Victoria is one of the most fire-prone areas in the world and bushfires and grassfires are a part of life. Quantum has worked as a trusted partner to the Victorian Government in the development, refinement and evaluation of the Victorian Fire Season campaigns since Black Saturday in 2009; campaigns which encourage all Victorians to take positive behavioural actions in planning for and responding to fire.
Getting into the minds of people living in high-risk fire areas
Ahead of a refresh of the creative approach, Quantum undertook formative research with people living in high-risk fire areas: visiting their homes, seeing the unique challenges they face, and exploring their attitudes and behaviours around planning for fire. We also carried out an extensive literature review of studies relating to bushfires and natural hazards from around the world. These insights were used to brief creative agencies in forming communications that would inspire action.
Campaign testing and optimisation
Quantum tested various potential campaign directions, to identify which creative elements worked best to deliver cut-though and message take-out. Further focus groups were used to refine the chosen campaign, helping to shape the ‘How well do you know fire’ campaign.
Behaviour change frameworks help us understand the barriers to bushfire preparation
Utilising behavioural models, which recognise that multiple influences are required for behaviour change to occur, we designed a campaign evaluation approach that not only measures the effectiveness of the campaign, but identifies opportunities to leverage and strengthen the campaign in future years.
Campaign evaluation and tracking to demonstrate effectiveness
Since 2014, Quantum has undertaken three waves of campaign evaluation per season (Benchmark, mid-season, and post-season), to establish campaign reach and message recall, as well as identifying the behaviours influenced by seeing the campaign. This has helped demonstrate the campaign’s effectiveness in driving positive behaviour change in preparation and planning for fires.
