Wednesday, November 4, 2009

VA: Narrowing Brainstorm







As of right now I am having the most trouble in finding the form of these messages. I know that a poster isn't going to reach my audience so I am thinking that it has to be something that is handed to them, either 2-d or 3-d? One thought was to hand out free bottles of water with a label made with one of the above messages. But this could get rather expensive. I was having a hard time of thinking of something short and snappy for a message, so any suggestions would be very much appreciated!



4 comments:

Ian Tirone said...

I like all the ideas behind these messages. You might be careful about (only testing will tell you this) using the language of the people your are talking to (wasted, smashed) because it might actually turn people off. I say this because your message is coming to them from what they'll perceive to be a company, and so they'll think they are being sold something, and ignore the message possibly. Kind of like if a police officer tries to use slang with a street thug, the thug knows officers don't talk like that so it comes off as disrespectful. People know companies don't talk like that unless they have an angle, which you do, but don't let them know that.

As far as what to put them on, I like the bottled water idea. you only would need to mock up a few for your design ignites change proposal so i wouldn't worry about cost in that manner, if you are awarded their grant you won't have to worry about cost at all.

Are you looking for people to come in contact with these while at the bar, or pre going to the bar? The messages all seem to be pre bar to me, so where do party people go when not at a bar? Are they college students? What kinds of things do they come in contact with on their campus that they need? The message could be on the napkins in their cafeteria. Or something like that.

Good ideas Ryan, I like that you haven't yet been satisfied with a solution and have pushed yourself into an weird but good place.

alicia rosas said...

I definitely think giving people incentives to be the designated driver seems like a good idea, but I can see how condensing the messages you have is a little tricky. I would keep in mind the main things you need to have on there, which would be the cause and the effect. Be a designated driver, receive benefit. A quick, snappy message can be a way to lead them into something else that could maybe inform them further: a poster in the liquor store listing some of the "rewards", a website they can go to to learn more/redeem their prize, and this sort of system can be extended into the bar environment if that's what your plan was.

I guess thinking ahead for the whole system: how does the action of them being a drunk driver get verified? If it's at the bar, maybe there needs to be another item designed that rewards them for their good deed. That could probably be something as simple as a ticket to their chosen prize.

Even though I don't know how likely it is that you'd get all these venues to cooperate, I like the idea of the rewards being based on events that would most likely be changing throughout the year (concerts, maybe sports games, things like that?) I think that way the benefits seems limitless, and not just a one time thing.

Keep on fighting, Ryan!

jessica lyew-ayee said...

The Bribing with incentive ideas are have a good chance of getting people to participate, It's used as a marketing tactic all the time and it's effective.
What I found that was a little awkward was the language you've used, it sounds very "pitchman" like which seemed a little impersonal and strange, but maybe that's what is needed so that people aren't scared off, i'm not sure.
I guess what I'm trying to say is to make it just a teeny little bit more personal, not preachy, but more friendly because the tone of the messages right now sound like an information commercial.
material rewards though pretty much always do work so i think that's a good idea.
Did you get feedback from people who know a lot about it for these new ideas? Or did you and someone giving you feedback from your previous artifacts help you develop these ideas?
anyways, neat idea!

Cassie said...

I like this direction simple marketing idea to get people interested in becoming the dd. I'm really interested to see what kinds of design artifacts you come up with. How the bars are going to keep track of the dd's and how they are going to give out the prizes. Could there be a system to reward bars for the most dd's? So as to encourage them into making sure that people are actually doing this activity? I think that could be interesting because without the bars support and regulation in these things it may not be successful.