2016 Winners & Shortlists

The Brief

Tailgating is a global problem, but in the UAE it is the major cause of road accidents and deaths and it's on the rise. Aggressive driving is a common occurrence on UAE roads. Dubai Police records show that in the last year, more than 43,200 accidents took place due to drivers not keeping a safe distance between vehicles 'In Dubai, there was a 40% rise in the number of deaths resulting from tailgating last year' – Colonel Saif Al Mazrouei, May 2014. With over 30% involving taxis, the RTA (Roads and Transport Authority) briefed us to come up with a solution.

Creative Execution

We created a unique device that is activated when the taxi reaches 60kmph. Sensors mounted to the front and rear of the taxi measure the distance between the car in front and the car behind the taxi. If the taxi breaches the 2 car lengths safety zone a message is delivered direct through the taxi's audio system warning the driver to slow down. If a car comes to close to the back of the taxi the device send the message direct to the offending cars radio. By partnering with the Arabian Radio Network we covered all major radio stations across 4 of the most spoken languages in the UAE. The campaign is running across the RTA's franchised taxi fleet. It is an ongoing campaign and plans are being worked on to broaden the use across public buses and school transport.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

The campaign not only raised awareness of the problem, it has actually started to change the behavior of taxi drivers and motorists across the Country. Taxi driver tailgating incidents fell from an average of 264 to 62 per day, resulting in a 426% reduction in tailgating occurrences. Recorded public motorist tailgating incidents fell from an average of 58 per day to 16, resulting in a 363% reduction in tailgating occurrences. Back off radio has successfully delivered 32 440 warning messages to date. This has lead to an overall reduction of tailgating related accidents of 14.8% in the first quarter of 2015. The story quickly spread and was a major talking point across all mediums – radio, news sites, motoring publications and major news channels. Creating 416 million media impressions generating over $1million of earned media spend.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

Back Off Radio' is a road safety campaign aimed at reducing tailgating accidents by targeting motorists directly at the time when they're committing the offense. As soon as a car starts tailgating by breaching the safety zone of the car in front, the driver of the offending vehicle receives a message directly through their cars audio system. Back Off Radio is a device fitted to the RTA Taxi fleet. Sensors mounted to the front and rear bumper are triggered when either the taxi or motorist drive to close to the car in front. Our safety message is triggered when it is needed most and activates the driver of the offending car to slow down and give more space between them and the car in front.