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CHAPTER FOUR RECALL OF AND REACTIONS TO THE DOPPELGANGER ADVERT
4.1 Immediate reactions
4.1 In eight of the focus groups Doppelganger was introduced as the first advert for detailed investigation. In most instances the end frame was sufficient to prompt discussion, with around half of respondents in each group recognising the advert from this alone. The most prominent feature recalled was of two identical cars, one being driven fast and aggressively and the other at a slower, safer speed. Most respondents also recognised that the advert employed a 'double image' of the same driver to convey contrasting driving styles and behaviour, variously described as "good" and "bad" driving and "safe" and "dangerous" driving. Specific features recalled which supported this interpretation were the dangerous driver overtaking along a busy urban street and being pulled in by the traffic police, and then later arriving at his work only to find there are no parking spaces available in the congested office car park. One or two respondents spontaneously mentioned the saying 'less haste more speed' and the parable of the Tortoise and the Hare.
"It's the same person, but it shows you one of them driving faster … the other taking his time. And he gets to work quicker because he, the fast guy, gets pulled over by the police." (Male, 35-44, ABC1, Urban, Frequent Speeders)
4.2 Interestingly, some respondents reported that initially they had misinterpreted it as a commercial for the car featured in the advert, largely it would appear because the advert focussed on the car rather than the driver, who remains relatively anonymous.
"I thought it was selling a car."
"I think it's very much like a car ad." (Male, 25-34,C2DE, Urban, Frequent Speeders)
"I've got to be honest, I remember the first time I saw it I never got it. I wasn't paying.. you don't pay 100 percent attention to ads and I sort of half watched it and thought, what was that for….. The second time I watched it I got it, but the first time I didn't." (Male, 35-44, ABC1, Semi-rural, Infrequent Speeders)
"I was a bit confused 'cos I thought it was an advert for the actual car. I thought it was something to do with the car's performance 'cos he got there quicker….it took me a while to realise what it was about. I think that's why I didn't remember it." (Female, 25-34, ABC1, Semi-rural, Frequent Speeders)
4.3 The fact that the advert featured two identical models of the same car and that these were perceived to be current versions of the car currently available for sale in car showrooms appears to have encouraged viewers to reach this conclusion. In addition, the use of subtle cues such as stylistic interior shots, smooth gear changes and low engine noise to convey a sense of calm, stress free driving all served to reinforce this interpretation. The complete absence of dialogue and the decision not to develop the central character would also appear to have further accentuated this impression. It should be noted, however, that those respondents who initially interpreted the advert as a car advert corrected these misinterpretations following subsequent exposure to the advert.
4.4 These findings indicate that borrowing from the creative strategies and production techniques used in car advertising may have served to add a degree of intrigue to the campaign.
"…adverts like that are good - if you don't get it the first time, the second time it can make you think about it." (Male, 35-44, ABC1, Semi-rural, Infrequent Speeders)
4.5 However, it also highlights the potential risks attached to relying upon repeat exposures to resolve these ambiguities. The extent to which these creative techniques helped or hindered communication of the intended message is discussed in Section 4.2 below.
4.6 One further consequence of the decision to evoke a sense of calm to convey the idea of stress-free driving concerns the extent to which it was seen to be consistent with what respondents have come to expect from road safety campaigns, and what audiences traditionally value in this type of advertising. The apparent lack of incident, or the emphasis placed upon underplaying the more dramatic incidents within the advert such as the overtaking scene and the driver being pulled in by the traffic police, led some to conclude the advert was rather bland and uneventful, and many others to reject the advertising as ineffective.
"If you were not concentrating it would go right over your head." (Male, 35-44, ABC1, Urban, Frequent Speeders)
"It's fairly bland." (Male, 25-34, ABC1, Urban, Moderate Speeders)
"Rubbish." (Male, 35-44, ABC1, Urban, Frequent Speeders)
4.7 It is worth noting, however, that despite these comments, the advert was recalled spontaneously in half of the focus groups, a level of recall which is comparable to that achieved by other campaigns employing more conventional hard-hitting creative strategies (see Section 4.1).
4.2 Perceived message
4.8 Most of the respondents who recalled the advert were also able to take away a relatively clear message from the campaign. This generally related to the consequences of driving recklessly in a built-up area: "it's not worth it, you risk being fined and gaining penalty points." Some respondents argued the portrayal was unrealistic, as in reality the safer driver would inevitably arrive at work later as he was driving more slowly. However, others assumed that he had left home earlier in order to give himself extra time to deal with any delays and traffic congestion.
4.9 Based on what they took from the advert, many respondents argued that the message was rather weak, offering little in the way of incentive to drive more slowly. Rather than depicting positive benefits, the advert was seen as merely implying an absence of disbenefits:
"There aren't many benefits from driving safely apart from all the bad things not happening to you - not having an accident, not getting a ticket, it's not that you're going to get a prize or anything." (Male, 25-34, ABC1, Urban, Moderate Speeders)
4.10 Many argued that the advert would be considerably stronger had it focussed upon the more serious negative consequences of speeding such as the implications of losing your driving license on work and family.
"To me it seems a bit sort of tame; the focus is on avoiding picking up a ticket from the police, rather than avoiding hurting somebody or themselves." (Male, 35-44, ABC1, Urban, Frequent Speeders)
"It might be nice to find out that that guy's lost his job because he's gone over the points limit, the consequences of what he's done - it just seems that it's a little bit inconvenient." (Male, 25-34, ABC1, Urban, Moderate Speeders)
"I think you need to see the consequences of really bad driving - seeing the guy banged up in prison would prick the conscience more." (Male, 25-34, ABC1, Urban, Moderate Speeders)
"If money's going to be put into a public-information film what I want them to say is 'safety'. I don't want them to say 'life's a hassle if you speed' that's no use. You know, you can kill someone." (Male, 35-44, ABC1, Semi-rural, Infrequent Speeders)
"I think they should have had an accident rather than him just being stopped by the police ." (Female, 25-34, ABC1, Semi-rural, Frequent Speeders)
4.11 It is also noteworthy that respondents did not necessarily see the advert as part of an anti-speeding campaign. Many felt the advert focussed on the general problem of reckless or aggressive driving, of which speeding was just one element.
4.12 Importantly, it was only after having been given an opportunity to review the advert in more detail that most respondents identified the more positive message relating to the benefits of safe driving. Here, discussions focussed on the advantages of arriving at work on time and free from stress, and the benefits this can have for the rest of the working day and for general well-being.
"You can get stuck behind someone driving really slowly and you do start to edge out. You do start to get really stressed out. I suppose what that is trying to say is if you leave five minutes earlier and drive at a sensible speed, you are going to be like the guy driving to work and being all chilled out. I think it's a really good message." (Female, 25-34, ABC1, Semi-rural, Frequent Speeders)
4.13 Whilst some were prepared to engage with the message others were less supportive, dismissing it as weak and unconvincing.
"You'll feel more relaxed, I don't think that works at all."
"It's verging on cheesy, that's my opinion." (Male, 35-44, ABC1, Urban, Frequent Speeders)
4.14 The reasons why the positive consequence of safe driving apparently failed to establish itself as the primary message are not entirely clear, especially as the evidence would suggest the advertising is capable of communicating such a message, and the message theme is strongly featured in the advert's strapline and end still (ie. the driver relaxing with a cup of coffee). However, the fact respondents were more likely to recollect the actions of the speeding driver than the safe driver (ie. the overtaking manoeuvre and being stopped by the police) may provide some useful clues. It is almost certainly the case that portrayals of safe driving as low in stress are by definition likely to be relatively incident-free and therefore less memorable. Indeed, the decision to employ the creative techniques and polished style more commonly used in car advertising to communicate the message would appear to have compounded the problem. The evidence suggests that while these techniques have been successful at setting the general tone and mood for the advert, and creating intrigue, these relatively subtle effects were perhaps insufficient to communicate the primary message. These findings may suggest that more literal devices, such as the use of dialogue and character development, are needed to reinforce this aspect of the message.
4.3 Perceived target and identification
4.15 The perceived target group was consistent with the type of person the advertising set out to reach, namely a male middle aged white collar worker who drives a large car, possibly a company car, and works in the city. Importantly, these perceptions and the narrowly defined audience did not exclude other groups, such as manual workers who regularly commuted to work, from identifying with the advertising. In this respect, the aspects of the advert with which most respondents identified were the frustrations that result from being held up in traffic and how these can be exacerbated by the pressures of a busy lifestyle and expectations of work. Indeed for this reason respondents tended to identify more closely with the speeding driver, rather than the safe driver.
"I can relate to the other guy trying to speed to work. I think everybody probably does that…" (Male, 17-24, ABC1, Urban, Frequent Speeders)
"I suppose yes, everybody's guilty of it, you leave things to the last minute, so you do chase the old amber light." (Male, 35-44, ABC1, Urban, Frequent Speeders)
"Work seems so much more stressful … maybe it is just me but I find that road rage kicks in and you get hacked off with the littlest things. You're actually looking for someone sometimes to make mistakes so you can get the hump." (Male, 25-34, ABC1, Urban, Moderate Speeders)
4.16 A number of factors also emerged which affected respondents' ability to identify with the message. The first of these related to the urban context in which the advert was set. Drivers who lived and worked in busy urban areas were more able to relate to the advertising. Rural drivers on the other hand tended to distance themselves from the message as traffic congestion was not a common feature in the areas where they drove, and when it did present itself it tended to be in a different form, with farm vehicles and Sunday drivers the main source of frustration. However, it should be noted that, primarily, this was an urban campaign.
"For the area we live in, it means absolutely nothing to our environment. We're not driving into big cities to get to work on time and spending an hour on the commute. Maybe for somebody that lives in London it might make sense." (Male, 35-44, ABC1, Semi-rural, Infrequent Speeders)
4.17 Another significant factor affecting identification with the advertising were the types of driving behaviour portrayed in the advert. One scene in particular drew a large amount of comment, the speeding driver weaving in and out and overtaking a slower driver on a single carriageway in a built-up area. The vast majority of drivers, whilst sympathising with the driver's predicament, regarded this kind of manoeuvre as extremely reckless and one that was likely to attract severe penalties if caught.
"That's too fast, it's showing the extreme of it. Not many people drive like that." (Male, 25-34, ABC1, Urban, Moderate Speeders)
"… 50 mile an hour overtaking a car when there's something coming towards you on a residential street, I mean you just wouldn't do that in that street." (Male, 17-24, ABC1, Urban, Frequent Speeders)
4.18 Few drivers admitted to taking this kind of extreme action. Most claimed they were more likely to be guilty of tail-gating if confronted with this type of situation. This apparently extreme behaviour had a distancing effect leading some respondents to pigeon-hole the Doppelganger as a reckless or dangerous driver.
4.19 There was a mixed response to the safe driver. Some respondents reacted negatively, particularly to the end scene where he was rejected by some as being smug and unattractive.
"It's sort of trying to make Mr Goody-Two Shoes look cool, it's just not working." (Male, 35-44, ABC1, Urban, Frequent Speeders)
4.20 Others, however, empathised with him, particularly to the image of him passing the driver stopped by the police. Importantly this empathy did not relate to his relaxed driving style, but rather to the fact that he was perhaps a more astute driver because he had been more observant or had anticipated the police were targeting speeding on that particular stretch of road.
"It's not about him feeling better because he drives better … It's about him getting one up on the boy because he's stopped by the police." (Male, 35-44, ABC1, Urban, Frequent Speeders)
"I thought it was just about how good you feel when you don't get caught." (Male, 25-34,C2DE, Urban, Frequent Speeders)
4.21 This type of response typified the 'cat and mouse' attitude that some drivers (particularly frequent speeders) had to the enforcement of speed restrictions on the roads.
4.22 Finally, it was also noteworthy that Doppelganger stood apart from the rest of the Foolsspeed campaign in that it did not have a regional emphasis. This was in large part a result of the creative strategy not to include any dialogue in the soundtrack. The absence of any regional accents meant that respondents generally assumed the advert had been screened throughout the UK, although some claimed some of the city centre locations used in the advert were familiar. This is discussed further in Section 7.2.
4.23 Overall, the advert appears to have struggled to deliver its intended message regarding the positive benefits of stress-free driving Instead, most respondents interpreted the advert as encouraging drivers to drive more carefully on the grounds that they would avoid picking up penalty points. Both messages were criticised for being weak justifications for improving driving, although the intended message possibly has greater scope for development. The main factor responsible for picking up the penalty points message as opposed to the one intended (and for a rather muted response to the advert as a whole) appears to have been an over-reliance on creative techniques more commonly used in car advertising to carry the stress-free message. These findings suggest that a more literal creative strategy may be required to communicate what is a subtle and relatively new concept in road safety advertising.
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