An unprecedented issue
COVID-19 has been difficult for everybody. The world around us has fundamentally changed, introducing new stresses into our lives which many of us are struggling to navigate. Among the worse ways Australians have reacted to these changes is the major uptake of drinking, with as many as 30% of Australians admitting to drinking alcohol daily (up from 6% in 2018).
Icon Agency was engaged by the Alcohol and Drug Foundation to lead a multi-staged integrated communications campaign that would help encourage Australians to be mindful of their drinking at home and engage in more positive, healthy behaviours.
It's about more than just you
The Alcohol and Drug Foundation (ADF) has a long history of trying to help Australians engage in more positive drinking and substance-use behaviour. Amidst the COVID-19 crisis, their focus has been on encouraging Australians to drink less at home, for both their own sake and their children’s.
The actions of parents often inform those of their children as they grow up, and seeing their parents drinking near-daily is likely to have children over time build a negative relationship with alcohol. In light of this, we needed to make a campaign that would remind parents
Tackling a sensitive issue
Alcohol is a sensitive topic to approach. It’s an incredibly popular substance that when used irresponsibly, can lead to a number of issues. Cautionary advertisements meant to discourage drinking are often met with disdain, coming across as either controlling or demeaning. Our messaging needed to be clear and thought-through, focussed on helping people make their own decisions, for themselves and their families.
It also needed to be clear that this campaign wasn’t telling people to stop drinking, it was about making sure alcohol isn’t abused as a coping mechanism, and that audience members’ children wouldn’t pick up bad habits.
You're not drinking alone
After debating over a number of creative territories, we settled on one that got to the heart of the issue in an engaging and interesting way. We knew this was a serious topic, however approaching day-to-day alcohol use in a stern and informative way would only push our audience away. Instead, we embedded a serious message in a humorous advert.
The first stage of this campaign is centred around a tongue-in-cheek video showing young kids hoping on a video call with their friends, talking about long work days and quarantine life while knocking back juice boxes, glasses of milk and other ‘bevies’.
The video is humorous, however conveys a serious message: that how we act at home is having a direct impact on how our kids view alcohol. This creative execution was supported by highly visible PR and media engagement, pushing the video and story out to a number of news outlets and achieving over 800 campaign mentions and a maximum PR reach of 125M in just 3 weeks across Tier one print and broadcast as well as trade media.
For more information or support please visit ADF website.
