Reaching parents through a children's campaign? The ministry did it this way

"Before leaving, do the tire check!", a well-known campaign slogan that the Ministry of Infrastructure and Public Works frequently brings to the attention of motorists. With a cross-media campaign in which the Ministry used the entire family domain of DPG Media, these kid titles activated children to do the tire check together with their parents. The result? As many as 901 children participated with their parents in the winning campaign and completed the tire check. Are you curious how we managed to enthuse motorists? Then read on.

Reaching parents through a children's campaign? The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management did it this way

'A more beautiful Netherlands'

The Ministry of Infrastructure and Public Works is working to make the Netherlands more beautiful. A country in which we can move around sustainably and where you can get from A to B safely. That is why this Ministry is committed to having motorists check their tire pressure more actively. With the right tire pressure you can drive a lot more economically, cleaner and cheaper. That is nice for the wallet and for the climate. Various studies by, among others, Panel Insight (2020) have shown that children can play a major role in changing the behavior of their parents. So it was a logical match that the Ministry challenged DPG Media to think along to develop a campaign to reach and touch the target group. The campaign specifically targets elementary school children in the upper grades. The goal? Getting as many motorists as possible to do the tire check before leaving for their vacation destination, encouraged by their children. All for a more beautiful and cleaner Netherlands.

The Family Domain of DPG Media.

DPG Media's Family Domain reaches over 400,000 children between the ages of six and 12 both at home and at school. This is around 828,000 families*. That is almost half of all children in the Netherlands of this age. Together with the Ministry, we therefore focused on the family domain and chose a cross-media campaign around Kidsweek. Kidsweek reaches children between the ages of six and twelve and it is also a title that finds its way to the target group partly through schools. To increase the reach of the campaign we used the kid titles Zo Zit Dat, Donald Duck and Tina and chose to include Blink Uitgeverij's titles Wild van Freek and National Geographic Junior in the media plan. These titles are part of our partner network and ideally reach the right target groups for the Ministry's campaign.

*Sources: Total print runs, NPMM_DGM 2022I and NPDM 2022 + Kids Monitor 2023

High-profile win campaign

The concept of the campaign consisted of a contest with three questions about the benefits of checking tire pressure. These questions were easy for children and their parents to answer. We set up the fourth question, the bonus question, differently: 'Make sure you go to a tire pump nearby with your mom or dad and take a selfie (crazier = more fun) while you check the tire pressure of the car and top it up if necessary. Upload the selfie to Kidsweek's action page for a chance to win a Nintendo Switch.' In the end, we chose ten prize winners with the cutest and most original photo, with the number one winning the Nintendo Switch. The other nine winners received a magazine package from Donald Duck, Kidsweek and Zo Zit Dat. In the other kid titles involved, we chased the Kidsweek contest. We did this with creations we developed ourselves, advertorials (branded content) in the print magazines and advertising content on the online channels.

Involved parents

To also inform the children's parents about the winning campaign, we worked with the Ministry to create a supplemental media plan for the AutoWeek brand. There we deployed branded content through a print article in the weekly magazine and posted this article on AutoWeek.nl. In this article, parents read tips on the benefits of checking tire pressure focused on the questions from the children's contest. At the bottom of the article we devoted an entire paragraph to information about the campaign on Kidsweek .The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management was also a sponsor of AutoWeek's podcast, 'De Uitlaat' (The Exhaust), which we used to draw additional attention to the campaign.

Over 800 kids participating

This is the very first time DPG Media has used the entire family domain with all kid titles for a campaign, so there was no benchmark or test case yet. Kidsweek's campaign page was visited 15,571 times within the campaign period and as many as 828 children participated in the winning campaign. Of these, 456 children submitted a photo, meaning they actively checked tire pressure with their car-driving parents. With the commitment of the entire family domain and our partner network, the campaign was a hit.

Worth repeating

The Ministry was so pleased with the results that they deployed the campaign again in the fall, using the fall vacation as a hook and adapted illustrations appropriate to autumn and slippery roads. This time, 451 children actively participated in the winning campaign. The third campaign is now also live: again with the summer vacations as a hooking moment and again with a new and appropriate design.

Children as influencers

With the current results, we have proven that we have successfully brought the checking of tire pressure to the attention of Dutch motorists. The special thing is that we have activated the marketing target group, the motorists, by addressing and enthusing their children as the communication target group. Also, the campaign fully complies with the requirements of the Children and Youth Advertising Code. With this, we have achieved late