Department of Commerce

THE PROBLEM

In the past 17 years, 29 people - including eight children - have been electrocuted in homes in Western Australia.

Twenty-three of these deaths could have been prevented if Residual Current Devices (RCDs) had been fitted to the power and lighting circuits.

While it is a requirement for all homes built after 2000 to have two RCDs, many older homes do not.

Our job was to:

Raise awareness of RCDs; and
Encourage all home owners to have RCDs installed.

THE SOLUTION

Electrical hazards are often hidden and can be difficult to identify, such as a small hole in an extension lead or a power board damaged internally.

While the temptation was there to highlight this fact, we didn’t want to create a “check your appliances” campaign. We had to get homeowners to install RCDs.

The key was to bring emotion into the equation and have homeowners consider the consequences of not installing RCDs. Electrocution is fatal. You don’t get a second chance. We needed to drive the message home that an RCD will give you – or someone you love – a second chance if there’s an electrical accident.

A fully integrated campaign was devised consisting of TV, radio, online and press.

THE RESULTS

Social Research company TNS was commissioned to undertake post-campaign research on behalf of the Department of Commerce’s EnergySafety division.

Homeowners were surveyed online, with a sample size of n=560.

The campaign was extremely successful, with research revealing the following:

76% of homeowners recalled seeing at least one of the TV commercials.
65% said the TV ads are “some of the best ads giving advice”.
70% believed the ads completely.
63% said they would definitely remember the ads.
79% of homeowners agree that the ads “would make me want to install an RCD”.

Only two weeks after the campaign ended, 42% of homeowners had undertaken an action ie installed an RCD, called for a quote, or checked to see if they had one.