2012 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

In 2009, BMW Group Middle East looked to its PR Agency to help develop a sustainable campaign to tackle the region’s road safety issues, enlighten and position BMW as a safe driving ambassador. ‘Stay Alert. Stay Alive.’ was created and since its 2010 launch, has become a highly impactful campaign working with local traffic government departments to help improve road safety education and influence behavioral change. Whilst year one concentrated on families, the 2011 campaign targeted younger drivers in a bid to instill good driving habits from an early age. Launched in September, research amongst UAE students laid the foundations for a hard-hitting, integrated media, advertising and PR campaign accompanied by an awareness roadshow with the Higher Colleges of Technology to highlight the consequences of reckless driving to students. It was also recognised that the campaign needed to communicate with a medium students could relate to. The agency therefore secured Emirati rappers Desert Heat who created a road safety rap for the roadshow. Proof of their ability to engage with this target audience was the over-excited response of the huge crowds that greeted them. BMW maintained awareness among families through school events and partnerships, with further regional roll out.

The Brief

BMW Group Middle East believes that everyone should be fully aware of how best to protect themselves and passengers against the dangers posed by driving. Research amongst UAE university students and the general public indicated the need to continue promoting the buckling up message to families and to include young drivers. The key objective of this year’s initiative was therefore to devise an impactful road safety campaign that would target all nationalities of both audiences, encourage the use of child car seats by giving away free booster cushions to families and work closely with local authorities to encourage safer driving.

Results

Response from the public has been overwhelmingly positive: • More than 2000 students attended the four university events • 1,060 booster seats were distributed in the UAE and Oman, taking the total to over 4,500 booster cushions since the campaign’s 2010 launched • 1,486 data forms were collated during the university roadshow and importer events to ensure a mechanism to record measurement of the campaign’s success and to continue dialogue • Over 85 clippings generated to date, equating to an EAV of US$ 186,542 • All national newspapers and radio news programmes carried articles on the campaign launch and research findings • Front page of the largest read English newspaper, 7Days • BMW Group Middle East has become an authority on road safety having been quoted in numerous articles • Campaign rolled out in Oman and Jordan and will launch in KSA this year • Shortlisted for Gulf Traffic Awards

Execution

A structured activity timeline with a clear four phased approach was outlined and agreed by BMW Group, the PR and advertising agencies, RTA and HAAD: 1. February – March:  Planning 2. April – June:  Securing endorsement from government entities, HCT, Dubai Police and Desert Heat 3. July – August:  Market research with university students and general public  Development and production of all marketing collateral: brochure, university HTML and posters  University event logistics  Forging partnership with Emirates Driving Institute to supply safe driving demonstration  Liaising with advertising agency for print, digital and radio campaign 4. September – December:  UAE launch of initiative  Film competition  Facebook pledge campaign  Media relations  University events  Desert Heat performance  Partnerships  Booster distribution in importer showrooms and through partnerships  HTML email blasts to remind motorists about safe driving habits  Campaign measurement

The Situation

The BMW Group is one of the world’s most successful automobiles manufacturers. According to the World Health Organisation, the Middle East region has the world’s third highest rate of road deaths. Road traffic injury is also the second leading cause of death amongst people aged15-29. Numerous Governmental campaigns have been implemented to address the region’s road safety issues; however BMW Group believes that it's not only up to the Government to create and enforce campaigns. We all have a role to play to reduce the high level of deaths on our roads and BMW want to support where possible.

The Strategy

The planning stages established that buckling up should continue to be the primary message and that young drivers should be included in order to extend the message of road safety to a new target audience. A strategic plan was then prepared which included research amongst 18-23 year old university students and participants of last year’s awareness events to understand their attitudinal behavior towards buckling up. Secondly, the strategy had to identify the appropriate platform to engage and educate the public on road safety issues by formulating a campaign in keeping with the agreed audience groups and securing partnerships with leading government and educational organisations to add weight to the message. The third consideration was to identify communication mediums that young drivers could relate to and secure relevant collaborations.