2012 Gold Effie Winner
“CONVINCING YOUTH NOT TO TEXT”
Category: GoodWords- Brands
Brand/Client: AT&T
Lead Agency: BBDO New York
Contributing Agencies: Fleishman-Hillard
Strategic Challenge
A serious problem that wasn’t being taken seriously
One simple text message…
More dangerous to read or respond to when driving than driving while intoxicated 1; all it takes to
effectively increase your risk of crashing 23-fold2; the needless cause of death for 16,000 individuals
between 2002 and 2007.3
Yet in 2009, an estimated 26% of the population was texting while driving.4
While drunk driving was both socially and legally unacceptable, texting was still in its formative years with
respect to laws, opinion, and education. And the problem was only predicted to get worse as the
1
2
3
4
Car and Driver, “Texting While Driving: How Dangerous Is It?,” June 2009.
The New York Times, “In Study, Texting Lifts Crash Risk by Large Margin,” July 27, 2009.
Los Angeles Times, “Researchers Calculate the Death Toll from Texting While Driving,” September 24, 2009.
The New York Times, “Driving While Texting Remains Popular—and Dangerous,” May 20, 2009.
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prevalence of text messaging as a natural, everyday method of communicating grew exponentially. For
example, in 2009, 473 billion texts were sent across the country on AT&T networks alone. By 2010, it was
647 billion. And in 2011, AT&T’s customers are predicted to send 854 billion texts, nearly double that of
2009.5
It was time for AT&T to take a stand.
Avoiding the habit
The problem was particularly bad amongst youth, a generation for whom texting is a principal and
preferred mode of communication6. For them, texting is independence, social lubricant, an enabler. It
plays a crucial role in helping them do what youth have always done: flirt, boast, gossip,
tease, hang out, confess. Not having their phones within reach or turning them off, is tantamount to not
breathing. So much so that when they receive a text, they automatically and instinctively reach for their
mobile for a fast, instantaneous response.
“I’d rather give up, like, a kidney than my phone.” –Phillippa, 167
Thus, it was no surprise that 60% of youth reported texting while driving. 8 Eleven were dying in car
crashes every day – 22% of which were the result of distracted driving, a proportion higher than that of
any other age group.9
The Opportunity: Create a new generation that didn’t want to text and drive. Rather than trying to
break a bad habit, we’d tackle the urge to respond or read a text message while driving in their formative
years – before the tendency had the chance to develop at all.
Our Target: Youth 16–24 years old, just beginning to drive. Their behavior and habits behind the wheel
are yet to fully develop.
Objectives
We had to avoid becoming just another tally on youths’ “don’t do” list: don’t drink and drive, don’t drive
recklessly, don’t do drugs, don’t smoke, don’t have unprotected sex, don’t suntan, don’t cyber bully, don’t
pirate…
Texting in this context was not the playful or social kind they were so familiar with. Our target had to see
texting for the very serious, lethal act it could be behind the wheel:
1. MAKE IT PUBLIC
Make the dangers of texting while driving a
reality youth couldn’t ignore
5
6
7
8
9
2. MAKE YOUTH COMMIT
Ensure youth actively
choose not to text while driving
3. MAKE IT SPREAD
Ensure a climate of discomfort around the
issue continues to build in the community
PR Agency, “AT&T ‘It Can Wait’ Campaign Update,” August 18, 2011.
Pew Internet and American Life Project, “Teens and Mobile Phones,” April 20, 2010.
Ibid.
Vlingo and Toluna, “2010 Texting While Driving in America Report,” September 2010.
NHTSA, “Distracted Driving 2009,” September 2010.
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Tel: 212-687-3280 Fax: 212-557-9242
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2012: The information available through effie.org is the property of the Effie Awards and is protected by copyright and other intellectual
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reproduce, retransmit, distribute, sell, publicly display, publish or broadcast the information to anyone without the prior written consent of
the Effie Awards.
Insight
Interrogating the cause, not just the consequence
Telling them not to do it wouldn’t be enough. Our main competitor had already done so with their
“Please don’t text and drive” messages, and AAA was using blunt and bloody scare tactics with its “You
drive, you text, you die” campaign. Nevertheless, texting behind the wheel appeared to be a growing
problem: "Teens continue to drive distracted even when they recognize the dangers.”10
We needed to approach the topic in a less parental and more relatable way that youth simply couldn’t
dismiss or argue with.
When speaking with youth, they were casual, talkative and even laughing as they exchanged stories
around their “safe and manageable” texting-while-driving skills. But when reading out the most recent
text they had sent or received, we asked, “Are any of those texts worthy dying for?” Every time, the
room turned cold and brutally silent.
INSIGHT:
Most of the texts youth send are trivial, hence not worth dying for.
"They're about meeting up – Where are you? See you in 10. That kind of thing…an awful lot of flirting
goes on, of course.
Or it's, ‘OMG, what's biology homework?' And, 'I'm babysitting and I'm SOOOO bored.'" –Phillipa, 16
years old11
STRATEGY:
Ground the life-ruining consequences of texting while driving in the knowingly trivial nature of the many
texts youth receive and send every day.
Make it about the text as much as the tragedy.
The Big Idea
Is the last text message you sent or received worth ruining your life or someone else’s?
10
11
USA Today, “Most Teens Still Driving While Distracted,” August 8, 2010.
The Guardian, “Teenagers and Technology: ‘I’d rather give up my kidney than my phone,” July 15, 2010.
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Bringing the Idea to Life
CREATIVE IDEA:
1. MAKE IT PUBLIC
 On December 27, 2010, a holiday period when driving traffic and road hazards are at their worst, and
loved ones and “arriving safely” are top-of-mind, we launched with a 10-minute documentary titled
“The Last Text” featuring real people and their stories of texting and driving crashes
 Seed the documentary through AT&T’s YouTube channel, Facebook page, Twitter feed, and landing
page – att.com/txtingcanwait
 Support with PR releases, TV, radio, digital, and print campaigns featuring actual “last texts”
 Enlist “Melrose Place” cast members to discuss the issue as it related to a storyline in a short PSA after
an episode
2. MAKE THEM COMMIT
 Encourage youth to “pledge” to not text while driving on our Facebook page or AT&T landing page
3. MAKE IT SPREAD
 Distribute “The Last Text” DVD and make it available and easy to download through our sitelet, to
family and youth safety organizations, schools, drivers education classes, state police agencies, and
public health organizations
Communications Touch Points
TV
Spots
Branded Content
Sponsorship
Product placement
Radio
Spots
Merchandising
Program/content
Print
Trade/Professional
Newspaper
Consumer Magazine
Print partnership
Direct
Mail
Email
PR
Events
Trade Shows
Sponsorship
Retail Experience
Packaging
Product Design
Cinema
Interactive
Display Ads
Web site
Viral video
Video skins/bugs
Social Networking sites
Podcasts
Gaming
Mobile Phone
Other_____________
OOH
Airport
Transit
Billboard
Place Based
Other_____________
POP
In-Store Video
In-Store Merchandizing
Sales Promotion
Retailtainment
Guerrilla
Street Teams
Tagging
Wraps
Buzz Marketing
Ambient Media
Sampling/Trial
Consumer Involvement
WOM
Consumer Generated
Viral
Other ____________
Other TiVo Gol
Effie® Awards
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Tel: 212-687-3280 Fax: 212-557-9242
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2012: The information available through effie.org is the property of the Effie Awards and is protected by copyright and other intellectual
property laws. This brief may be displayed, reformatted and printed for your personal use only. By using this site, you agree not to
reproduce, retransmit, distribute, sell, publicly display, publish or broadcast the information to anyone without the prior written consent of
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Media Expenditures
Sept 2010 – Aug 2011
YEAR PRIOR: Sept 2009 – Aug 2010
Not Applicable
☐Under $500 thousand
☐$10 - 20 million
☐$500 - 999 thousand
☐$20 - 40 million
☐Under $500 thousand
☐$10 - 20 million
☐$1 - 2 million
☐$40 – 60 million
☐$500 - 999 thousand
☐$20 - 40 million
$2 - 5 million
☐$60 – 80 million
☐$1 - 2 million
☐$40 – 60 million
☐$80 million and over
☐$2 - 5 million
☐$60 – 80 million
☐$5– - 10 million
☐$80 million and over
☐$5 - 10 million
Additional Marketing Components:
Integrated messaging during 2010 NCAA Men’s Final Four, the AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas,
AT&T Center in San Antonio, and on fanzone.att.net and the AT&T Fan Zone Tour Truck (traveled to 16
college football games).
Owned Media Sponsorship
None
☐Pricing Changes
☐Couponing
☐Leveraging Distribution
☐Other (Please Explain)
Reach
National
Results
How do you know it worked?
OBJECTIVE 1: MAKE IT PUBLIC Make the dangers of texting while driving a reality youth couldn’t
ignore

The campaign garnered a seven-minute unpaid media special on CNN, a five-minute earned media
special on Good Morning America, and the documentary was incorporated in its entirety in another
earned 30-minute segment by CBS affiliate, KTHV. By January 2, 2011 (just a week after the
campaign launch), all four broadcast networks had run coverage of the campaign, totaling more than
200 in-markets across the country. More than a dozen Univision stations also ran the story, with
programming including Despierta America! (equivalent to Good Morning America) and Noticiero
Univision: Ultima Hora (equivalent to the nightly news).
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Tel: 212-687-3280 Fax: 212-557-9242
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

It was also covered by thousands of publications such as the New York Times, Mashable, USA Today,
and even the White House blog; “I’ve tweeted out this whole documentary. I encourage every person
to sit down with their kids and themselves as well and watch the 10 minutes .”— CNN Correspondent
One day following its launch, “The Last Text” had garnered 100,000 views on YouTube. In three
weeks, it surpassed one million views. And by August 18, 2011, it had reached 2.483m views on
YouTube.12 By way of comparison, less than one-half of a percent of all videos, not just branded
videos, on YouTube reach over one million views. 13
The documentary was also embedded in nearly three-fourths of all online media coverage.14

In total, this equated to 12.6m earned media impressions overall.15

As of August 18, 2011, www.att.com/txtngcanwait received 615,880+ unique visitors and 700,402+
total visitors.16

OBJECTIVE 2: MAKE THEM COMMIT Ensure youth choose not to participate in such stupid, unthinkable
behavior.


To date, over 70,000 people have pledged to not text while driving on our Facebook page and website
and thousands more pledges were made at school and college viewing days across the country at, for
example, Utah State University, Bridgewater Regional High School (NJ), Woburn Memorial High School
(MA), and St. Cecilia Academy (TN).17
The YouTube documentary received 4,830 likes with 2,834 comments and 4,609 'favorites'.18
Example YouTube responses:
Example Facebook responses:
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
PR Agency, “AT&T ‘It Can Wait’ Campaign Update,” August 18, 2011.
Business Insider, “Half of YouTube Videos Get Fewer than 500 Views,” May 20, 2009.
PR Agency, “AT&T ‘It Can Wait’ Campaign Update,” August 18, 2011.
Media Agency, 2011.
PR Agency, “AT&T ‘It Can Wait’ Campaign Update,” August 18, 2011.
Ibid.
YouTube Insights, 2011.
Effie® Awards
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Tel: 212-687-3280 Fax: 212-557-9242
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2012: The information available through effie.org is the property of the Effie Awards and is protected by copyright and other intellectual
property laws. This brief may be displayed, reformatted and printed for your personal use only. By using this site, you agree not to
reproduce, retransmit, distribute, sell, publicly display, publish or broadcast the information to anyone without the prior written consent of
the Effie Awards.
OBJECTIVE 3: MAKE IT SPREAD Ensure a climate of discomfort around the issue continues to build in
the community.

AT&T received thousands of requests for “The Last Text” documentary from schools, major
corporations, safety organizations, insurance companies, drivers education programs, state police
agencies, and many, many more across the country. From smaller states like Vermont and
Washington to bigger ones like Georgia and Illinois, it has played – and continues to play – an
important role in driver safety education. For example:
- 135 Chicago public schools have permanently integrated the documentary into their drivers
education curriculum and every DMV facility in the state shows the documentary to new drivers
- Nearly 400 high schools in North Carolina showed the documentary to their students
- It remains the most in-demand driver safety video in Washington state according to the Washington
Traffic Safety Commission19

After viewing the documentary, many were inspired to spread the word themselves. For example,
after viewing it, Jack Little from Xavier High School in Wisconsin created his own film where he
interviewed NASCAR drivers, an ESPN sports crew, and members of the Appleton Fire Department to
help spread the message at his school. His film “It Can Wait,” which ended with the 10-minute AT&T
“The Last Text” documentary, debuted at the high school’s morning prayer service. It generated a
strong reaction from students, bringing at least one teen that admitted to the dangerous habit to
tears.20
Dr. Raymond Georgen, Medical Director of Trauma at Theda Clark Medical Center, heard of Little’s
project and used it at the annual P.A.R.T.Y. at P.A.C. to educate another 4,000+ students before
they got their driver’s license on the ramifications of making poor choices.

“It’s powerful when we have individuals from the same peer group relating the story as well…” –Dr.
Georgen
Why are these results significant?
We created substantially more social noise than three other recent and comparable youthtargeted PSA campaigns
Relative to three recent national PSA campaigns (the Ad Council’s “Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving,” the
National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign’s “Above the Influence,” and the Ad Council’s “That’s Not Cool”
campaign on cell phone harassment), “It Can Wait” gained substantially more traction and response in
terms of buzz in the social media sphere.
 In the eight months following its launch, it was mentioned most often, by the most number of people,
and more frequently than any of the other three over the same time period following their launches.
19
20
AT&T, 2011.
Textkills.com, “Xavier High School student Jack Little focuses video project on ending texting while driving,” May 13, 2011.
Effie® Awards
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Tel: 212-687-3280 Fax: 212-557-9242
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2012: The information available through effie.org is the property of the Effie Awards and is protected by copyright and other intellectual
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reproduce, retransmit, distribute, sell, publicly display, publish or broadcast the information to anyone without the prior written consent of
the Effie Awards.

At its height, “It Can Wait” had over 2,220 mentions in a single day, almost five times the peak as the
next highest of the four.21
Cementing the foundations for real, continuous behavior change
AT&T recognized that, like drunk driving, behavior change around texting while driving would not be easy
and would take time; “It Can Wait” was the first essential step in combatting the issue and part of a larger
ongoing commitment to the cause. Not only did we tackle the issue by influencing a new generation of
drivers before they could adopt the habit, but also the next component of the campaign – a free mobile
app released on August 30, 2011 – was created by our PR agency to help reinforce this behavior and
eliminate any temptation to stray. Dubbed “AT&T DriveMode,” the app, when activated, automatically
sends a customizable reply to incoming texts notifying the sender that the user is driving and unable to
respond.
Anything else going on that might have helped drive results?
Increased awareness overall regarding the dangers of texting while driving
Between 2009 and 2010, awareness of dangers while texting and driving increased as more and more
states began instituting serious penalties for texting while driving22. That said, awareness of the
illegality or dangers of TWD didn’t seem to be enough alone to curtail the behavior. And our awareness
figures are based on impressions that link directly to AT&T’s campaign.
Not the first of its kind
As with any issue as pertinent as texting while driving, there were many different approaches from
many different parties including state government, insurance companies, automakers, and even our
main competitor to stop the behavior. But few invested as heavily in the originality of thinking or with
the application of dollars as AT&T. And ultimately it was many of these parties such as State Farm that
were reposting and/or requesting copies of “The Last Text” to use as educational tools themselves.
21
22
All data retrieved via Social Radar.
Vlingo and Toluna, “2010 Texting While Driving in America Report,” September 2010.
Effie® Awards
116 E. 27 St., 6th Floor, New York, NY 10016
Tel: 212-687-3280 Fax: 212-557-9242
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2012: The information available through effie.org is the property of the Effie Awards and is protected by copyright and other intellectual
property laws. This brief may be displayed, reformatted and printed for your personal use only. By using this site, you agree not to
reproduce, retransmit, distribute, sell, publicly display, publish or broadcast the information to anyone without the prior written consent of
the Effie Awards.