Should Alcohol Brands Be Campaigning for Responsible Drinking?

Online, June 5, 2013 (Newswire.com) - Recent research from Scotland suggests that the banning of multi-buy promotions has reduced consumption of alcohol. The findings are likely to re-open the debate about the impact of advertising and communications on consumers' drinking habits.

Critics of the sector will look also be inspired by Turkey's recent decision to ban ALL alcohol advertising and promotion. The sector is aware of this and it's increasing obligation to avoid advertising and marketing messages that encourage mis-use or that appeal to under-age consumers.

Educating consumers on the risks has increased significantly. In the UK Drinkaware has invested heavily in several campaigns highlighting the downsides of excessive consumption.

Most drinks brands mention the need to drink responsibly on their packaging and communications. Websites feature links to the Drinkaware campaigns. With age filters on Facebook and Twitter brands can also increasingly block their content from being seen by under-age drinkers.

So what impact to campaigns led by brands themselves have on the consumer? CitySuppers took a look at two recent pieces of activity, Bacardi's Champions Drink Responsibly and Antarctica's Beer Turnstiles. One is a big-budget campaign with a celebrity ambassador and the other a much more local campaign.

Can campaigns such as these work? Will they resonate with drinkers or put consumers off the brands? Our latest post discusses the potential rewards and risks from such campaigns.

Note to Editors

CitySuppers is a food and drink blog edited by PR agency Clarity Comms. Clarity is a PR led communications agency specialising in online communications using data and insight to create consumer brand journeys