The Campaign

Young Australian's don't drink. They get shitfaced. Getting blind drunk is a national pastime and a rite of passage. Every tactic has failed to curb the epidemic. Mostly because youth are notoriously unreceptive to advertising on the topic, and the expected scare campaigns are completely ineffective. So we did the opposite and encouraged them to drink. Properly. Which means drinking in a classy, sophisticated way that reframes moderation as a cool thing to do. And so HOW TO DRINK PROPERLY was born. The campaign was designed to spark public debate in a surprising and credible way about youth moderation - speaking in their language and on their level to ultimately change the way they think about drinking. Every touch point of this controversial yet educational campaign was designed to encourage talkability, sharing and public debate. The relatable, profanity-packed content was seeded with influencers, and quickly gained the attention of media outlets; stimulating conversations about moderation. Instead of tuning out, our target welcomed the campaign and endorsed it -liking, sharing, tagging and promoting the message for us. Mainstream media followed. As a result, we generated 43million+ earned media impressions, incited 12,000+ conversations on social media, achieved engagement 511% above the alcohol industry average and secured $1.43million in earned media value. Our campaign relied heavily on PR to receive the attention and 'push' that only mass media could generate. Our unexpected approach to the problem allowed us to get a moderation message, and the words 'fuck', on TV with a limited budget.

The Brief

DrinkWise, an industry-funded organisation promoting a healthier drinking culture, sought to tackle this problem through an integrated Social Marketing campaign. The goal was to get moderation on the public agenda and talked about in a format that youth would accept, endorse, ultimately own and start their own conversations about. The PR-leaning campaign was required to change the focus around youth behaviour with alcohol, but also provide the needed 'push' that mass media could provide for a limited budget. This meant finding a way to do the impossible – make moderation cool, get the media talking and most importantly the youth themselves.

Results

We got youth moderation debated across Australia on national TV, radio, press, social and online channels within a week. We generated 58.7million media impressions, 75% of which were earned and reached 90% of all Australian 18–24 year olds via Facebook. We incited 12,000+ social media conversations with 87% positive sentiment and got 18-24yr olds to, praise, endorse and defend our message for us. They took ownership of the message, spreading it amongst friends with 9,272 'tagging' their friends that could use the 'classy' advice and 29, 349 sharing it. Having generated 43million earned media impressions with an earned media value of $1.43million, we reached our goal of getting a credible, youth-supported message about moderation into public view. Our message continues to grow and engage at record levels, making it the most influential anti-drinking campaign in Australia to date. How To Drink Properly, effectively stopping a nation from getting shitfaced.

Execution

HOW TO DRINK PROPERLY was launched based off this idea in February 2014 with a sophisticated series of animated web-films. They introduced a suave, aspirational figurehead that bestowed cheeky words of wisdom upon amateur drinkers - instructing about two ways to drink: the 'proper' way, or the embarrassing way. Initial press releases and social seeding helped drive attention to the film content, and was designed to incite conversation around our approach. The tone of our character, championing moderation as 'the realm of drinking excellence', or relaying how getting 'fuckeyed' can damage your reputation, was designed to speak the language of our target, but importantly also draw media attention to the controversial tone. All campaign touch points of the execution, being outdoor, digital, and social networks, were designed to be shared, commented on, and discussed amongst peers and public – all helping to start the conversation and get 'proper drinking' talked about.

The Situation

Australian youth have a drinking problem. Every weekend, droves of 18 – 24 year olds descend on bars, pubs and clubs, drinking upwards of 7 drinks per session. Such high-risk 'binging' behaviour has been linked to violence, negative health impacts, and social isolation. Despite efforts to 'shock' Australian youth by showing extreme consequences or locking them out of venues, binge drinking showed no signs of slowing down. In fact, it was going up. A new perspective on moderation was needed to disrupt this entrenched culture of excess, get youth to start thinking about drinking responsibly and make it aspirational.

The Strategy

We knew telling the 90% of 18–24 year olds who drank alcohol to stop wouldn't work. So our strategy centred on finding a way to tell them to drink responsibly by reminding them they can still drink. They knew the difference between 'responsible' and 'irresponsible' drinking. On one hand you're having a good time, on the other you're vomiting on your lap or transforming into a needy emotional wreck, damaging your social standing. But today, being the 'responsible' drinker simply isn't cool. Our strategy was to put a positive spin on moderation as a 'classy' behaviour. By educating youth about a 'proper' way to drink that helped them appear like the mature adults they aspired to be, they would be more likely to listen. Our PR angle was to tread this credible yet controversial line to raise eyebrows, spark public debate, and give our message the push it needed.