Iris delivers Network Rail track safety campaign

Independent integrated marketing group iris is set to launch a nationwide drive to address railway crime and safety issues.

The No Messin' programme for Network Rail, which targets children aged 9-16 years, includes work from three of the group's key agencies; iris Experience, iris PR and iris Digital.

No Messin' Live 2007 has been devised to encourage children to take up new activities, such as climbing, football, arts, crafts, DJing and dance, to combat the boredom that often leads to antisocial and dangerous behaviour.

Iris Experience will manage delivery of the events in 12 railway crime hot spots across the UK throughout July and August.

Iris PR will run a national PR campaign to promote the events across the UK and will implement a series of communications after the event to drive home the message behind No Messin' Live! 2007 and help sustain awareness of the issues.

Iris will also provide marketing support for No Messin' Live! 2007 delivering postcard, poster, bus shelter activity and scratch card collateral plus recruiting and deploying 'hit squads' to pre-promote the events in the local communities.

In addition iris has been responsible for setting up a number of high-profile partnerships with brands that match the No Messin' target audience, such as White Chalk Music, Pineapple, King Apparel, Tigi, SIN Cru and Toni and Guy.

Iris Digital will work with Network Rail to enhance and expand the current No Messin' website, adding content from and around the events, and encouraging kids to revisit the site.

Cameron Day, New Business Development Director at iris, commented: "Network Rail had identified 9-16 year olds as those most likely to cause trouble near to railway tracks, and it was the role of iris to develop the best way to communicate with that audience and to grab their attention.

"Since we house so many disciplines under one roof, iris was able to devise an inventive and thorough integrated campaign designed to reach young people, in order to protect them and those who their actions could affect." Ian Chapman, Network Rail's Railway Crime Education Manager, said: "The young people who play on the railway do so because they think they've got nothing else to do.

"We are committed to preventing pointless tragedies and so have developed the No Messin' campaign.

No Messin' Live! aims to show young people that there is a range of activities available to them, like sport, gaming and music, which - unlike playing on the railway - don't involve the risk of injury, disfigurement and death.

"The fact that these events are part of an ongoing project meant that we were really looking for an agency that could give us brand consistency across the relevant channels, and iris has operated as a one-stop shop in that respect; it will be fantastic to see some of their ideas materialised this summer".

Iris is an independent, integrated marketing agency working across all media and all disciplines.

Working with clients including Shell, Sony Ericsson, COI, adidas and Coca-Cola the agency is committed to 'Media Anything, Idea Everything' - a creative vision that encompasses iris' interpretation of integrated marketing.

Iris provides true integration through its key divisions iris Direct, iris Care, iris Female, iris PR and iris Experience.

Iris prides itself on two key abilities; seeing the potential and exposing mediocrity.

These two objectives have guided the agency's work since conception, combined with a concerted effort to be the best agency their clients have ever worked with, and the only agency that truly talented people want to work for.

Established in 1999 by Ian Millner and Stewart Shanley, the iris group has shown considerable development in the last seven years, employing 400 people and growing by at least 50% year on year.

It has been voted agency of the year by Marketing, Marketing Week, MCCA, ISP and is a Sunday Times Top 100 Fast track company with offices in London, Manchester, Singapore, New York, LA and New Delhi soon to be complemented by new offices in Munich and Miami.

Back to top