BYU Police Force

Public Relations Campaign

Executive Summary
The aim of the public relations campaign for the BYU Police Force was to communicate to the student body that the risks associated with distracted driving outweigh the convenience. This campaign was made to promote safe driving habits and reduce the number of accidents associated with dangerous behaviors. Unless a long-term plan was implemented to fix the distracted driving problem in the BYU community, automobile accidents would have increased and there would be more fatalities in the BYU community. The main opportunity was to teach the key publics about the importance of safe driving through effective communication channels. Based on research, members of the BYU community frequently texted while driving. Because this was a formed habit, messages had to be carefully crafted. To reach a campus-wide platform, the campaign relied heavily on campus communication. Video testimonials of BYU students who had personally been effected by distracted driving accidents were posted on the university website and shown before university devotionals. A safe driving pledge was created for all students and faculty to sign. To promote the pledge, a campaign kick-off event was held where athletes and other well-known students publically signed the pledge. A substantial part of the campaign budget was allocated to events and social media development as well as advertisements such as campus-signage. Potential news stories were also pitched to campus newspapers and publications, like the Alumni Magazine. Media monitoring through different services and surveys sent out to members of the BYU Community were used as a method to evaluate the campaigns success.