Click it or Ticket Media Campaign

Since 2015, Arkansas’ seat belt usage rate grew from 75% to more than 78% in 2018. Doesn’t sound too bad…until you learn the national average was 89.7%. Our challenge was to get Arkansas closer to those national numbers.

While Arkansas state law requires drivers and passengers to buckle up, public awareness surveys show that one in four Arkansans does not obey the law. And when we got more specific in our research, we found that males between the ages of 18 and 35 account for only 49% of the population and yet comprise 63% of traffic fatalities where the lack of seat belt use is a factor.

So, right then we knew who our target audience was going to be - males between 18 and 35.

We already had our message via Click It or Ticket: seat belts are the single most effective way to prevent death and injury while driving, and also, you’ll get a ticket if you’re not buckled. Not too complicated. But getting that message to our target audience in a smart and efficient way was the real challenge.

While drivers are usually the audience for seat belt messaging, we decided to expand that messaging to passengers, too!

First, we developed and produced new Click It or Ticket enforcement TV and radio spots which ran during the national May Click It or Ticket enforcement mobilization.

Then, we directly engaged with our audience through paid media tactics including sports marketing and live radio endorsements on radio stations popular with the fellas. Traffic report sponsorships during morning and afternoon drive times served to reach a large number of people at premium times when they’re behind the wheel. Plus, we placed ads on websites that consistently resonate with men.

But how did we get the attention of people actually in their cars? We started by routinely displayed an enforcement message on many digital message boards on highways and interstates around Arkansas.

But the REALLY cool idea was partnering with statewide fast-food restaurants to display branded Click It or Ticket window clings on their drive-thru windows — and send that message home with branded stickers on to-go orders.

CJRW coordinated partnerships statewide with local fast- food restaurants. Participating fast-food chains included:

Wendy’s
Popeye’s
Little Caesar’s Pizza
Domino’s Pizza

Each Memorial Day and Thanksgiving, CJRW uses its influence with statewide media to generate strong news coverage of the Click It or Ticket campaign at peak travel times.

To get out where the people are, the Arkansas State Police Highway Safety Office typically sponsors two home games of the Arkansas Travelers and Northwest Arkansas Naturals minor league baseball teams. There, they give away free promotional items with Click It or Ticket and impaired-driving branding. A 30-second spot airs on each ballpark’s electronic scoreboard, and an ad is also placed in each team’s program.