1. Chris Stec, National Safe Boating Council
2019 Life Jacket Association Annual Conference
Safe Boating Campaign:
Harnessing Social Change Marketing to
Make Life Jacket Wear the Norm
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Life Jacket Wear Challenge
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Social Change Marketing
Winning over people is not about a good argument, telling them
what to do or scaring them into a new behavior. This can be
ignored, overshadowed or not truly heard. What gives a new idea
life is not logic or wording; it’s connection.
It is about harnessing and influencing the factors that
determine how people listen and react. It’s about affecting
what people do.
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People Choose To Do
Fun
Easy
Popular
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Where Do We Start
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Seat Belt Behavior Change
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What changed?
• Law and penalties
• Equipment easier to use
• Frequent reminders/triggers
• Norms: Expectations of behavior
triggered and amplified by
campaigns
What didn’t change?
• Risk
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Change the Intent
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Why aren’t more people
wearing life jackets?
• It’s not rewarding
• It’s not what’s expected or
what people like me to do
• It’s not easy enough to do
● Make it feel normal
● Align the behavior with the person’s
self-standards
● Align the behavior with the person’s
social identity
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We’re not cool
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Life jackets are cool!
Oh yeah, so cool!
Yes, we are here to tell
you what’s hip and
popular. Because we have
that kind of cred.
Man I wish I was as
cool as you all.
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Concept: Wear It Out
Wearing a life jacket shows you’re a real boater – you know what you’re doing
and you’re passionate about it.
Tone: Aspirational, fun, passionate, insider knowledge, brand validation
Emotional Appeal:
● Find fun and relaxation
● Leave behind worries and hassles
● Show off and experience boat’s best attributes
● Fun - seeking stimulus, excitement
● Peer approval
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Implementation
Concept
Manufacturer feedback and
adjustments
Next Step
Partner commitment
Marketing kit
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16. 2019 Life Jacket Association Annual Conference
Questions
Contact: Peg Phillips, Executive Director
National Safe Boating Council
pphillips@safeboatingcouncil.org
Editor's Notes
Warm wishes from the staff at the NSBC: Peg, Yvonne, Sandy, and Diane send their best. Our team is gearing up for Wear Your Life Jacket to Work Day – May 17th, and National Safe Boating Week May 18 – 24.
We want to share the new direction of the Safe Boating Campaign and the exciting concepts we have.
Imagine a boating world where it is the norm to wear a life jacket.
Let’s take a look at how we can work together to achieve social change.
ADVANCE PPT TO PLAY VIDEO
Our challenge is getting people to wear life jackets.
We’ve all seen the video of this mishap at the Lake of the Ozarks. It’s been all over social media. Irresponsible boat operator, but an example of what people are seeking when on the water: Showing off, having fun, being in control, hanging out with friends and escaping worries.
Millions of boaters are on the waterways each year. How do we change the perception towards boating safety?
Social change marketing.
Let’s think about some areas where social change has already happened:
It is the norm now to were a bike helmet; if you see a line of cylclist and one guy in the middle of the pack isn’t wearing a helmet, what do you think about that person? He’s not a “real biker”, right? How about helmets for downhill skiers? Again, this is the norm, and a “real snowboarder or skier wears a helmet”.
How do we achieve that same social shift with life jacket wear? What drives new behavior?
To change behavior, you need allies, not arguments. We’ll focus first on connection, not convincing, and work toward building bonds and inspiring action over the long term.
Looking at these pictures, who’s the influencer of boating safety?
We need a creative platform that works very broadly over time, but this is a long game, so we need to start somewhere. It’s the boat operator.
Let’s look at the demographic of the boat operator.
A boat operator sets the tone for behavior on the water. The expectations for passengers. The boat operator is the “real boater”.
Certainly legislation drives social change, and we have seen success with seat belts. Nationally, 86% of drivers wear seat belts.
Consequences affect behavior significantly. If something is systematically rewarded, you will have more of it. If something is systematically punished, you will have less of it.
Let’s look at why more people aren’t wearing life jackets. Psychology suggests 3 intentions of people:
People will do something if the action is: Rewarding, Expected, and Easy.
Can we say that wearing a life jacket is rewarding or expected? Putting on a life jacket is certainly easy.
We must change the intent.
Let’s face it. While we all think we’re cool. Others don’t come to us seeking what is cool.
Think about a target audience of teens. Do they listen to an ad from the U.S. Coast Guard or National Safe Boating Council?
Or, are teens influenced by their peers? What if we removed branding from messaging and instead gave teens information and impowered them to make the right decision? This is part of social change.
This ad was designed to get people to wash their hands after using the bathroom.
There is actually a job to stand in the bathroom and count who washes their hands ~ much like we collect life jacket wear rates, right?
If you notice, Florida Department of Health pops up quickly at the end, but the entire ad is not branded with their logo, etc as you might expect. Why ~ because they aren’t cool – who is delivering the message in this ad? Your cool coworkers! The influencers are the coworkers.
Going back to some other examples that we gave earlier; wearing a helmet while biking tells onlookers that you are a “real biker”.
We want to establish that same perception with life jacket wear.
Insider knowledge is looking at an ad and identifying with the activity because you are experienced in that activity
This concept really hits the emotional appeal: fun, easy, popular
The insider knowledge here that identifies a paddler with this concept is knowing this kayaker has proper form
Think about how you feel when you see an ad where it is obvious the person is not a real boater: holding the paddle backwards, for example
This ad also speaks to the norm – or instinctual behavior While this man is daydreaming about kayaking, he sees himself wearing all the right gear and practicing safe boating. This is normal boating behavior.
A little spin on words here….instead of set the hook, we are setting the look.
This is a perfect sunset for some solo fishing; relaxing, peaceful, and this boater sets the look by wearing an inflatable life jacket.
Same concept: a Mom out with her son.
Again, who is the influencer? Mom is wearing her cool life jacket and influencing behavior in her young son.
Wearing a life jacket while paddleboarding becomes the norm.
Same concept but with SUP.
Wearing a life jacket while SUP becomes the norm.
Social Change Marketing has the potential to really have an impact on behavior with life jacket wear.
Working together, we can sell more life jackets because wearing a life jacket becomes a social statement. Boaters will certainly want more than one life jacket depending on what specific boating or water activity they are doing.
Soon, we will have marketing kits available for manufacturers. We want your feedback as we move forward with these behavior change concepts.
Thank you ~ our team at the National Safe Boating Council is excited to partner with you.