THINK! publishes child and teen campaigns update

14.38 | 31 July 2009 |

The THINK! team has published the following update covering the campaigns it is running over the coming months targeting children and teenagers.

Tales of the Road (6-11yr olds)
•    Enhancements to the Tales of the Road website include an improved cycle safety page with tips to help kids stay safe over the summer.
•    The next phase of the Tales of the Road ad campaign will run from 26 October to the end of November on children’s TV channels, in cinemas, and online. The campaign will focus on ‘the girl who didn’t dress bright in the dark’ to encourage children to be bright and be seen as the clocks go back.
•    Partner organisations will support the advertising with themed activities and giveaways focused on the ‘be bright’ message during half term and halloween. Activity is likely to include leaflets and giveaways in cinema chains and point-of-sale activity in retailers and supermarkets.
•    Free Tales of the Road materials can be ordered to support the campaign, including posters and ‘Tales of the Road: A Highway Code for Young Road Users’. These are available from the catalogue on the THINK! website.

Online game (10-12yr olds)
•    This is a project to reach 10-12yr olds in the vulnerable transition period between primary and secondary school. Research shows that children of this age are taking longer and more independent journeys. They think they know all about road safety but many of them don’t actually put their green cross code into practice. This audience is very difficult to reach through traditional advertising and spends a lot of time online.
•    THINK! has been building a ‘massively multi-player’ online game set in a fantasy world criss-crossed by dangerous ‘spirit channels’. A world where children become heroes and only the bravest and most skilled are able to travel safely and avoid the monsters by using their powers of concentration and alertness!
•    THINK! intends to make the game available online from September onwards by promoting it to this digital-savvy audience. The game must avoid being seen as a ‘boring government message’ and as such details are being kept secret at the moment. The THINK! team will keep readers updated with how this project evolves over the coming months.

Teenagers (12-16yr olds)

•    THINK! is in the early stages of developing a new campaign for teenagers about distractions and paying attention on the road. This campaign is planned to launch in February 2010.
•    Audiences don’t get much tougher or savvier than teenagers, so the team is working hard to find the the right route to replicate the success of its ‘Cameraphone’ campaign. Several creative routes are going into testing with the target audience.
•    Media planning is in the early stages but the campaign is likely to involve TV, cinema, online, in-school and outdoor advertising.

THINK! Education
•    THINK! Education is a three-year project to develop a comprehensive set of road safety resources that can be used nationally by teachers, students and parents.
•    The resources for Early Years and Upper Primary age groups, launched in April this year, include lesson plans, interactive games, videos, activities and guidance materials. Click here to see the resources, which will also be useful for road safety officers. http://www.dft.gov.uk/think/education/early-years-and-primary/
•    THINK! is now developing resources for the Lower Primary age group, which are planned to launch in February 2010. Resources for Secondary School age groups will follow later in 2010.

For more information
A calendar of THINK! road safety campaigns activity (for adult and child audiences) is available on the THINK! website. The calendar is updated regularly as timings can change.

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