SALFORD company Cicero has driven into the Irish history books by completing a top secret assignment which could help save lives.
The marketing, advertising and communications agency was asked to keep the lid on the introduction of a ‘‘driver theory test’’ in the Republic of Ireland while working on a £750,000 campaign.
If word had got out, the fear was that thousands of would-be drivers would have caused chaos by attempting to gain a licence before legislation changed.
And now, a year on, the agency has been appointed to work on the UK version of the theory test.
Cicero was appointed by American company Prometric Thomson Learning last year.
But for six months the Cicero PR team led by Iain Macauley worked with Irish and UK press to brief them on the new legislation — dating from an EU Directive back in 1991 — and keep it out off the papers and broadcast media, while the Cicero marketing team, led by Martin Milner, created the identity, planned and produced television and radio campaigns in secret.
‘Undercover’ challenge
Creative Director David Bailey was provided with the challenge of creating the TV ads undercover, shot on an unopened stretch of motorway west of Dublin. ‘‘It was an extremely delicate situation and an enormous balancing act. Road death figures in Ireland are among the highest in Europe and getting higher.
‘‘One of the contributing factors is the driving test and driving standards in Ireland have not kept up with the rest of Europe, and, in fact, drivers had been allowed to take the wheel unaccompanied on a provisional licence in some cases for years,’’ said Iain Macauley.
‘‘From now on, a driver can’t take to the road in Ireland on a provisional licence until he or she has passed a theory test. Tens of thousands of drivers racing to beat a deadline would have taken the system to breaking point.
‘‘So what we had to do was brief the press across Ireland, get them on board — and the vast majority recognised the importance of the introduction of new legislation — but persuade them not to run stories until we were ready.
‘‘To our huge relief it became apparent that we’d obviously gained the trust of the Irish press because not a word leaked out until we wanted it to.’’
Prometric is well placed to run the DTT. It has been behind the UK driving theory test since January 2000 and educates, tests and assesses millions of people around the world in a variety of sectors - construction, financial services and health and safety as well as driving.
Simon Moore, managing director of Prometric Thomson Learning in the UK, said: ‘‘The launch of the DTT required an agency which could combine a strategic proposal with an integrated communications approach. Cicero pitched against three other UK and Irish agencies and demonstrated they could meet the requirement. The approach was clearly right for us.’’
Meanwhile, Martin Milner, managing director of Cicero Advertising and Marketing, adds: ‘‘Our brief was to create absolute awareness of the driver theory test. Time will tell whether this has been achieved, but early indications are that everybody in Ireland affected by the new legislation is fully aware of the developments.’’
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