AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN PUBLIC RELATIONS 2018 - 25TH - PRCA (Ireland)
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25ANNIVERSARY
TH
AWARDS FOR
EXCELLENCE IN
PUBLIC
RELATIONS
2018
PUBLIC
RELATIONS
INSTITUTE
OF IRELANDBest Consumer Public Relations Campaign
Best
Best Public €50k
Campaign Information
Or Under Campaign
Campaign
Disability Federation of Ireland’s call for a #MAKEWAYDAY
Description of Campaign
The Disability Federation of Ireland set out to establish a “Make
Way Day” to raise awareness of the man-made obstacles that
people with disabilities find insurmountable or dangerous.
TRA Brands delivered a disruptive communications campaign
encouraging the public to reflect on behaviours that could cause
Rhona Blake, FPRII, Chairman of the PRCA; Gareth Field, Head harm to people with disabilities.
of Sponsorship, TRA Brands and Laura English, Community
Development Worker, Disability Federation of Ireland.
Public Relations Consultant
TRA Brands | The Reputations Agency
Client
Disability Federation of Ireland
Background to the Campaign
Earlier in 2017, the Disability Federation of Ireland (DFI) facilitated two gatherings of people with disabilities. The invite
came from the Lord Mayor of Dublin. Dublin City Council attended and listened, but centre stage were the people with
disabilities with their real-life experiences.
People with disabilities face many obstacles to leading fully inclusive lives. They suggested we start with the most
obvious barriers, listed below. DCC launched a public awareness campaign entitled, “Make Way Dublin.”
The top five serial offences, which were highlighted by people with disabilities include:
• Parking cars on footpaths (25%)
• Placing sandwich boards on the pavements (18%)
• Chaining bikes to lamp-posts/railings (16%)
• Placing wheelie bins on footpaths (14%)
1• Allowing greenery to overgrow and impede footpaths (10%)
The billboard campaign, created by DDFH&B, brought these obstacles to the public attention. What happened next
was exceptional and the reaction was overwhelmingly positive. The consequences of the behaviours highlighted had
simply been overlooked by most people. Better again, once aware the public declared themselves willing to change.
An online editorial poll on www.TheJournal.ie had more than 11,000 people in favour of fines for people blocking
access. Nationally, people with disabilities contacted DFI to say they wanted similar campaigns in their cities and
towns. They decided that it was time to call on the government to establish a national ‘Make Way Day.’
Best Consumer Public Relations Campaign
The major obstacle was one common in the non-for-profit sector, a lack of funds. The JWT agency network stepped in
Best
and offered a creative Or
to work pro-bono on€50k
Campaign Under
and disruptive plan. With only a minimal pot available to DFI to cover basic
third-party costs (e.g. postage, sticker production) this plan had to rely on communications and an impactful stunt
campaign to secure the cut-through to capture the public imagination. The public also were asked to sign a petition on
change.org asking the government establishing a national Make Way Day.
We set out to make people think twice. It became clear that they had not thought at all of people with disabilities and
that that was an omission they were willing to change. The campaign continues to gather momentum.
Statement of Objectives
There were several key objectives outlined in advance of the campaign:
1. Educate the public on the everyday obstacles faced by people with disabilities.
2. Raise awareness and start a conversation about the need to consider how our everyday actions impact the lives of
people with disabilities.
3. Build on the success and public support generated from Make Way Dublin
4. Generate a clear call to action to sign the online petition for the creation of a government recognised Make Way Day.
5. Use PR and organic social media to deliver cut through as no ATL or digital advertising support was made available
for the campaign.
6. Inspire user generated content showcasing obstructions caused by everyday objects left on the footpaths.
7. Collaborate with leading disability organisations in Ireland to help promote and raise awareness around the issues
experienced by people with disabilities.
Programme Planning and Strategy
The purpose of our planning and strategy behind ‘Make Way Day’ was to bring to life a campaign that the public could
emotionally connect to, be excited and engaged by – with the aim of eliciting government recognition.
Engaging Digital Content
Social engagement was at the forefront of the PR plan with impact being driven through crowd-sourced video content
and clever ambassador partnerships that would bring the campaign sentiment to life, and truly engage the public and
in turn the government.
Working alongside the DFI and the 12 other leading disability charities, organisation members and people throughout
Ireland who have a physical or visual impairment were encouraged to share short video clips of everyday obstacles
that they incur.
Submissions varied from people filming themselves trying to navigate their way in a wheelchair around a car parked
on a footpath to others with visual impairments being caught on camera bumping into obstacles such as sandwich
boards on footpaths. These everyday snippets, highlighting real life obstacles created by careless and thoughtless
actions, were then edited into a punchy, dynamic 60 second show-reel.
The final compilation was primarily used as an informative #MakeWayDay media tool, which was distributed to
broadcast and online editorial media. The video content was then seeded organically across all the social media
2channels that were available to the DFI and the 12 other disability organisations as well as the newly created and
populated #MakeWayDay social media channels.
The content was also designed to encourage others to get involved and share their own first-hand experiences or
challenges that they regularly encountered.
Guerrilla Stickering Movement
Impactful and bold, colourful #MakeWayDay stickers (with low level adhesive sticking glue to avoid permanent
damage), highlighting the campaign, were created and produced for people with disabilities all over the country. In
Best Consumer Public Relations Campaign
addition, agency teams were assembled and instructed to march on the streets of Dublin, stickering obstacles that
would block or impede access for people with disabilities. So, on the morning of the 26th September, if your car
Best Campaign €50k Or Under
was parked on a footpath blocking the way, if you were a business owner who left a sandwich board out creating an
obstacle or your bicycle was chained to a lamppost creating a trip hazard for a person with a disability, then you could
expect a friendly sticker reminding you to make way for people with disabilities.
Make Way Day Ambassadors
Securing an ambassador with a large and engaged audience is a key and a fundamental metric when identifying the
right candidate to front an initiative. However, we also needed to bring on board personalities who could not only
talk credibly and passionately about the root cause of the Make Way Day campaign but could do so with a sense of
humour while still communicating the seriousness of the issues at hand in a light-hearted manner.
Furthermore, we needed to find personalities who would be willing to give up their time and reorganise schedules to
get involved, participate in photo-calls, submit quotes, undertake media interviews as well as create and edit digital
video content – FOR FREE!
Taking those factors into consideration, we enlisted the phenomenal support of First Dates Ireland superstar
and disability campaigner, Paddy Smyth & comedian Sir Stevo Timothy (paralysed from the chest down after a
motorcycle accident in 2005) aka Farmer Michael to participate in and boost the awareness levels of our Make
Way Day activities.
In the guise of the hilarious ‘Farmer Michael’, Stevo Timothy was briefed to create a piece of satirical video content
that would highlight the challenges that, along with many others, he experiences daily. The resulting video content
proved to be a provocative and classic piece of Irish comedic content. To quote the viral video sensation, “Hazard
lights are the international symbol for I’ll park wherever I damn well want!”
#MakeWayDay Media Engagement
To add further substance beyond the DFI’s call to establish the #MakeWayDay in the national media release, we
worked with the 13 disability organisations and their members to tell us what were the main physical barriers that
impeded their everyday life. The findings allowed us to include memorable news hooks, which proved to be incredibly
useful for journalists to develop a cohesive and understandable narrative for their audiences.
To support the distribution of the media release to broadcast, print and online media, we also undertook a photocall
with Paddy Smyth amplifying the campaign call-to-action. Imagery produced from this session were also used to
populate the newly introduced #MakeWayDay social channels.
#MakeWayDay Media Partnership (unpaid editorial partnership)
We also persuaded the Lovin’ Dublin editorial team to join us on the day of guerrilla stickering activity to unearth the
everyday obstacles that impeded the lives of people with disabilities. They also published a variety of #MakeWayDay
imagery and video content that was produced to support the campaign.
Measurement
Ninety people across Ireland with a physical/visual impairment were mobilised to pick up their phone and submit their
stories to power the campaign rally to establish a national #MakeWayDay.
#MakeWayday trended number one throughout Ireland and was a permanent trending fixture throughout the day.
3Significant editorial coverage included national TV (RTÉ Six One, Nine O’Clock News), national/regional radio (e.g.
Today FM, RTÉ Radio na Gaeltachta, Q102, etc.), national/regional print (e.g. Irish Daily Star, Limerick Leader, Wicklow
People etc.), online (e.g. rte.ie, joe.ie, examiner.ie, lovindublin.ie etc.). Please note that resources were not made
available to implement a full monitoring broadcast/print service.
8,000 petition signatures were secured on change.org within the first 48 hours.
Video content created by Farmer Michael delivered >164K views on social (no paid support). His satirical take on
#MakeWayDay sparked a lively debate as many viewers initially failed to realise that the comedian himself is paralysed
Best Consumer Public Relations Campaign
and confined to a wheelchair.
Best 750,000 people were €50k
More thanCampaign Or Under
reached organically through the #MakeWayDay social channels.
Cllr. Sean Lynch, Limerick, became the first Mayor to come out and support #MakeWayDay but he also agreed to
contact his fellow mayors and ask them to do the same. The Mayor of the Fingal, Cllr. Mary McCamley proposed
Fingal to take the lead as a disability friendly council by introducing an annual Make Way Day to remind motorists and
traders to keep their cars and street advertising out of the way.
Government attention was ignited and discussions for the establishment of a Make Way Day took place in the Seanad
with a motion proposed by the Fine Gael senators
The Educational Company of Ireland confirmed and requested campaign imagery that they were including
#MakeWayDay as a case study in 2018 CSPE books for Junior Cert students.
The campaign caught public attention on social, outside of Ireland – there were definite views as well as support for
the campaign being rolled out in Australia, US and the UK.
The European Disability Forum (EDF) followed up with the DFI expressing an interest to meet to discuss how the
campaign could be expanded across the EU.
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