Respect Our City Safer Preston

As a Preston based agency, we were delighted to be given the chance to work with the Safer Preston Partnership to create a campaign to reduce anti-social behaviour such as swearing, spitting and littering and make the City a nicer place for people to work, shop and socialise.

The Brief

The campaign was commissioned by the Safer Preston Partnership, which comprises a wide range of local stakeholders including Lancashire Constabulary and Preston City Council.

The main aims of the campaign were to remind people of the types of behaviour that are considered unacceptable, to encourage people to take responsibility for themselves and their environment and to create a sense of pride and respect for the city.

The Concept

The messages had to be delivered in a direct, no-nonsense way, with a little added humour to attract attention.

To this end, A&P created a set of Rules ‘Round Town to remind people of their responsibilities, all tied together under the banner of ‘Respect our City’. Each of these ’rules’ was represented by an icon in a ‘prohibited’ road sign style. This generated an immediate visual impact and left even the most inebriated clubber in no doubt as to the meaning.

The Production

The campaign ran across various media, including bus-sides, lampposts, litter bins, posters in shops and stores and a leaflet drop in key locations around the University and City Centre.

For maximum effect, the campaign was split into day time and night time activity. The first of these was aimed at families, shoppers and business people, and focussed on anti-social behaviour such as dropping litter, dog fouling and graffiti, and avoided any images that might cause offence.


By contrast, the night time activity, which was aimed primarily at students and young people out in the city, deliberately included strong images, mixed with a sense of fun, to get people talking. The night time campaign included beer mats warning of the possible £80 penalty for anti-social behaviour and posters in bars and clubs.

The Result

The campaign achieved considerable media coverage including a lengthy spot on Granada Reports, plus coverage on BBC Northwest Tonight, Sky News, Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine Show and reports in a number of regional and national newspapers.

Safer Preston Features

Scroll left to right to view more Safer Preston featured images; click to view larger...