What sort of advertising firm is proud that people want to switch their ads off? Fionola Meredith finds out
David Lyle and Julie Anne Bailie, the award-winning team behind the Road Safety Authority's disturbingly graphic advertising campaigns, are known in the industry as "the doctor deaths of advertising". Self-styled "specialists in attitude and behaviour change", the Belfast-based pair have produced a series of instantly recognisable TV ads designed to jolt the viewing public into changing their bad behaviour on the roads.
The latest anti-drink driving advert, Just One, shows - in blood-curdling detail - the potential consequences of having even one drink before taking to the wheel. Timing is a big part of the strategy, too: the Road Safety Authority plans to show the ad during the World Cup, in the hope that young male drivers out watching football games in pubs might be deterred from drinking and driving.
"These are the people we want to talk to," says David Lyle. "After all, statistics show that men in the 17-24 age group are not only more than four times more likely to kill or seriously injure someone on the roads, but they are also four times more likely to die themselves." Yet simply lecturing youngsters isn't going to work. "You have to let them draw their own conclusions," says Bailie. "And credibility is crucial when the challenge is to change people's minds in a few seconds. Our target audience is image-conscious: they notice things such as jewellery and shoes. So the brands we use must be cutting-edge."
Both Lyle and Bailie bring an evangelical zeal to the making of their ads. Bailie, in particular, is unequivocal in her condemnation of those who disregard the road safety message. "If someone decides to drink and drive, why is that different from committing murder? After all, they are totally informed about what can happen. Our ads are about fostering a sense of personal responsibility in people. Everyone thinks that they are better than average drivers - that's the first big delusion. And they blame everyone else but themselves. Why don't they ask 'How do I behave on the road?' People act as though their car is their world; they believe they are invincible."
The pair have a long history of working on highly sensitive public issues. They honed their shock tactics with hard-hitting ads for the confidential telephone number in the North during the Troubles, while working for McCann-Erickson, Belfast. Later, in 2004, they led a management buy-out of the company, which became LyleBailie International. Since then, they have adapted their "distinctively powerful, distinctively shocking" road safety ads for use in Austria, Israel and Italy. Yet both are keen to point out that they're not all about what Lyle calls "death, doom and disaster". LyleBailie masterminded the feel-good "Time for the Bright Side" campaign, part of the Northern Ireland Office's charm offensive following the 1994 paramilitary ceasefires. More recently, they were behind the cross-border "Race Against Waste" campaign.
While the avuncular Lyle is evidently happier at the techie end of the business, producing an array of complicated graphs and maps, Bailie really comes alive when she talks about the emotional impact of the ads. Where Lyle quotes a statistic, Bailie interjects with a personal anecdote. Is there a gender split in their approach to advertising? "Yes, Julie Anne sits on focus groups, while I love charts," Lyle laughs. Bailie says, "Ninety-eight per cent of creative teams are made up of two guys, so you get these blokey ads that ignore women. But both male and female influence is terribly important, especially when you're dealing with something as sensitive as road safety campaigns."
Lyle and Bailie are proud of their in-house psychological research unit, developed by academics at the University of Ulster, which they use to fine-tune their ads. But hardly a day goes by without news of yet more carnage on our roads. How can Lyle and Bailie prove that their sometimes controversial tactics are working? "If these ads weren't in place, far more people would have died. We reckon that if the trend [ prior to the ads, which began in 1996] had continued, road deaths would be standing at 625 a year, as distinct from 399," claims Lyle. "But significant improvement still needs to be made. Even one death on the roads is one too many."
What's more, ads such as these have a notoriously high "switch-over factor". Many viewers simply find them too painful to watch. Isn't this a flaw in LyleBailie's approach? Bailie actually sees it as a marker of the ad's success. "If people switch over, that just means that the ad is working faster than ever. People tell us that the second they hear the music used in the ads, they take their foot off the accelerator. The ads are difficult for victims' families to watch. But without exception, they say that if it can save one family the pain of losing someone, then they're worth it." As far as Bailie is concerned, what they offer goes beyond advertising. "In Ireland's public mind, these are much more than ads. It isn't about selling shampoo or conditioner. It's about living or dying."