other audience groups, messages about loss of life were not particularly persuasive to young men. After all, they'd live forever, wouldn't they? What motivates them is the loss of freedom associated with losing a licence.

The second was that losing yourself momentarily, whether through anger, excitement or the desire to show off, is the biggest contributor to speeding.

By identifying moments of heightened passion, it would be possible to communicate what was at stake if they were caught speeding. This was summed up in the connection idea - 'A rush of blood', the heightened state when emotionally charged. The audience would only be talked to in these moments.