Creative agency on message for road safety campaign

MESSAGE BOARD: Daniel Smith, CEO of Fireworx, pictured next to one of the mobile advertising boards with Laressa Robinson, Dorset Road Safety Education Manager; Kristian Ward, Communications Officer at Devon and Cornwall Police & Dorset Police and PC Heidi Moxam, Road Casualty Reduction Officer

The creative marketing and branding agency behind Dorset’s innovative new major road safety campaign has revealed how it came up with the eye-catching concept.

Bournemouth-based Fireworx originated the innovative #ChoicesForHumanity for Dorset Road Safe and the results can now be seen on billboards across the county, and on digital platforms.

Based loosely on the popular Cards Against Humanity game, the collection of campaign messages encourages all road users to make better choices.

And Daniel Smith, Fireworx’ CEO and Founder, even went the extra mile for the campaign by participating in a three-hour road safety awareness course usually attended by motorists caught speeding.

He said: “We were approached by Dorset Road Safety Partnership to come up with an eye-catching and memorable campaign with a brief of getting road users to respect each other.

“We wanted to avoid being patronising towards road-users while utilising our disruptive thinking ethos to deliver a campaign distinct from anything in the past.

Daniel added: “We conceptualised this empathetic and thought-provoking campaign which we believed would make people smile, but also make them become more aware and educated.

“Road safety awareness campaigns typically put the emphasis on the life-changing outcomes such as death, serious injury and imprisonment.

“We saw an opportunity to use a subtler, edgier concept to help the campaign stand-out, and hopefully make all road-users – drivers, cyclists, riders and pedestrians stop and think about their behaviour and choices.

“As a Bournemouth agency, it’s a true privilege to support such a worthwhile campaign to improve road safety in Dorset.”

Kristian Ward, Communications Officer at Devon and Cornwall Police & Dorset Police, said: “The objective of this campaign is to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on Dorset’s roads. While we have achieved a 30 per cent reduction since 2012, it is vital we continue to find innovative and intelligence-led ways to make our roads safer.

“We are grateful to Fireworx for coming up with the original concept of #ChoicesForHumanity which we developed in-house into a multi-faceted four-month campaign of billboards, strategically-located mobile advertising trailers, matrix boards and targeted social media posts.

“There are 19 distinct messages within the campaign and we believe the recognizable content and unconventional format will resonate with road-users and have an increasingly positive impact.”

The road safety partnership is made up of Dorset Police, the Police and Crime Commissioner, Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council, Dorset Council, Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, Highways England, Public Health Dorset and the Safewise charity.

Creative marketing and digital agency Fireworx has seen continued growth as a result of rewarding client partnerships. Ranked in the top ten elite UK agencies by the Drum, Fireworx is also listed in the top agencies in the UK by the Recommended Agency Register (RAR).

The agency works in both the commercial business and consumer sectors and is well known for using Disruptive Thinking and visually engaging creative. And its 2017 campaign for Dorset NHS Trust, using the appeal of Dorset in a recruitment drive to attract nurses to move from London to work in the county, was itself shortlisted as a Dorset Business Awards finalist in 2017.

 

London: Second Floor, 1 Alfred Place, London, WC1E 7EB

Bournemouth: Bryanstone Works, 11 Upper Norwich Road, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH2 5RA

Fireworx is a creative, digital and marketing agency, with offices in both London and Bournemouth in Dorset and over 25 years of experience. Its unique methodology focuses on creating feelings that drive a better response, improving a business’ bottom line. Fireworx is listed in The Drum’s top ten UK elite agencies.

Fireworx clients include: Health-on-Line, McCarthy & Stone, Choose Wisely, SecureHealth, Bistech, Dataquest, The Customade Group, Christ’s Hospital, Flowbird, Capitima and Academy of Chief Executives.