Reflection & Critical Analysis: WalkWaze – My IMC Final Project
- Kelly Lynn Hannigan
- Sep 5, 2020
- 2 min read
For my Integrated Marketing Communications final project, I was tasked with creating a complete IMC plan for a new service or app not currently on the market. I developed WalkWaze—a pedestrian-focused extension of Waze designed to help users identify the safest walking routes using real-time GPS data and crime statistics.
Why WalkWaze
I was drawn to this idea because traditional navigation apps optimize for speed, not safety. With rising concerns around pedestrian crime—especially for women—there’s a clear gap in tools that help people walk home more confidently. WalkWaze aimed to fill this gap by filtering routes based on violent crime data and favoring well-lit, high-traffic streets.
My Strategic Approach
I approached the project the same way I would a real client campaign:
Launch City: I selected Orlando due to its accessible crime data, active downtown area, and a demographic that closely matched my target audience of women ages 20–50.
Positioning: WalkWaze would build on Waze’s trusted brand identity, adopting a complementary slogan—Arriving Safely, Together—to emphasize community and protection.
IMC Plan: I designed a multi-channel mix of paid social, billboards, bus shelter ads, and in-app promotions. These placements were intentional: I wanted potential users to encounter the brand both online and while physically moving through the city.
Success Metrics: A three-month evaluation period allowed space to measure downloads, refine targeting, and assess whether the campaign effectively reached and resonated with the intended audience.
Critical Reflection: The Data Problem
Looking back, one of the biggest flaws in the concept was the assumption that crime data is neutral. At the time, I relied on reported incidents of robbery, homicide, and sexual assault to determine “unsafe” streets. What I didn’t fully consider was how policing patterns, historical biases, and over-reported neighborhoods could distort the data.
This means WalkWaze could unintentionally:
over-label certain neighborhoods as dangerous
reinforce harmful stereotypes
route people away from marginalized communities based on skewed reporting rather than true risk
Additionally, crime data alone doesn’t account for other important safety signals—lighting, foot traffic, sidewalk quality, events, or real-time anomalies.
How I Would Improve the Concept Now
If I revisited WalkWaze today, I would build a more ethical and nuanced model, including:
environmental and infrastructure data (lighting, visibility, sidewalk density)
user-submitted, real-time safety alerts
transparency around how route scores are generated
adjustable user preferences (safest, most populated, quickest, best-lit)
This approach would help WalkWaze protect users without unintentionally reinforcing structural biases.
What the Project Taught Me
This assignment was more than a marketing exercise—it taught me how deeply ethics and data intersect with communication strategy. Designing WalkWaze pushed me to think about the responsibility marketers and product teams have when creating tools that influence movement, perception, and public trust.
It also reminded me that even the most well-intentioned solutions require critical examination, especially when they intersect with safety, community, and lived experience.
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