Abstract
“Dumb Ways to Die, so many Dumb Ways to Die”—can you hear the song? It will be stuck in your head all day now! This case examines a world renowned viral campaign with an underlying message about “being safe around trains.” Metro Trains Melbourne chose a unique approach to connecting with train passengers, and this innovative campaign, created by McCann Agency, has reached millions of people worldwide. The humorous and fun message represents a completely different tactic to the often-used serious and/or fear-based messages adopted by social marketers aiming to improve rail safety. Despite the campaign’s success in regard to evaluative measures of the number of YouTube video views and app downloads, there is debate surrounding the translation of these measures into actual behavior change. This case study centers upon exploring the case from a social marketing program perspective, so, all aboard!
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179–211.
Berger, J. (2013). Contagious: Why things catch on. Later Printing Edition: Simon & Schuster.
Brownsell, A. (2013). Dumb Ways To Die: The story behind a global marketing phenomenon. Retrieved from http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/1187124/dumb-ways-die-story-behind-global-marketing-phenomenon/. Accessed September 13, 2016.
Cain, J. (2016). Finding the right vehicle(s) for your mission. Retrieved from http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/topic/donor_intent/finding_the_right_vehicles_for_your_mission/. Accessed September 22, 2016.
Caroll, J. (2016). What CEOs Can Learn from “Dumb Ways to Die”. Retrieved from http://www.callboxinc.com/strategy/dumb-ways-to-die-marketing/. Accessed September 20, 2016.
Chaffey, D., & Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2016). Digital marketing. Harlow: Pearson, Print.
Chan, D., & Mills, A. (2013) “Dumb Ways to Die”, The Australian Effie Awards Nomination Form—EFFIE Awards 2013, Entry No 95, to the Australian Association of National Advertisers and the Communications Council.
Commonwealth of Australia (2016). Let’s stop it at the start campaign. Retrieved from https://www.respect.gov.au/. Accessed September 13, 2016.
Cruz, D., & Fill, C. (2008). Evaluating viral marketing: Isolating the key criteria. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 26(7), 743–758.
Diaz, A. C. (2013a). How ‘Dumb Ways To Die’ won the internet, became the no. 1 campaign of the year. Retrieved from http://adage.com/article/special-report-the-awards-report/dumb-ways-die-dissected/245195/. Accessed September 13, 2016.
Diaz, A. C. (2013b). Smart lessons from ‘Dumb’ marketers. Retrieved from http://adage.com/article/the-awards-report-2013/smart-lessons-dumb-marketers/245213/. Accessed September 20, 2016.
Dumb Ways To Die website (2016). Retrieved from www.dumbwaystodie.com. Accessed September 13, 2016.
Egan, V. (2012). Dumb Ways to Die, smart ways to do viral. Retrieved from https://econsultancy.com/blog/11204-dumb-ways-to-die-smart-ways-to-do-viral. Accessed. September 13, 2016.
Foong, L. (2014). Interesting Infographics: How to make your content go viral. Retrieved from http://www.business2community.com/content-marketing/interesting-infographics-make-content-go-viral-0898700#P1dYHgMev7RKu7Q0.99. Accessed September 13, 2016.
Freedman, J. L., & Fraser, S. C. (1966). Compliance without pressure: The foot-in-the-door technique. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 4(2), 195–202.
Gelb, B. D., & Zinkhan, G. M. (1986). Humor and advertising effectiveness after repeated exposures to a radio commercial. Journal of Advertising, 15(2), 20–34.
Helm, S. (2000). Viral marketing: Establishing customer relationship by ‘word-of-mouse’. Electronic Markets, 10(3), 158–161.
Jefferson, A. (2017, June). Railway roulette. Herald-Sun, 2, 16, Australia.
Juvertson, S. (2000). What is viral marketing? Retrieved from http://dfj.com/news/article_25.shtml. Accessed September 15, 2016.
Katzev, R. D., & Johnson, T. R. (1983). A social-psychological analysis of residential electricity consumption: The impact of minimal justification techniques. Journal of Economic Psychology, 3(3–4), 267–284.
Kissane, D. (2015). Dumb ways to die and lessons for going viral. Retrieve from http://www.doz.com/media/dumb-ways-to-die. Accessed September 13, 2016.
Lake, C. (2009). 10 Ways to measure social media success. Retrieved from https://econsultancy.com/blog/3407-10-ways-to-measure-social-media-success/. Accessed September 13, 2016.
Lee, N. R., & Kotler, P. (2015). Social marketing: Influencing behaviors for good (5th ed.). Sage.
McCann (2016). McCann Australia. Available at www.mccann.com.au. Accessed 20 September, 2016.
Mendes, D. (2016). Head of Digital Ways to Die, Metro Trains, Email correspondence. 11 October 2016. Dumb Ways To Die (2016).
Mendes, D. (2018). Head of Brand and Marketing, Metro Trains, Email correspondence. 10 September, 2018.
Nicastro, D. (2013). 5 Barriers to successful digital marketing. Retrieved from http://www.cmswire.com/cms/customer-experience/5-barriers-to-successful-digital-marketing-023544.php. Accessed September 20, 2016.
NSW Government. (2013). Premier and cabinet: Behavioral insights unit. Retrieved from https://bi.dpc.nsw.gov.au/blog/case-study-series-pinkie-challenging-masculine-social-norms-on-nsw-roads-transport-for-nsw/. Accessed January 13, 2018.
Pallak, M. S., Cook, D. A., & Sullivan, J. J. (1980). Commitment and energy conservation. Applied Social Psychology Annual, 1, 235–253.
Peattie, S., & Peattie, K. (2003). Ready to fly solo? Reducing social marketing’s dependence on commercial marketing theory. Marketing Theory, 3, 365–384.
Priyanka, R. (2013). AIDA marketing communication model: Stimulating a purchase decision in the minds of the consumers through a linear progression of steps. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research in Social Management, 1, 37–44.
Quelch, J. A. (Ed.) (2016). Consumers, corporations, and public health: A case-based approach to sustainable business. Oxford University Press, ProQuest Ebook Central. https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.uow.edu.au/lib/uow/detail.action?docID=4310730.
Roper, P. (2014). Case study—Metro Trains’ dumb ways to die, the best of blobal digital marketing. Retrieved from http://www.best-marketing.eu/case-study-metro-trains-dumb-ways-to-die/. Accessed September 13, 2016.
Rothschild, M. (2018). NSMC showcase study, road crew. Retrieved from http://www.thensmc.com/resources/showcase/road-crew. Accessed January 13, 2018.
Ruehl, M. (2013). Smart ways to advertise: Lessons from dumb ways to die video. Retrieved from http://www.afr.com/business/media-and-marketing/smart-ways-to-advertise-lessons-from-the-dumb-ways-to-die-video-20130730-jyvtn. Accessed September 13, 2016.
Severn, J., Belch, G. E., & Belch, M. A. (1990). The effects of sexual and non-sexual advertising appeals and information level on cognitive processing and communication effectiveness. Journal of Advertising, 19(1), 14–22.
Turnbull, N., & Algie, J. (2015). A qualitative analysis of young drivers’ perceptions of driver distraction social marketing interventions. In World Social Marketing Conference, Sydney, Australia.
Ward, M. (2015). Has Dumb Ways To Die Been Effective? Retrieved from https://mumbrella.com.au/dumb-ways-die-stopped-dumb-behavior-around-trains-270751. Accessed September 13, 2016.
Resources and Websites
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Algie, J., Mead, N. (2019). Fun Ways to Engage with Rail Safety Through the Dumb Ways to Die Social Marketing Campaign. In: Basil, D., Diaz-Meneses, G., Basil, M. (eds) Social Marketing in Action. Springer Texts in Business and Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13020-6_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13020-6_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-13019-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-13020-6
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)