To create awareness about seat belts among drivers and passengers and to promote its use, auto major Maruti Suzuki India recently rolled out a nationwide social campaign – #PehniKya?
Road accidents and fatalities are a nationwide concern. According to recent MoRTH (Ministry of Road Transport and Highways) data, not wearing seat belts resulted in 5,638 fatalities in 2016. Fifty percent of these fatalities could have been prevented if seat belts were used. A seat belt is an important safety device, often ignored by car users in India. A recent study conducted by Maruti Suzuki with Kantar Group (Millward Brown and IMRB) said seat belt usewas as low as 25 per cent in India.
#PehniKya, conceived by Happy mcgarrybowen, a unit of Dentsu Aegis Network, focuses on driving a behaviour change among car users in India. The high impact 360 degree integrated campaign by Maruti Suzuki comprises print, TVC, radio, digital and on-ground activations.
The emotionally resonant TVC for ‘#PehniKya?’ is centred round a kid who tries to stop his father from driving his car because he is not in the habit of wearing the seat belt. The TVC is being played across major television channels in India spanning the genres of news, movies, etc.
The creative for the print ads issued across major mainlines, financials and regional publications is simple, fact based and striking to create a high impact on the readers. The evocative radio spots are designed to break myths around the usage of seat belts and highlight its importance as a safety device.
R S Kalsi
Talking about the campaign, R S Kalsi, Senior Executive Director, Maruti Suzuki, said, “Seat belt is one of the most effective safety equipment in a car. Studies by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), USA, show that if an occupant is not wearing a seat belt in a vehicle equipped with airbags, the airbags may actually cause more harm in the event of a crash. At the same time, with the new safety regulations, more cars in India will come equipped with airbags. This makes the usage of seat belts even more critical.”
He added, “Our survey shows that seat belt usage in India is as low as 25 per cent. Lack of awareness of seat belt as a safety device, lack of encouragement from family and friends and weak legal enforcement were among the key reasons for the non-usage. Through this campaign, we aim to encourage car occupants to wear their seat belts.”
Praveen Das
PM Praveen Das, Chief Creative Officer and MD, said, “Maruti Suzuki has been doing stellar work in road safety. We were very excited to work on their latest campaign on the seat belt initiative. Drawing from research, we decided to keep the message simple and thought-provoking, thus was born #PehniKya? Another key insight that was validated by research was that people would be far more impacted if the message came from a family member. Hence the construct of the TVC. The film captures the simple emotion of love of a son for his father.”
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