Officer Safety First Program from Laser Technology Inc. (LTI)
Brand Refresh / Integrated Marketing Campaign
Market research, brand strategy, logo development, website design, marketing campaign, print ads, posters, direct mail and social media messaging
Officer Safety First is the brainchild of a long-time client, Laser Technology (LTI). It is a joint effort between LTI and a group of nonprofit organizations committed to protecting the lives of police officers and other first responders. Nonprofits working in this area are historically underfunded. As a result, those they have committed to protect remain mostly unaware of these groups and their lifesaving efforts.
LTI wanted to help these organizations extend their reach. The company came up with the idea of creating a website that would aggregate useful safety information from these other various sites, which would give police officers and first responders a single starting point for finding safety information. Links to each of the participating nonprofits’ sites would allow visitors to Officer Safety First to dig deeper and find more detailed safety information.
LTI contacted Bianca e Nero for help in branding the Officer Safety First program, which included establishing a look and feel for the website, and getting the word out through a marketing campaign.
From the beginning, it was clear this wasn’t going to be the typical project. We wanted to gain as much information about the target audience as possible including why they weren’t doing everything possible to keep themselves safe on the road. Our research revealed three main reasons: saving time during pursuits, being stuck in the traditional ways of doing things and a simple lack of awareness about safer field tactics.
We saw a great opportunity to reach our market, but our campaign would need to be unexpected. This is a tough audience whose jobs are tough. They deal with real life in very real ways, so we chose an approach that embraced this. We stripped the messages down to their core thoughts so we could mirror how they communicate with each other—straightforward and no-nonsense.
The campaign tells them how easy it can be to stay safe while on the road, no special equipment or extensive training needed. In most cases, the solution simply requires a shift in the ways people use equipment that is already issued by their departments.
Each campaign element (magazine ads, posters, direct mail and social media post) features one simple and easy way our target can immediately be safer. The call to action drives them to the Officer Safety First website where they are introduced to the partner organizations and are encouraged to learn more about the work each is doing to create a culture of safety for police officers and first responders.
RESULTS:
Even with the campaign still in its infancy, LTI is pleased with the attention and traffic the efforts are generating for the program. The approach is also working well for the partner organizations who have reported an uptick in their own site views, much of which is redirect traffic from the Officer Safety First site.
