Drinkaware campaigns change drinking behaviour

A survey of 1,000 18-24 year olds conducted on behalf of Drinkaware by research agency Millward Brown showed the impact that the charity’s campaigns have had over the last year.

“Each campaign area performed above expectations,” said Drinkaware chief executive Chris Sorek.

“We can say that we have started to see some of the ‘green shoots’ of behaviour change. When you add in industry support, we have also been able to reach more consumers, more often than in previous years.”

Eight out of 10 regular drinkers (680,000) claim to have adopted at least one of the tips put forward as part of Drinkaware’s ‘Why let good times go bad?’ campaign to reduce the desirability and acceptability of drunkenness among young adults.

‘Excuses’, the campaign aimed at 30-45 year old ‘increasing risk’ drinkers, drove a 31% increase in sign-ups to MyDrinkaware.co.uk, the charity’s online drinks tracking tool. Alcohol consumption of active users of MyDrinkaware fell from an average of 5 units per day to 3.9 units.

Research also showed that 44% of parents went on to have conversations with their children about alcohol after seeing the charity’s ‘Your Kids and Alcohol’ campaign.

Sorek added: “Industry’s participation in Drinkaware campaigns over the past year has helped us dramatically increase our reach and now we’re starting to see positive behaviour change.

“Support from industry generated a media value way beyond the £25 million target for 2011 and we are delighted with the enormous enthusiasm to do even more in 2012.

“Partnerships offer a fantastic opportunity to boost the visibility of our campaigns. As we look for support reaching adults and parents in 2012 there’s now even greater scope for companies to get involved”.