Our objective was to reduce vehicle crime by 30% over 5 years, including theft from, as well as theft of, cars. Although TV, radio and large format outdoor were used to launch and drive awareness of the overall Vehicle Crime Reduction initiative, we felt there was a specific role to tackle theft of valuables from the car. This type of crime is typically opportunistic and relatively easy to combat by implementing some simple measures…such as locking the door behind you.We knew that we could reach motorists in large numbers, but how could we communicate with them at more specific times and in more specific places?We believed we needed to communicate with those most at risk at a localised level. And we needed to add an element of surprise and relevance to the campaign, in order to inspire the public to take evasive action. We termed our media solution ‘Optimum Moments’. We knew that in order to stimulate direct action from motorists at risk we needed to reach them at relevant environments/ moments where simple steps could be taken to help prevent crime.

The results of the ‘Optimum Moments’ campaign were impressive. Tracking research showed highest ever prompted awareness of our ‘optimum moments’ campaign elements at 25%; this figure was over 60% higher than average ambient awareness levels.Positive feedback from police forces across England and Wales Vehicle crime dropped by 11% in the first year of the campaign – a third of the way towards the government’s five year goal. Our ambient media strategy helped to contribute towards this decline“This strategy showed an understanding of the opportunistic nature of the majority of vehicle crime, and used outdoor creatively to speak to motorists at key moments of vehicle crime risk” - Jo Rushton, Senior Publicity Manager, Home Office Vehicle Crime Reduction Initiative. This idea was conceived by Mediaedge:cia, following brainstorming meetings with the Home Office and COI teams. Our analysis of government research, including The British Crime Survey, highlighted the opportunistic nature of car crime, particularly theft from cars of personal items. Many crimes result from motorists leaving their valuables on display, or forgetting to lock the car, with car parks and petrol stations being areas of particularly high risk.Speaking to Police Officers it became clear that there were simple steps which could be taken to prevent vehicle theft. We wanted to find a way that went beyond simple awareness raising, to impact directly on motorists’ behaviour.We created a communication model which pinpointed the ‘optimum moment’ for us to warn motorists about the risks and suggest some simple preventative steps.We knew that the only way to exploit these optimum moments would be through ambient media at a national level: -Petrol pump nozzles‘Pay and display’ car park ticketsCar park barrier armsPosters in railway station car parks This allowed us to surprise motorists whilst they had their car keys in their hand, and prompt them to lock their car and hide their valuables. Ambient media was at the heart of our strategy to reduce vehicle crime. We moved beyond the basic property of the medium – putting a message in an unexpected place – to fully exploit the relevance of the time, the place and the motorist’s mindset. We turned ambient’s element of surprise to our advantage, using it to change behaviour and reduce the risk of being a victim of crime.This was not a one-off gimmick but a national media campaign which generated 25% awareness amongst motorists and helped to slash car crime figures by 11%.

This idea was conceived by Mediaedge:cia, following brainstorming meetings with the Home Office and COI teams. Our analysis of government research, including The British Crime Survey, highlighted the opportunistic nature of car crime, particularly theft from cars of personal items. Many crimes result from motorists leaving their valuables on display, or forgetting to lock the car, with car parks and petrol stations being areas of particularly high risk.Speaking to Police Officers it became clear that there were simple steps which could be taken to prevent vehicle theft. We wanted to find a way that went beyond simple awareness raising, to impact directly on motorists’ behaviour.We created a communication model which pinpointed the ‘optimum moment’ for us to warn motorists about the risks and suggest some simple preventative steps.We knew that the only way to exploit these optimum moments would be through ambient media at a national level: -Petrol pump nozzles‘Pay and display’ car park ticketsCar park barrier armsPosters in railway station car parks This allowed us to surprise motorists whilst they had their car keys in their hand, and prompt them to lock their car and hide their valuables.