With 100,000 people in Scotland at risk of flooding, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency realised its annual Floodline might not be enough in itself to address the danger. So it created a service to provide direct flood warning messages, free of charge, to registered landlines and mobiles. The scheme’s aim was simple: to reach people threatened by floods as quickly as possible. To work effectively, the public had to be aware of the part it needed to play in its own safety. To launch its Floodline Warnings Direct scheme, SEPA needed a campaign to promote the new service and encourage people to register.
The task was to encourage members of the public to take action and prepare themselves for the impact of flooding. Rather than focus on the negatives of flooding, the approach focused on the positive aspects of being prepared and taking preventative action. Based on pilot research with 40,000 people at risk, we knitted together a multi-channel approach, using direct mail, online media and press coverage to ensure that this message really hit home. We developed a campaign identity and microsite for Floodline Warnings Direct and have been responsible for the direct mail, national press and local press, radio advertising billboards, trailer events and online activity that has driven users to web registration.
For a number of days around the April launch, we focused massive projections onto buildings in Glasgow and Edinburgh, which received excellent press coverage and reinforced the online competition and videos available to the public. Around this time, everyone in danger of flooding in Scotland also received a letter prompting them to go online and register. This multi-faceted campaign resulted in 6,500 people registering in the first six weeks. Add to this, nearly 4 million online clicks and nearly 35,000 viewings of the videos we created and we can say that the campaign is working due to the concerted, multi-channel approach.
