Initiative details
The challenges we were addressing included:
1. An increase in road fatalities and serious injuries on Irish roads
2. A high number of fatalities in urban areas (between 2018 and 2022 27% of fatalities occurred on an urban road, while 53% of serious injuries occurred on an urban road?
3. Moderate public and political support for lower default speed limits in urban areas. 68% of adults said they would be in favour of them on one or more road., There was only three in situ at the campaign's inception.
Research shows the high risk of speed when a pedestrian or cyclist is hit at 50km/h they have a 50% chance of living or hit at 60kmh, and that chance drops to 10%.
Our challenge was to develop a 30k town campaign to raise awareness of the benefits of a lower default speed limit in urban areas in a bid to garner public support for the implementation of an increased number throughout the country and thus help lower road fatalities and serious injuries in urban areas.
The video shows safe interaction between a number of road users to raise awareness of how lowering the speed limit in urban areas can lead to safer, greener, more livable towns and communities.
1. An increase in road fatalities and serious injuries on Irish roads
2. A high number of fatalities in urban areas (between 2018 and 2022 27% of fatalities occurred on an urban road, while 53% of serious injuries occurred on an urban road?
3. Moderate public and political support for lower default speed limits in urban areas. 68% of adults said they would be in favour of them on one or more road., There was only three in situ at the campaign's inception.
Research shows the high risk of speed when a pedestrian or cyclist is hit at 50km/h they have a 50% chance of living or hit at 60kmh, and that chance drops to 10%.
Our challenge was to develop a 30k town campaign to raise awareness of the benefits of a lower default speed limit in urban areas in a bid to garner public support for the implementation of an increased number throughout the country and thus help lower road fatalities and serious injuries in urban areas.
The video shows safe interaction between a number of road users to raise awareness of how lowering the speed limit in urban areas can lead to safer, greener, more livable towns and communities.
Initiative date
to
Who was/is your target audience?
Young adults 17-25
Adults
Parents
Car drivers
Car drivers – professional
Public transport
Van drivers
Lorry/truck drivers
Topic
Create awareness
Organisation details
Road Safety Authority
Association
Ireland
Ballina, Co. Mayo
Contact name
Christine Hegarty
Telephone number
0879143104
chegarty@rsa.ie
Website link
Project activities
Please describe the project activities you carried/are carrying out and the time period over which these were implemented.
The RSA developed a mass media TV led campaign that was supported by video on demand, radio, digital audio, social media and out of home advertising. The campaign featured an adaptation of the well known song 'Dirty Old Town' which became '30k Town'. The use of the song meant that it became memorable and almost like an earworm for people. The campaign showed the utopia of what a safer greener town or city could be like for all road users if the speed limit was reduced to 30kmh.
The TV advertisement is shot in a beautiful Irish town with a speed limit of 30kmh. A car passes a school girl at a bus stop and she opens the advert singing a song about driving at 30kmh to the air of the well known song 'Dirty Old Town'
As the edit continues other members of the town join in and the point of view changes from the drivers to each road user which enables the viewer to see that all road users are happy to share the roads with each other as they are all travelling at a speed that is safe for all. The advertisement follows the car as it travels around the town and ends with the car leaving the town and the driver saying 'Feels good to drive at 30"
We strategically planned the placement of each medium to maximise our reach to the public. We planned TV spots in top programmes on TV with the highest viewership, we booked the best in break sports, we bought packages across nation and local radio to make sure we were delivering the message (which was the song) at a time when we had their attention). We advertised on podcasts and digital audio. We developed astatically beautiful out of home executions that we placed in areas of high footfall and we promoted these and shorter versions of the AV across our social media platforms. We developed a campaign page that we could drive traffic to read more about the campaign and access the research and facts behind it. We liaised with our parent department, the Department of Transport, throughout the process. We began this process in March 2023 and the full campaign finished airing on 20 March 2024.
Video: https://youtu.be/cIhkMDOpbf0?si=JKVocC2-Vg1q0web
The TV advertisement is shot in a beautiful Irish town with a speed limit of 30kmh. A car passes a school girl at a bus stop and she opens the advert singing a song about driving at 30kmh to the air of the well known song 'Dirty Old Town'
As the edit continues other members of the town join in and the point of view changes from the drivers to each road user which enables the viewer to see that all road users are happy to share the roads with each other as they are all travelling at a speed that is safe for all. The advertisement follows the car as it travels around the town and ends with the car leaving the town and the driver saying 'Feels good to drive at 30"
We strategically planned the placement of each medium to maximise our reach to the public. We planned TV spots in top programmes on TV with the highest viewership, we booked the best in break sports, we bought packages across nation and local radio to make sure we were delivering the message (which was the song) at a time when we had their attention). We advertised on podcasts and digital audio. We developed astatically beautiful out of home executions that we placed in areas of high footfall and we promoted these and shorter versions of the AV across our social media platforms. We developed a campaign page that we could drive traffic to read more about the campaign and access the research and facts behind it. We liaised with our parent department, the Department of Transport, throughout the process. We began this process in March 2023 and the full campaign finished airing on 20 March 2024.
Video: https://youtu.be/cIhkMDOpbf0?si=JKVocC2-Vg1q0web
In terms of implementation, what worked well and what challenges did you need to overcome?
As there were very few towns in Ireland that have a speed limit of 30kmh and we wanted the edit to be true to life we were limited in the location selection but we did make it work and slight editing tweaks meant that it met our needs.
We were awaiting the outcome of a speed limit review to see if 30kmh would be recommended in urban areas while we were developing this campaign. We were in close contact with the Department of Transport during the process to make sure anything we were showing wouldnt not be contrary to what was being recommended.
We had planned to air the campaign and launch it in 2024 but with delay in legislation around the use of e-scooters we had to air the campaign for a short burst November 2023 and go live with the full campaign in March 2024. Thankfully we were ahead of schedule and had the creative ready to roll out.
We were awaiting the outcome of a speed limit review to see if 30kmh would be recommended in urban areas while we were developing this campaign. We were in close contact with the Department of Transport during the process to make sure anything we were showing wouldnt not be contrary to what was being recommended.
We had planned to air the campaign and launch it in 2024 but with delay in legislation around the use of e-scooters we had to air the campaign for a short burst November 2023 and go live with the full campaign in March 2024. Thankfully we were ahead of schedule and had the creative ready to roll out.
If you work together with external partners, list the most important partners and briefly describe their role.
To create this campaign we worked with
1. The Department of Transport who we sought advice from in term of an appropriate town to use in terms of infrastructure for a 30kmh town.
2. Our creative and digital services supplier 'In the Company of Huskies' who are contracted to provide the services to the RSA.
3. Our media planning and buying agency, Spark Foundry, who are contracted to provide the services to the RSA.
4. Production company and Director who managed the filming and provided the creative outputs.
1. The Department of Transport who we sought advice from in term of an appropriate town to use in terms of infrastructure for a 30kmh town.
2. Our creative and digital services supplier 'In the Company of Huskies' who are contracted to provide the services to the RSA.
3. Our media planning and buying agency, Spark Foundry, who are contracted to provide the services to the RSA.
4. Production company and Director who managed the filming and provided the creative outputs.
Evaluation
Please summarise how you have evaluated the initiative’s impact (e.g. social media reach, survey, feedback forms, statistics).
We completed a post campaign analysis of the media planning and buying of each aspect of the campaign which takes into account the initial burst of the campaign in November 2023 and the second burst in March 2024. This is to see if the planning was effective and if it reached as many people as planned and if we received as many impressions across social media and video on demand as we had planned.
We also conducted campaign tracking research through an independent research company, 'Behaviours and Attitudes' to assess if the campaign message and take out was clear to see if we needed to make any modifications and also to measure any behavioral change following exposure to the campaign.
We also conducted campaign tracking research through an independent research company, 'Behaviours and Attitudes' to assess if the campaign message and take out was clear to see if we needed to make any modifications and also to measure any behavioral change following exposure to the campaign.
What has been the effect of the activities?
The campaign reached over 2.4 million adults on TV and over 2.8m adults on radio. It delivered over 485,000 impressions on digital audio and over 1.6m impressions on video on demand. It also delivered over 24m impressions on social media and 158,490 clicks to the website. The campaign tracking research showed:
1. 55% of adults were aware of the campaign which is very high at the launch of a new campaign.
2. 30k Town campaign messaging at launch across media was very strong with prominent references to '30k Town' itself and to reducing speed in built up areas.
3. 31% saying that they were exposed to the ad at least six times.
4. 50% agreeing that following the advice of this advertisement will lead to safer towns and communities.
5.47% agreeing that after seeing this advertisement they would be in favor of 30kmh as a default speed limit in towns and cities.
6. There was a slight bias towards females agreeing with the behavioral change statements and a bias with those aged 65 years and older.
7. When looking at perceived effectiveness of the campaign, 53% said 30kmh speed limits will be safer for pedestrians and cyclists again there was a bias with those aged 65 years and older showing a concern with older population.
The campaign won gold for the best use of video by a public body in the social media 'Sockie' awards.
The Government speed limit review recommended a default limit of 30kmh in urban areas and they have issued guidelines to local authorities to have this implemented by April 2025.
1. 55% of adults were aware of the campaign which is very high at the launch of a new campaign.
2. 30k Town campaign messaging at launch across media was very strong with prominent references to '30k Town' itself and to reducing speed in built up areas.
3. 31% saying that they were exposed to the ad at least six times.
4. 50% agreeing that following the advice of this advertisement will lead to safer towns and communities.
5.47% agreeing that after seeing this advertisement they would be in favor of 30kmh as a default speed limit in towns and cities.
6. There was a slight bias towards females agreeing with the behavioral change statements and a bias with those aged 65 years and older.
7. When looking at perceived effectiveness of the campaign, 53% said 30kmh speed limits will be safer for pedestrians and cyclists again there was a bias with those aged 65 years and older showing a concern with older population.
The campaign won gold for the best use of video by a public body in the social media 'Sockie' awards.
The Government speed limit review recommended a default limit of 30kmh in urban areas and they have issued guidelines to local authorities to have this implemented by April 2025.
Please briefly explain why your initiative is a good example of improving road safety.
This campaign is a good example of improving road safety as it shows when you go out to the public to win the moral argument early ahead of policy changes that the public are more accepting. It also helped in terms of the recommendations there were being put forward in terms of review of the speed limits in urban areas and it explains to the public why they are needed to be reduced. The reduction in the speed limit will help reduce fatalities and serious injuring on Irish roads. This wont be actualised until the default limits are in place in April 2025. But the lower the speed of the vehicle the less the severity of the outcome of the collision whether it is with another vehicle, a cyclist, motorcyclists or a pedestrian.
How have you shared information about your project and its results?
We have briefed the Department of Transport and the Board of the RSA. We created partner packs, and we shared the creative assets with other public bodies to help disseminate the message. The tracking research that is referenced above is a national representative of the population of Ireland and is regionally balanced.