A humorous road safety campaign, inspired by the growth of ‘me time’ during COVID, is the selected Re:act campaign in New South Wales for 2021.
The ‘Revive before you drive. Don’t drive sleep deprived’ message was devised by University of Technology Sydney (UTS) student Matilda Martin to raise awareness among young drivers of drowsy driving.
Her campaign was created as part of the annual Re:act road safety behaviour change program, which challenges local university students to create a campaign that raises awareness among 18-25 year old road users of a critical road safety issue.
An initiative of Hard Edge and now in its sixth year, Re:act is running in 2021 in Australia with University of Technology Sydney, Swinburne University in Melbourne, Curtin University in Perth, and Queensland University of Technology. The Re:act program is also running overseas, through University of the Arts London.
Selected student campaigns from each university in Australia will be developed with Hard Edge and oOh!media for public execution via oOh!media’s extensive network of media assets including university campus, retail, street furniture and roadside billboards.
UTS student Matilda Martin said participating in the Re:act program had opened her eyes to fatigued driving as a road safety risk. Her approach to engaging her peers was to create a simple, humorous and relatable campaign that captured their attention.
“Re:act made me realise how big of an issue driving tired is,” she said. “It was a bit of a shock and I know I hadn’t really considered driving tired as a big road safety issue but I do now.
“Our campaigns had to appeal to our target market, which is also my demographic, so my approach was to try and think about what appeals to me. Through research, I discovered that humorous, short and uncomplicated campaigns were the most remembered and recognised.
“So I came up with my tagline, ‘Revive before you drive. Don’t drive sleep deprived’, and then I thought about how can I best showcase what I’m trying to say, which was to tell people to not get on the road if they’re tired.
“There has been a big push on the notion of self-care and ‘me time’, particularly during COVID, and that’s important for our demographic as well. I don’t think a lot of us actually rest, with such busy social lives, and take the time to focus on ourselves or how we feel before we get behind the wheel.”
Re:act Founder Andrew Hardwick said: “This was such a fresh campaign for road safety messaging. It was unique and eye catching and while obviously addressing a serious message, it cuts through with its light-hearted approach and simplicity to get across what we want young drivers to do before they get in the car, and that’s to make sure they are rested. A very memorable campaign that should have great retention with the audience.
“UTS has been outstanding in really committing to and working with React, and the strength of that relationship and the dedication of the lecturers is reflected in the sustained quality of great work from these young minds.”
Noel Cook, oOh!media Chief Commercial & Operations Officer, added: “We look forward to working with Matilda to reach young drivers across Australia with this important road safety message around the dangers of fatigue on our roads.
“Our team of creative specialists will provide consultancy and technical assistance to ensure that we deliver a powerful Out of Home campaign that leads to behavioural change among young people. Using our internal expertise and our extensive network of signs is a proven combination to save young lives when they get behind the wheel.”
Kate Hopman, Principal Road Safety and Regulatory Policy at Re:act partner IAG, added: “Re:act 2021 has continued to build on its strength of inspiring young people to start conversations about road safety.
“This year’s conversations have highlighted a growing awareness of a shared sense of responsibility for reducing road trauma. This is definitely one of the stand out achievements of the program.”
Visit reactforchange.com to learn more about the Re:act program.
An initiative of Hard Edge, the annual Re:act program challenges local higher education students to create a behaviour change campaign that raises awareness among 16-25 year old road users of a critical road safety issue where they are overrepresented.
A panel of university or TAFE, road and workplace safety, and industry partners selects the most compelling road safety campaign in each state, which is then developed and launched on university or TAFE campuses and oOh!media’s digital assets, including its landmark billboards.
Now in its sixth year, Re:act ran in 2020 in Melbourne with Swinburne, UTS in Sydney and, for the first time, Brisbane, through QUT. The program also expanded internationally into London, at University of the Arts London. In 2021, the Re:act program will once again run in each of those institutions and grow further in Australia, running in Perth for the first time with Curtin University as well as in TAFE campuses across Australia. There are further plans for international expansion into Europe, the United States and South America.
