Off-road motorcycle safety campaign
Be aware out there
Off-road motorcycle riding is a popular outdoor lifestyle activity in Victoria. Whilst riding styles and environments often vary, motorcycle riding of any kind always has the potential to be very dangerous.
After an investigation into a number of off-road motorcycle accidents, the Coronial Council of Victoria recommended that the Department of Health develop and implement an effective safety awareness campaign.
Challenge
Icon Agency was tasked with creating an engaging behaviour change campaign that the Department could activate through their own channels and those of their industry partners. Given the stigma sometimes associated with Government departments running ‘safety’ campaigns, it was important that the content cut through and felt aligned to the type and pace of riding content the audience is primed to watch.
The aim of the content was to increase safe riding behaviours and the wearing of personal protective equipment (PPE). With no media budget available, it also had to be relevant for industry partners to share through their platforms.
The primary challenge was to persuade young male recreational and farm off-road motorcycle riders (15-25-year olds) to commit to a number of small safer riding behaviours without reducing the purpose (fun) of the ride. This was based on an analysis of hospital injury data covering an 11-year period, which showed that those aged 15-19 years and 20-24 years were highly represented amongst seriously injured off-road riders.
Following phase one production, Icon were provided with a secondary challenge: to develop a similar approach for a broader audience, including riders of a much older demographic (up to 56 years old), and those who rode on a variety of terrains.
Key considerations
Risk is part of the ride.
There is high awareness that off-road motorcycling is a risky sport. Research discovered that most of the target audience had experienced an injury of some degree, and those that rode in groups of 2-4 were likely to have witnessed a serious injury.
Whilst these riders are not necessarily thrill-seekers, the element of risk involved with the sport adds to the experience of the ride. Ultimately, the risk is part of the fun, so it was important the campaign tapped into this psyche instead of steering away from it.
Broad audience, specific actions.
Given the broadening of the audience following phase 1 production, it was important to clarify the common beliefs, sentiments and ‘excitement’ triggers shared by the segments, and those contributing elements that are nuanced by age range or environment to ensure relevance and agency.
The campaign needed to focus on increasing commitment to simple, easy-to-adopt safety behaviours and reinforce the fun of the ride.
To allow us to successfully influence behaviours, the campaign needed to motivate the audience to reconsider the benefits of performing safer behaviours and then commit to performing more of them more often, without taking away from the fun of the ride.
PPE and help-seeking behaviours were the focus to drive broader behaviour change.
Research found that increasing the use of personal protective equipment, aka the gear, presents an opportunity to deliver a ‘gateway’ behaviour that can lead to more significant long-term change. This campaign sought to focus on the gear and other small safety behaviours to encourage riders to have an attitudinal change around safe riding behaviours being part of a great ride.
Solution
There’s one thing you can always expect to encounter off-road and that’s the unexpected - and the only way to prepare for the unexpected is to be aware.
The campaign platform ‘Be Aware Out There’ sought to tap into the excitement of the unexpected and the great ‘out there’ to position safe riding behaviours as just part of the riding experience. The platform focussed on being aware of the gear, the terrain and the conditions, the bike, your own limitations and abilities of those around you.
Making it happen
Icon sourced and carefully selected relatable talent from the Victorian motorcycling community to feature in 3x ‘tiers’ of content that the Department could use to build awareness, understanding/capacity and commitment across 4 audience segments; Younger Riders, Older Riders, Farm Riders and Bystanders.
Tier 1 – Dynamic bite-size hero content consisting of 30" infeed videos, 15" Stories and statics
Tier 2 – Conversational content edited to 30" infeed videos and 15" Stories
Tier 3 – Relevant & timely light-touch content to prompt action, consisting of dynamic gifs and statics
The content had a fresh and bold feel in the world of our riders. Far from the traditional tone of a safety campaign.
The footage is fast-paced, energetic and works with the graphics and typography to land the messages with salience and memorability.
Icon produced a strategy to guide the Department’s content phasing and engagement of twenty partners. Additionally, we provided an in-depth EPOS strategy to guide the Department’s future efforts in approaching Earned, Owned and potentially Paid channel activity.
Results
The campaign is currently live with results pending, however initial uptake and feedback from Department stakeholders have been positive.
Creative Director Andrew North and Group Account Director Kate Griffiths give us an inside look at what went on behind the scenes of this shoot.
Services
Behaviour change strategy
Creative
Production
EPOS go-to market strategy
