SITUATION
Eight out of ten children in child safety seats are not buckled in properly. Even with thousands of technicians available nationwide to inspect child safety seats, studies show that most parents don't know how important it is to have their children's safety seats checked or how to find an inspection location.

To address this need, in 2001, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched a national Web-based clearinghouse of all child safety seat inspection resources. However, NHTSA did not have the means to brand and promote this valuable resource. As a result, the majority of parents were still unaware that such a resource existed.

APPROACH
Building on the success of Fit for a Kid, DaimlerChrysler's free and permanent child safety seat inspection service, GMMB helped DaimlerChrysler design SEATCHECK, a national campaign that helps drive parents to NHTSA's online resource while increasing public awareness about the need for child safety seat inspections. SEATCHECK consists of a Web site, www.seatcheck.org, and toll-free hotline, 1-866-SEAT-CHECK, that directly connects parents to NHTSA's online listing of child safety seat inspection resources.

GMMB developed an integrated communications campaign directly targeted to parents with children eight years old and younger. Elements include:

• National Launch: GMMB helped DaimlerChrysler launch the program with a media event in February 2002 and again in August 2002 with the introduction of LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren), a federally mandated child passenger safety system developed by NHTSA. Media highlights included national morning show coverage including NBC's Today, ABC's Good Morning America, CBS's Early Show, and CNN's American Morning with Paula Zahn.
  
  
• Targeted Public Awareness Campaign: GMMB has developed all SEATCHECK promotions, including:
• Print advertising in all major parenting publications
  
  
• Aggressive earned media outreach to national outlets and outlets in top media markets nationwide
  
  
• Collateral material for distribution to pediatricians and registered daycare providers in all Fit for a Kid and SEATCHECK markets
  
  
• Radio public service announcements sponsored by the National Safety Council
  
  
• Design and distribution of a lesson plan to Lamaze™ childbirth educators
  
  
• Point-of-purchase signage in car seat aisles at Babies 'R' Us and Toys 'R' Us stores nationwide
  
  
• Inserts in all new car seats manufactured by Graco Children's Products, Inc. (Century and Graco brands), the market leader in child safety seat sales
  
  
• Dealer "in-store" signage and customer take-away collateral in sales and service areas

RESULTS
While still in its infancy, SEATCHECK is already demonstrating impressive results, including:

• Nearly 4.2 million hits on the SEATCHECK Web site
  
  
• Over 30,000 calls to the SEATCHECK toll-free hotline
  
  
• The program has generated nearly 200 million positive media impressions for the Corporation since its inception