THINK! ‘Moment of Doubt’ drink drive campaign

Historically, drink drive campaigns have aimed to persuade motorists of the link between driving under the influence of alcohol and crashing, while also maintaining the social stigma surrounding drink driving. People have taken this message on board but qualitative research in 2007 showed that attitudes among the key target audience of young men had altered.

In order to have a new and realistic conversation with this group about drink driving, any new strategy needed to shift the conversation on from shock and the risk of killing other people to a focus on the more compelling personal consequences of a drink driving conviction. The ‘Moment of Doubt’ campaign was born out of these insights.

To-date there have been six bursts of campaign activity (summer and Christmas each year). The most recent burst of activity was in December 2009.

The TV advert, which has been used across every campaign burst, focuses on Matt, a young man out for a couple of quick drinks with some friends, as he’s deciding whether or not to have a second pint before driving home.

As Matt is deciding what to order his world freezes and the barman suddenly transforms into a succession of characters that Matt would encounter if he’s caught drink driving. Matt is powerless to do anything as he sees his life crumbling in front of his eyes – he’s pulled over and loses his licence, his job, his car, as well as suffering the disappointment and anger of his partner. Finally, the barman appears again and puts the question to Matt − “So, what’s it going to be?”

This TV advert was tested with focus groups of 17-29 year old men, which showed that they understood the message, considered it relevant to them and said it would make them think – which is exactly what the campaign wants them to do next time they’re at the bar.

The TV advert can be viewed here: http://www.dft.gov.uk/think/focusareas/driving/drinkdriving

For each burst of ‘Moment of Doubt’ activity, the TV advert has been accompanied by a range of support media including posters, print, radio and online. For each burst of activity, the support media has focused on one specific consequence to maximize message take-out.

Supporting media for the December 2009 campaign focussed on the 12-month ban, and the potential effect losing your car for at least 12 months could have on your life.

Tracking research has accompanied each burst of activity to monitor claimed behavioural and attitudinal shifts.

The campaign has performed well against many of the key performance indicators identified prior to the strategy being introduced. Against the core target audience of young male drivers, these highlights included:

• It is extremely unacceptable to drive after drinking two pints – 49% in July 2007 vs 54% in January 2010 (+5 pts)
• If I were to drink and drive I would be likely to be caught by the police – 58% in July 2007 vs 72% in January 2010 (+14 pts)
• It is likely that being caught drink driving would change my lifestyle dramatically – 72% in July 2007 vs 85% in January 2010 (+13 pts)

The campaign has contributed significantly to continuing the trend in reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured as a result of drink drive collisions on the UK’s roads.

In 2006 (prior to the ‘Moment of Doubt’ launch), 2,530 were killed or seriously injured in drink drive collisions. By the end of 2008 (two years into the campaign), this number had reduced to 2,060.

Over the same period, the number of people killed in drink drive collisions dropped from 560 to 430.

The campaign has also helped continue the downward trend in the percentage of breath test failures.