The Organisation
Sussex & Surrey Police
Sussex Police are responsible for 1.7 million people within the South England region with an annual budget of £328.9 million and 5,477 employees
The Brief
Sussex & Surrey Police Force wanted an innovative drink driving campaign that leveraged Behavioural insights to combat campaign fatigue within their broader workforce and complacency within the population in relation to Drink-Driving.
The specific audience for this campaign was young males (18 – 34), urban & rural who are drivers that drink (not drinkers that drive).
The campaign had to be impactful, innovative, behaviourally informed and delivered within an 8 week turnaround in time for Christmas 2022. We partnered with Claremont Communications to develop strategy, messaging, brand assets and deliver the campaign.
Our Approach
Our research (qualitative interviews and desktop research) along with our clinical expertise indicated that a by-stander intervention, whereby the message to intervene with a potential drink -driver will be most effective coming from a friend, partner or stranger, would be very effective for this campaign.
As well as this, we developed an escalator of interventions for by-standers to use grounded in the slogan: Prevent, Persuade, Police. (see examples of creative assets below).
100,000 beer-mats, billboards and posters as well as a far-reaching PR & media campaign including features on ITV News led to this campaign winning a National Roads Policing Medal of Order in Sussex in June 2023.
Social Validity was strong for this intervention with both police officer and by-stander acceptability ratings exceptionally high.
The campaign reached almost 1,000,000 people around the country, a 47% increase in social media impressions. Media interest increased by over 120% compared to the previous year. Officers made 369 arrests over the campaign period. Despite an increase in operational activity, this equated to a 10% decrease in arrests compared to the year before.
Finally the award-winning campaign is currently being generalised and adapted by other police forces for their upcoming drink driving & knife-crime campaigns such was the success, innovation and national interest generated.
