ASK
Drury has been a partner of the Road Safety Authority of Ireland (RSA) since 2016 and supports the Authority with all of its communications activities.
We collaborate closely with the RSA’s in-house team to deliver on media engagement, event management, content creation and social media support, drafting and editing of publications including the annual report, public affairs activity and crisis preparedness.
In working closely together, we have developed a deep understanding of the RSA’s position and response to road safety issues.
Drury manages the external communications approach for the RSA across all their road safety campaigns. In doing so, we work alongside the creative and media agencies to ensure that campaigns are fully integrated. In addition, the families of road traffic victims are a very important stakeholder for the RSA as they are the ‘human voice’ of road safety. We have assisted the organisation in liaising with these groups to further amplify and communicate the road safety message.
During our time working with the RSA, we have had three of the safest years on Irish roads. While this is positive to see, it also means we have to continually explore new ways to reach audiences to avoid message fatigue.
Reductions in road deaths meant that 2017, 2018 and 2021 recorded the safest years on Irish roads. While this was a positive development, it created a corresponding challenge of how we continue to address road fatalities - there are no ‘quick wins’. There remains a stubborn cohort of people who continue to endanger themselves and other road users through their high-risk behaviour.
There are a number of dangerous behaviours that are the key contributors to road traffic collisions – speeding, driving under the influence of drink or drugs and using a mobile phone while driving. In addition the days around a public holiday are increasingly risky on our roads as traffic increases and drivers are travelling longer distances.
APPROACH
We outline a recent campaign targeted at road users in and around key bank holidays.
We used the weeks before St. Patrick’s Day and the May Bank Holiday to deliver targeted road safety messages. We agreed themes with the client for each of these weekends, driving under the influence the morning after and motorcycle safety respectively. Working with the RSA research department, we accessed statistics on both of these factors as causes for road deaths, as well as historical information on deaths and serious injuries over these holiday periods.
Working with An Garda Siochana, who are responsible for the enforcement of road traffic laws, we set up media events ahead of each key date. Media materials were supported with key statistics demonstrating the impact of these dangerous behaviours on road safety and the scale of the challenge.
At each media event, we set up police checkpoints, showcasing the type of intervention that the police would undertake if motorists were detected breaking road safety laws. In addition, we captured public information messages at the event to be used across social media over the holiday periods.
OUTCOME
St Patrick’s Day Campaign
• Audience reach of 9,505,844
• 12 Broadcast mentions including features on all major news cycles and national radio.
• Ahead of the extra-long bank holiday weekend, there were articles in all daily papers including in weekly regional publications.
May Bank Holiday Campaign
• Audience reach of 5,210,082
• Six broadcast mentions including features on all major news cycles and national radio.
• The campaign was covered on RTÉ and Virgin Media on their evening news programmes and the RSA motorcyclist expert was interviewed on Drivetime about the campaign.The campaign was repeated on new bulletins on national radio over the May Bank Holiday weekend.