Responsible drinking campaign hits the spot

The Campaign for Smarter Drinking message has reached a large majority of irresponsible drinkers in the UK, according to a recent study.

An independent evaluation by Millward Brown found that more than 60% of people who drink to excess would re-consider their drinking habits and adopt at least one of the recommended measures as a result of the initiative.

The campaign, launched in September last year, is aimed at 18-34 year olds. It aimes to highlight the benefits of responsible drinking and offers practical advice such as drinking with food and reminders to drink water or soft drinks more often on a night out.

Retailers in the on- and off-trade delivered just under £24 million worth of advertising for the campaign, beating the original £20m pledge made at the beginning.

Pubs and bars used signs and drinks mats and off-trade retailers put up point of sale displays, all using the slogan “Why let good times go bad?”

The evaluation also found that after only four weeks roughly 30% of the target audience would have been exposed to the advertising.

On top of this half of the core audience would talk about responsible drinking with their friends, the biggest response for any consumer campaign in the UK.

Bruce Ray, director of the Campaign for Smarter Drinking, said: ”We’re delighted to see that the first phase has had such an impact in tackling irresponsible drinking. But this is just the start of an unprecedented campaign involving some of the biggest names in the alcohol industry.

“We are clear that in order to change culture we need to do more which is why this is a five year £100 million project. We’re looking forward to building on these results in 2010.”

Rupert Millar, 24.03.2010