The Campaign

We showed Australians just how prevalent alcohol is in their music and in their culture by removing it. We teamed up with Austereo, Australia’s largest radio network. 5.5 million people tune in to Austereo for their music. Then we made their nine most popular stations go dry for July, censoring alcohol brand names and references from their broadcast music. For example, Oasis’ Champagne Supernova would have played like this: “Someday you will find me, cause beneath the landslide, and a <SOUND FX> supernova in the sky”

Creative Execution

The execution of the core idea was simple. On the 1st of July Triple M’s stations ‘went dry’ across Australian capital cities. A sound effect was used to replace alcohol references (and there are plenty) in song lyrics. For example, it was played over words like ‘drink’ and ‘liquor’ and brands like ‘Ciroc’ and ‘Patron’, when they came up in songs. This was supported by promotional pushes across Austereo’s Hit And Triple M networks and their 9 stations throughout July. These included weekend sponsorships, on-air discussions, social media posts, and a number of Austereo hosts taking part in Dry July.

24% Increase in donations raised per active participant Total donations of $3.6 million Reached 4.9 million Australians with $0 media spend 16,760 sign-ups

To promote Dry July, an initiative that asks people to give up alcohol for a month to raise money for cancer we used pop music – a medium that’s steeped in pro-alcohol messaging. DryTunes is an idea based in an insight about music, then executed through music, to create a moment of realisation that only music can.

With a deeply entrenched culture of heavy alcohol consumption, Australians tend to tune out messages suggesting they take a break. So instead of competing with popular music’s influence on culture, we used it. We integrated with the content our target demographic was seeking out. Dry July has a broad audience. While we were mainly focusing on 18 - 25’s, our partnership with Austereo allowed us to target a number of different, but equally important older demographics. We could speak to each segment individually with the music they love, whether that’s 80’s rock, or modern hits, based on the station they were listening to.