Royal Lifesaving WA launches ‘Passwords with a Purpose’ campaign via 303 MullenLowe, Perth

303 MullenLowe, Perth has changed the WIFI passwords in public pools across WA to encourage poolside parents to watch their children around water.

According to WA Lifeguards, there is a growing trend of parents watching their smartphones instead of their children. To add to this problem, more and more swimming centres now offer free WIFI to their guests. So, Royal Lifesaving WA gave 303 MullenLowe the challenge of encouraging families to refocus their attention away from their phones and back to their children’s safety.

The agency’s solution was to simply change the WIFI passwords to safety messages from the kids themselves. Passwords such as ‘p00L_123’, became messages such as: “you_are_my_lifeguard”.

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Says Richard Berney, ECD, 303 MullenLowe, Perth: “Drowning is the number one cause of preventable death for children under five in Western Australia. By using WIFI passwords as the medium, we’ll turn a distraction into a potentially lifesaving instruction.”

Last year almost half of injuries recorded at public swimming pool facilities in Western Australia involved children under 14 years of age.

Says Lauren Nimmo, senior manager health promotion and research at the Royal Life Saving Society WA: “It only takes seconds for a child to drown, and any distraction – even if you’re only checking your mobile phone for a moment – places them at risk. This campaign will help to educate parents, so they are more aware of their supervision responsibilities while visiting public pools.”

The Watch Around Water program has been promoting safe supervision messages at public swimming pools throughout Western Australia for over a decade.

This campaign will run at 126 community swimming pools in Western Australia throughout summer.

Client: Royal Lifesaving WA

Photographer: Elizabeth Looker