THE RIDER REMINDER

Short List
TitleTHE RIDER REMINDER
BrandTRANSPORT ACCIDENT COMMISSION VICTORIA
Product / ServiceTRANSPORT ACCIDENT COMMISSION VICTORIA
CategoryB02. Dimensional Mailings
EntrantCLEMENGER BBDO MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
Idea Creation CLEMENGER BBDO MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
Contributing TRANSPORT ACCIDENT COMMISSION Geelong, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
James McGrath Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Creative Chairman
Ant Keogh Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Chief Creative Officer
Sonia von Bibra Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Agency Executive Producer
Jake Turnbull Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Director of Design
Stephen de Wolf Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Creative Director
Matthew Pearce Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Senior Planner
Naomi Gorringe Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Group Account Director
Cherie McMahon Transport Accident Commission Victoria Senior Projects Manager, Marketing & Community Relations
Elle Bullen Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Senior Creative
James Orr Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Senior Creative
Sharon Adams Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Agency Operations Manager - Print
Craig Bulman Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Senior Agency Print Producer
Lee Simpson Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Managing Partner
Sam Cockfield Transport Accident Commission Victoria Manager, Road Safety
Jessica McGlinchey Transport Accident Commission Victoria Sponsorship Coordinator, Community Relations
Jarrick Lay Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Senior Account Manager

The Campaign

The Rider Reminder™ is a tactile rubber device that prompts people to think about bikes when it matters most – at the very moment they reach to open their car doors. Simply placed on the inside of an interior car door handle, the Rider Reminder™ is designed to feel like a rubber bike handle, so you instinctively think of cyclists and open with care. Through repetition, this behavioural ‘nudge’ helps to gradually train people to check for cyclists every time. Housed on a simple and informative card that explains the seriousness of the issue, it prompts a direct call to action to install the small adhesive device. The card itself doubles as a POS awareness piece, making every unit an advertisement for the issue, as well as a direct solution to it. It launched with an online film and the endorsement of 2011 Tour de France winner Cadel Evans.

Creative Execution

The Rider Reminder™ was launched on October 11, 2015 via online film and at Around the Bay, Victoria’s largest cycling event. It was distributed directly into the hands of cyclists, a community we knew would passionately support the initiative and help start a conversation. Teamed with a launch via mail and the Avant Card postcard network, the Rider Reminder™ was made available at over 200 Victorian locations, including cycling hotspots and at road safety partners like the Victorian Police. A planned two-month distribution program through their network was fast-tracked due to overwhelming demand. Our message was not restricted to the people who encountered the pack first-hand, however. Social media, PR and celebrity endorsements gained us national attention as an effective solution to an issue already prominent in the media.

Results

What began as a communication brief became a physical solution that the TAC will continue to produce. From VicRoads crash data, we found in the month following launch, the number of reported car dooring crashes more than halved (from 11 to 5). After one week, the Victorian Police asked to implement the device. We had requests from the public and school groups, and Melbourne’s taxi association is currently implementing the device across more than 6,000 vehicles. The TAC has also been approached by other Australian states and countries around the world requesting to implement the program. As observed through online conversations, the Rider Reminder™ has been embraced as a credible tool by the too often divisional motorist and cyclist groups. To date, over 40,000 Rider Reminders™ have been installed in cars across Victoria with another 40,000 ordered, helping to train drivers to keep our roads and our riders safe.

The Rider Reminder™ is a road safety initiative developed by Victoria’s Transport Accident Commission (TAC). The pack aims to curb the issue of car doors being opened into oncoming cyclists. Knowing that tools that directly change behaviour resonate more than traditional awareness mediums, we created a tangible solution to be distributed via mail, the Avant Card postcard network and at POS. The free card houses a custom-designed device that reminds drivers to look for cyclists. The public were encouraged to place the safety device in their cars, a response that directly influences driver behaviour for the better.

To solve this issue, we had to get to the true context of the behaviour, rather than rely on an awareness-raising campaign. So we observed and spoke to people in cars on major bicycle thoroughfares, and we quickly got an insight into the behavioural flaw. As soon as people turned off their cars, they turned off to the other risks on the roads. They were thinking about the meeting ahead, or where they put their phone. It’s not that they deliberately failed to look, their minds were simply elsewhere when they opened the doors. Given that people don’t remember to look, we doubted they would remember a traditional awareness message either. Certainly not every time they opened their door. It was with this insight that we knew we needed to design a little ‘nudge’ for car drivers that made them immediately think ‘bike’ each time they touched their door handles.

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