Safer Streets phone-kiosk poster on a wet Darlington street at night, reading If you think a short skirt means you can stare... You're on your own, mate!

Public sector and local authority

How do you reach the men who need to hear a safety message, and no one else?

Durham Constabulary and Darlington Borough Council used Home Office Safer Streets Fund money to tackle violence and intimidation against women and girls in Darlington town centre, after a "Call It Out" survey found many women felt unsafe there. Route built a campaign of out-of-home and digital channels, targeted precisely to the Darlington Local Authority area, that spoke to men in the plain language of a best mate calling out bad behaviour.

50% to 56%Share of site visits from organic social, rising through December

90%+Of site visitors were new users during the campaign

The brief

Durham Constabulary and Darlington Borough Council were awarded Home Office Safer Streets Fund money to make Darlington town centre safer for women and girls, after a "Call It Out" survey found most respondents felt unsafe in the town centre. The work needed sensitive handling, so the client brought together the police, the Police and Crime Commissioner's Office, the council and support services for women and girls, then commissioned us to reach the audience whose behaviour needed to change, men and boys.

What we planned

Research shared across the campaign team showed the behaviour was driven by power, with men asserting power over the women they targeted and trying to achieve greater status within their own friendship group. That insight shaped the creative. Three executions, Creeping, Cracking On and Cheeky Feel, all spoke in the blunt language of a best mate calling out his friend, placed at teachable moments when men were most likely to be on a night out together. We chose each channel for its ability to target the Darlington Local Authority area precisely, with out-of-home for fast awareness and digital for frequency. Initially, the audience plan used detailed segments by gender and other characteristics. Because the Darlington audience was too small for such specific targeting, we broadened the segments, while still tailoring age ranges to each platform.

How it ran

The campaign ran for twelve weeks, September to December 2022, across roadside six-sheets, digital 48-sheets, phone kiosks, cinema and shopping-centre digital screens along with a mobile digital ad van inside the Darlington Local Authority area. We also scheduled programmatic display and paid social on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, each targeting a different age band of men, from an older audience on Facebook to the youngest group on Snapchat. We reported on a phased cadence throughout, with an interim update, two further updates and a full analysis once the campaign closed, working alongside Gardiner Richardson and Bloom Digital.

What the reporting showed

Every out-of-home format delivered at or above plan. Organic social sharing extended the paid activity further, accounting for around half of all site visits, rising to 56% in December, with more than 90% of visitors being new users, evidence that the message travelled beyond the audience we paid to reach. This effect peaked on 1 December, when organic engagement reached its highest point, and daily new users rose to 20% above the campaign average.

Campaign results

Safer Streets campaign results, September to December 2022
Measure	Result
Share of site visits from organic social	50%, rising to 56% in December
New users among site visitors	More than 90%

Source: Durham Constabulary and Darlington Borough Council Safer Streets Post Campaign Analysis, September to December 2022; media owner proof-of-play data.