Nexnet

As an official sponsor of the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile campaign, the global Bridgestone Corporation committed to deliver tyre safety messages to consumers in all the countries in which it traded worldwide. During 2006 and 2007 Nexnet drove the UK campaign backed by Bridgestone UK and the FIA’s UK representative, the RAC Foundation.

 

To stimulate greater awareness and understanding among car drivers of the importance of regularly checking your car tyres, while also positioning the Bridgestone company and brand as dedicated to road safety.

 

·         Editorial coverage – Use known facts plus results of an exclusive consumer survey to generate consumer media editorial coverage aimed at:

o   Informing consumers of the life-threatening dangers, financial waste, and potentially draconian penalties of failing to check tyres regularly.

o   Directing consumers to get a free, tyre-health check at any of the hundreds of nominated Bridgestone tyre dealers throughout the country

·         Events – Stimulate additional media coverage and attract consumers to visit selected tyre dealerships and get their tyres checked for free by putting on a Formula One Road Show with full-size Ferrari FI replica car and FI race simulator

 

Nexnet made a potentially dull subject interesting to the media and consumers by simple use of stark and alarming facts, such as:

·         Underinflated tyres drastically lengthen stopping distances and contribute to nearly 100 people being killed or seriously injured on UK roads every day, half of them the drivers of the vehicles

·         A tyre-testing programme by Bridgestone on tens of thousands of cars across Europe showed that only 6.5 percent of vehicles had four correctly inflated tyres

·         Underinflated tyres need replacing up to four times more often than correctly inflated tyres, incurring up to four times the cost

·         Underinflated tyres also cost the average motorist an extra 40 per cent in fuel, adding up across Europe to an estimated 18 million tonnes of unnecessary CO² emissions

·         Penalties for underinflated tyres are apportioned per tyre; for four tyres adding up to a possible £10,000 fine plus 12 points, meaning an instant driving ban.

 

To add to these facts, Nexnet commissioned a survey of 1,000 UK drivers, which revealed that:

·         While 82 per cent claimed never to have driven on underinflated or unsafe tyres only a third knew the legal minimum tread depth was 1.6mm

·         Half of motorists did not know that underinflated tyres adversely affected stopping distance and caused crashes.

·         Half had not checked their tyre-tread depth in the last month, and one in five admitted that they never checked them. 

·         Less than one in five were aware of the penalties.

 

The campaign ran between spring and autumn during each of the two years, kicking off in Year Two during United Nations Road Safety Week. Regional newspapers and radio were chosen as the primary media in order to involve and name local tyre dealers as the consumer-facing deliverers of the campaign. Initially this involved a network of 170 Bridgestone-affiliated independent dealers, but this was subsequently extended to two major national-account customers of Bridgestone – Kwik-Fit and Kingsway.

 

News releases were reworked over an extended period to appeal to different media, to emphasise different elements of the basic facts, and to highlight differing survey results from different demographic groups such as men, women, older people, younger people, and students, thus getting several bites of the cherry. There was no shortage of material to keep the campaign alive in the media.

 

An existing programme of Bridgestone Formula One road shows, which toured UK tyre dealerships between spring and autumn, was co-themed Think Before You Drive. The international campaign icon of a living crash-test dummy was incorporated by adding a specially made costume to the resource pack, enhancing already-excellent photo opportunities with the FI replica car. For every tyre test undertaken at these events, Bridgestone made a donation to Childline. The good local media coverage usually achieved before and after these events was increased by the link with the Think Before You Drive campaign.

 

Nexnet enlisted the endorsement of the RAC Foundation throughout the campaign, including arranging in Year Two for its national director to take part in live down-the-line and pre-recorded interviews with local radio stations throughout the UK, where possible negotiating for recorded material to be broadcast to coincide with events at local tyre dealerships.

 

News and results of the campaign were also communicated to tyre and auto trade press as part of the overall corporate social responsibility communications for Bridgestone UK and to support relations with trade customers.

 

·         Estimated increase in the number of tyre-health checks sought by consumers at participating tyre dealerships over two years – 12,000.

·         Regional and local consumer press coverage achieved over two years – 147 cuttings reaching 13.4 million readers.

·         Local radio coverage achieved in Year Two –broadcasts at 61 stations reaching 4.5 million listeners.

 

Not specified – campaign contained within overall PR budget for all UK corporate, trade and consumer PR in the UK of £250,000.