GDC Marketing & Ideation conducted qualitative research in the form of focus groups in March of 2015 to identify the source of this apparent contradiction. When prompted through both unaided and aided questions, the groups confirmed that drivers have a particular blind spot for their own dangerous driving behaviors. They tend to believe they are good drivers and don’t engage in dangerous behaviors, even when specifically asked if they follow too closely, speed in an unsafe manner, or pass trucks in a dangerous manner. However, when asked if they’ve ridden in a car in the last month with someone who engaged in unsafe behaviors, all the participants stated they had. So ultimately, everyone believes they are safe drivers, but when they are passengers, they all noticed unsafe behaviors from the drivers. In short, it’s easier to spot unsafe driving behaviors in others, rather than in one’s self.

In order to increase awareness of dangerous driving behaviors, GDC Marketing & Ideation built the Texas Road Watchers Experience, a mobile interactive experience that takes TxDOT’s Be Safe. Drive Smart. campaign on the road and into the communities with the highest propensity for crashes and fatalities. Fueled by the qualitative research insights, the Texas Road Watchers Experience literally puts our audience in the passenger’s seat to identify unsafe driving behaviors. The goal is to tap into gamification to attract a young driving audience to actively identify the frighteningly common behaviors that lead to the most collisions, injuries and fatalities on Texas roads.

Extensive research has been conducted on the impact of gamification and its ability to engage individuals to satisfy their desire for competition and achievement. This approach is so effective, that a recent Gartner report states that more than 70% of Global 2000 organizations will use gamification to attract younger audiences in the near future1. Another recent study demonstrates that “78% of Millennials are more inclined to become part of a brand [or message] if they have face-to-face interaction with it2.” Armed with this data, GDC took the Texas Road Watchers Experience on the road to create face-to-face interactions fuled by gamification.