On 24 June 2007, the Roads and Traffic Authority of NSW (RTA) launched a new campaign – ‘Little Pinkie’ – targeting young male drivers who speed. ‘Little Pinkie’ marks a significant change in the RTA’s advertising strategy with a move from shock advertising towards a more positive social marketing model aimed at long-term social change.  Evaluation research, which engaged the hard to reach groups of young males and rural youth, shows that the campaign is already successfully working to reposition speeding as a socially undesirable activity.

Evaluating the campaign posed particular challenges, the most testing being engaging young male respondents. This group is notoriously difficult to reach using conventional research methods, which had become the norm for evaluating safety campaigns. In order to reach this group an online approach was adopted. By utilising a research panel made up of respondents who had opted in to being contacted electronically for research, young males were targeted up front and the research process was streamlined.  In addition, the use of a research panel allowed young males in rural areas of NSW to be targetted.

Another key advantage of using an online method is that it allows respondents to directly view video, as well as other audio-visual stimulus. It can be argued that this improves the accuracy of findings, especially in relation to recall measures and message takeout measures. Put simply, respondents are reacting directly to the advertising material rather than a verbal or written interpretation of it.

The ‘Little Pinkie’ campaign received considerable press attention after launch (both locally and internationally) for its clever use of laconic humour to convey its message. For those who haven’t seen the advertising, bystanders (including younger and older women, as well as their own mates) use the little pinkie gesture in response to young male drivers engaging in showy, risk-taking behaviours. The campaign offers young drivers an immediate consequence: speed … and no one thinks big of you.

One year after its launch, the campaign has made impressive gains by:

• effectively grabbing the attention of young male drivers and the general public,
• increasing in saliency consistently over four waves of tracking,
• achieving universal understanding of the more subtle aspects of the message amongst ad recognisers,
• continuously engaging young men and delivering a campaign message that is seen as credible,
• positively affecting the attitudes of young male drivers.

The tongue-in-cheek message has prompted a public dialogue about the speeding issue. Where speeding was once seen as an off-limits topic, the campaign has empowered the community (and young male drivers in particular) to discuss the topic critically. The little pinkie gesture itself has entered the public consciousness – brandished in parliament and parodied by commercial advertisers, it’s a simple gesture that has effectively conveyed a complex message.

Research quoted was conducted by TNS for NSW RTA.

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