Shane Sheehan

Background

There are plenty of young car speeders in New Zealand. The death rate among them is one of the highest in the world. When you speed in New Zealand the police send you an official notification of the penalty points to appear on your licence. What better use of the back of this notice than to tell a story that the recipient would do well to take note of?

Idea

The empty back of the official penalty notices leaves a whole A3 space to tell a story. The shot Clemenger BBDO Direct found to fill this space was the wreck of a car a young lad - Shane Sheehan - had been in. He was the only survivor of a crash at 170kph. The driver thought he could take a bend at that speed. The driver and three others were killed. This message would be targeted at those aged under 25 and guilty of a speeding offence at more than twice the legal limit - ‘lads’ who think they are indestructible and that speeding penalty points are just an ‘occupational hazard’ from the ‘killjoy’ authorities. Over the long term they would be monitored to see if they stopped offending.

Results

This mailer was part of a test matrix. Some offenders would receive messages like the one shown here on their penalty-point notices. Some would receive blank notices. Over a three-year period it would be monitored to see if these targeted communications had an effect on young male driver behaviour. Initial signs show a drop off in speeding offences by those targeted.

Target Audience

Under 25-year-old men with recent speeding offences

Size

5,000 per month, ongoing

Our Thoughts

What looks like pretty standard fare for a road safety message - a shocking image and a warning that speed kills - becomes dramatically effective when you place it, as Clemenger BBDO NZ did, on the back of the official ticket the Police post out to younger drivers caught speeding.