Re/Imagining Streets and Car-Driven Culture Suburban Sprawl In a Post-COVID World

This article outlines just a few techniques that we can use when developing ads to target a broader audience for the Vision Zero cause. Of course, there is a place for a variety of different creative styles, messaging, and content to be showcased depending on the goals and the audience. As long as we keep our message relatable, say what we have to say in emotions instead of statistics, and keep it simple, there are so many stories to tell as we advocate for safer and healthier communities for everyone.

Tom Flood has spent 15 years in marketing/advertising and many of those producing car advertisements. Today produces a variety of content through Rovélo Creative. Follow him on Twitter @tomflood1.

COUNTER-MESSAGING > While we can thank years of car-centric policy, poor municipal leadership, endless rhetoric, and false narratives for so many unknowingly adopting these attitudes, we can also take control of this message.

This is why re-humanizing people on bikes, and really anyone that is not in a car, is the priority.

 "Car ads arrive on our screens in a non-stop onslaught. These messages are impossible to avoid, appearing year-round in every possible media space and high visibility location with an almost unmatched reach and frequency. Now, obviously, the Vision Zero movement doesn’t have the same marketing machine supporting their goals, but at its core, car ads are telling stories, and storytelling can work at any scale. If advocates can adopt the storytelling techniques of the car industry, we can possibly provide effective counter-messaging to the automotive industry onslaught. . ."

With many cities reimagining their streets to adapt to a post-COVID world, this is an apt time to understand how the Vision Zero movement can relay effective messages that push for better biking, walking, and public transit — and not revert back to a car-centric “normal. . ."

Car ads are emotional

Lincoln’s new ad.

If we look at a recent Lincoln ad — “The Power of Sanctuary” — we find a message that of the home as a sanctuary, and that during difficult times, it is important to focus on what matters most — in this case, family.

Family and safety are the key themes communicated here, and in auto campaigns in general, due to how dangerous the act of driving really is. Car manufacturers know this and know that there needs to be constant reassurance that this aspect of driving is not only addressed but prioritized . . .