While the 2016 THINK! festive drink-drive campaign has raised eyebrows in some quarters by focusing on the dangers associated with a second drink, it does appear to be connecting with its primary target audience of young male drivers.
With a focus on young males, the campaign is exploiting the notion of ‘Fomo’ – the fear of missing out.
Social media led, the campaign sees THINK! publish details of an upcoming event on Facebook and Twitter each day, encouraging people not to miss out on that event as a result of drink-driving. It carries the tagline ‘a second drink before driving doubles your chance of being in a fatal collision’.
The tweets look to engage with a broad range of young males, with the events already covering genres such as music, gaming and sport.
Today’s event, tweeted yesterday (6 Dec), focusses on tonight’s Champions League action, stating: ‘Watching #ChampionsLeague tomorrow? A 2nd drink before driving doubles your chance of being in a fatal collision and missing it⚽️ #FOMOpints’
Watching #ChampionsLeague tomorrow? A 2nd drink before driving doubles your chance of being in a fatal collision and missing it⚽️ #FOMOpints pic.twitter.com/CF4t15lr4O
— THINK! road safety (@THINKgovuk) December 6, 2016
The most successful of the tweets to date was on 5 December. Focussing on the launch of video game Dead Rising 4, the tweet received more than 100 retweets.
While THINK! has been criticised in some quarters for inferring that consuming one drink is acceptable, as opposed to a zero-tolerance approach, the campaign has been largely well received by social media users.
Comments have included ‘brilliant idea’, ‘this is genius’ and ‘Very clever! Good thinking!’.
@THINKgovuk I love this campaign! Well done!
— The Dogs Nuts 🇬🇧 (@The_Dogs_Nuts) December 5, 2016
@THINKgovuk This ,digital marketing strategy is v basic but damn, you gotta admire it. A for effort!
— The Black Prince (@TheBlackPrinc16) December 5, 2016
@THINKgovuk Ask @RoSPA. Alcohol, even a small amount well below the legal
limit, seriously affects the ability to drive safely. #ZeroPints— Gary Outram (@KentRangerGaz) December 5, 2016
@THINKgovuk Very clever ! Good thinking!
— Stu (@stu_is_here) December 5, 2016
Edward Seaman, assistant editor of Road Safety News and manager of the Road Safety GB twitter feed, said: “While THINK!’s marketing technique is fairly simple in its nature, the first week of the campaign has shown it to be effective in engaging with its target audience.
“The daily event idea helps to keep the campaign current and fresh, in turn making it better suited for social media and increasing the levels of engagement. It also helps THINK! utilise the hashtags and trends to capture the largest possible audience.”
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