How ‘The Lane Change Song’ Promotes Road Safety
We all know a driver who changes lanes as soon as the opportunity presents itself. Getting frustrated with the people in front of you and opting to move over to the fast lane is all too common, especially when considering the dangers that it poses – and the time it doesn’t save.
To promote road safety and reach the widest audience possible, the teams at Serviceplan Middle East and tyre manufacturer Bridgestone simultaneously took over the ARN radio stations to broadcast ‘The Lane Change Song’ for drivers across the UAE to hear. The spot, with an animation to accompany it, features a jingle to explain how changing lanes is simply a ‘highway illusion’ which doesn’t help speed up your journey and actually, ends up being a far more dangerous way to drive. The campaign is running in English, Arabic and Hindi to target as many people as possible, as well as potentially being featured in different countries later this year, to spread the message.
Sharing more about the campaign are Serviceplan Middle East’s associate creative director Sameer Suri and business director Vineeta Vasisht, who speak to LBB’s Nisna Mahtani.
LBB> 'The Lane Change Song' was broadcast across many of the UAE’s radio channels to promote safe driving. Can you tell us how you started planning for the idea in the initial stages?
Sameer> With an idea like this, it was less about 'if' and more about 'how’. So the initial stages were all about figuring out how to make this happen. It hadn't been done before, so we weren't sure if it was even possible. But our awesome media team had the radio channels on board and made it happen.
LBB> How did you begin the songwriting process, how long did it take and what was the clear message at the heart of this spot?
Sameer> The songwriting process was the easiest part because we had complete creative freedom from the client. The initial draft of the song came together fairly early in the process. Once we identified the right genre with the producers, it was just two months of rewriting, crafting, and trying to make it as catchy as possible.
LBB> What is the main insight which prompted you to want to combat the issue?
Sameer> The insight was that careless lane changing is not only dangerous, but also pointless. It was a perfect fit for a country with fast highways and even faster cars, where everybody wants to move into the faster lane.
LBB> From a logistical standpoint, how did you get the ARN radio stations involved and to play the jingle simultaneously?
Vineeta > Knowing it was a strong campaign idea we decided to take the task of aligning with radio channels as a challenge. We spoke to the ARN team via our media partner Mediaplus, who helped us get the radio team on the same page as us. ARN understood the idea and helped us achieve the radio block by identifying the relevant channels and making sure all of them had a free slot at the same time to run the song simultaneously.
LBB> What was the timescale on this project and how did you ensure you launched on UN Global Road Safety Week?
Vineeta> That’s called planning! We planned the release of the campaign well in advance based on the dates of UN Road Safety Week.
LBB> The visuals to go along clearly reflect the sentiment of the radio song. Can you tell us a little bit about creating the accompanying animation?
Sameer> Since this was primarily a radio piece, the lyrics and music were our priority. So, we opted to keep the visuals simple and minimal.
LBB> You also released the ad in three different languages to go across all seven radio stations. Which languages were chosen and why was it important to get the message out to different demographics of people?
Vineeta> Road safety is something which doesn’t have a specific target audience, anyone and everyone who drives should follow the rules. That’s why we produced the song in different languages (English, Arabic and Hindi) to reach every person in the UAE and ARN’s wide range of radio channels helped achieve this goal.
LBB> What’s next for Bridgestone MEA? Is there anything else we should look out for?
Vineeta Bridgestone is constantly committed to causes such as road safety. Their annual ‘Eyes on Road’ initiative is a testament to this. We’re fortunate to collaborate with clients who are committed to making an impact on and off the screen.
As for the lane change song we plan to rerun the campaign in September 2023 during Bridgestone’s Road Safety Week and you may soon hear it on the radio in countries like India and Maldives too
