CorpComms Magazine

The parties are over, the hangovers have worn off and it is now time for some serious detoxing. It may sound familiar but this time it is the alcoholic drinks industry that's getting into shape.

'Responsible drinking' has become a familiar refrain from lobby groups, politicians and the police in recent years amid escalating media coverage of binge drinking and alcohol-related health problems.

Now, the drinks industry is joining in with the 'Campaign for Smarter Drinking' - a £100 million, five-year programme put together in response to prime minister Gordon Brown's request, made three years ago, that it tackle binge drinking.

Funded by more than 45 companies involved in the drinks industry, including brewers Fuller's, Thwaites and Brains as well as supermarket chains Tesco, Asda and Spar, the idea is to accentuate the celebratory qualities of alcohol, while urging drinkers to avoid excessive consumption. The slogan Why Let Good Times Go Bad? seeks to drive home the message.

Philip Lynch, director at media evaluation agency Kantar Media, formerly known as TNS Media Intelligence, believes the industry had to act.

'The industry knows what could happen if it does not put its house in order,' he says. 'There's a nightmare of regulatory action ranging from punitive taxation to prohibition itself and there's a significant health lobby calling for action starting at raising the drinking age from 18 to 21.'

That may sound draconian but, as Lynch points out, who would have imagined the behavioural changes enforced by regulation of smoking over the past 20 years?

'Imagine the impact that controlled marketing alone would have on the drinks industry,' he adds. 'It would create a major problem.'

That is what is on the agenda, however. Stephanie Lvovich, chair of APCO Worldwide's global food and consumer products practice, sees the regulatory threat as a natural extension of the World Health Organisation's campaigns on tobacco and obesity.

A shift in regulation

As it progresses with its 'Global strategy to reduce alcohol-related harm', she predicts that the thinking of UK regulators will begin to shift towards the regulatory instruments that the WHO traditionally favours to change behaviours and create less demand for particular product categories.

'The history of the WHO's work suggests that restrictions are likely to focus on marketing and labelling, where and when alcohol can be sold, increased taxation, ingredient disclosures and product sizes and packaging,' she says.

Indeed, The Portman Group and individual manufacturers have for some time promoted responsible consumption and moderation and Lvovich says this year's debate will centre on youth and binge drinking.

The process has already started. Jonathan Neame, chief executive of Kent-based brewery Shepherd Neame, said at the campaign's launch last summer that the drinks industry was in a unique position to deliver a responsible drinking culture.

It intends to do that by encouraging people to take responsibility for their own behaviour and make informed choices and by helping change the social acceptability of excessive drinking and drunkenness.

We've been here before, of course. Promoting sensible drinking was one of the reasons behind the foundation of The Portman Group by the UK's leading alcohol producers back in 1989.

The organisation has since restructured, transferring all its educational funding and resources to a new charity, The Drinkaware Trust, and focusing on raising standards of social responsibility within the industry.

'It took us 18 months to work out how to complement what the government is doing to amplify the sensible drinking message,' says Michael Thompson, head of communications and external affairs at the Portman Group. 'We're trying to persuade consumers that you can have a good time and drink responsibly at the same time. It's very important for the brand positioning of the industry. Our companies spend millions of pounds on developing the reputations of their brands. The last thing they want is an association with excessive drinking or cultural drinking problems.'

Assessing public opinion

Reputation management experts agree. Alastair Eperon, chief executive of Eperon Consulting, says responsible drinking campaigns were initially an exercise by the drinks industry to be recognised by politicians as socially responsible in order to avoid higher taxation.

But he says the stakes for the drinks industry have magnified enormously, with the very survival and respectability of alcohol brands as an appropriate and responsible form of pleasure at issue.

'If drinks companies don't get their message out effectively,' he continues, 'they will face an uphill battle to prevent further tax and other licensing restrictions.'

Kevin Murray, chairman of public relations agency Bell Pottinger, concurs.

'Drinks companies have little choice but to act on this,' he says. 'All drinks companies have to be seen to be responsible and transparent on this issue. Times are changing and it can no longer be business as usual.'

Drinks groups are recognising this by investing in responsible drinking efforts outside the traditional umbrella groups, such as Portman, the Wine & Spirit Trade Association and the British Beer & Pub Association.

Diageo responded by hiring Kantar Media to conduct a thorough media evaluation study on the issue.

Director of communications Stephen Doherty says it wanted to find out why opinion on alcohol was increasingly polarising between people who support responsible drinking by choice and those who believe control measures are needed to make people drink less.

It wanted to know who was influencing public opinion and what was the impact of the media, he says, as well as who was winning the argument in terms of column inches and influence.

Kantar Media studied 8,000 newspaper articles, features and letters published over the previous 12 months and reached conclusions that left the alcohol industry in need of a stiff drink.

It found that the alcohol industry's efforts on responsible drinking were dwarfed by those of its detractors who had achieved twice the amount of coverage for their spokespeople and supporters.

A major reason was the health lobby's access to new research from academia, which was successful in generating headlines and was having a far greater impact in the national media than industry organisations, says Lynch.

'Our fundamental conclusion is that the drinks industry does not have a cohesive and clear position,' he adds, 'and the industry is under-represented in the debate, certainly in comparison to the health lobby. Perhaps in the past the industry has thought it best to go about its business quietly and to create as little fuss as possible. But the issue of alcohol is of great public concern and the outcome of the debate will be decided in public. Back-room lobbying simply will not work as the issue is now too important both socially and politically.'

Behavioural change

Doherty disagrees with the comparison with smoking, pointing out that, in contrast with alcohol, tobacco has no safe consumption level and says warnings about potential prohibition are 'apocalyptic'.

'Alcohol has been enjoyed for 4,000 years in society and we cannot see that changing,' he says. 'I'm sure there is a small, very vocal minority who would take that view but we don't believe that their views hold significant support across the country.'

Nonetheless, Diageo has linked up with six other leading drinks companies to take a more proactive approach. The company argues that the major problem is anti-social behaviour caused by binge-drinking so its messaging has promoted the celebratory values of alcohol, through slogans such as Don't see a good night wasted that urge revellers not to overdo consumption and lose their social currency.

'The message is that alcohol beverages bring pleasure to millions of adults every day and play a unique part in the social lives and celebrations of many cultures,' says Doherty. 'I'm convinced that we need to work to create a more balanced view of alcohol in society.'

Malcolm Gooderham, managing director of strategic communications consultancy TLG, says that, as with other attitudinal and behavioural change programmes, the key is sustaining a company's licence to operate whilst at the same time enhancing its ability to grow.

He has worked with Diageo on responsible drinking and believes the difference between traditional corporate social responsibility campaigns and the way the drinks giant is tackling this issue is the level of investment and commitment involved.

'Diageo has really grasped this and is investing a lot of resources in genuinely trying to understand what it can do to help people drink more responsibly,' he says.

'It will invest as much money in a behaviour change programme as it might spend on a product launch and that is rare.'

The question is whether such campaigns can overcome increasing consumer cynicism and perceptions that they simply amount to the self-interest of a multi-billion pound industry.

'The challenge is whether these campaigns have resulted in behavioural change, which is not yet clear,' says Lvovich. 'The issue the industry must address is one of fundamental patterns of behaviour around problem drinking and the notion of shared responsibility. It's about what this means and what alcohol manufacturers can meaningfully contribute towards the societal solution of reducing harmful drinking.' 

Purging the bingers

Tackling binge drinking has become a major priority for all political parties in the countdown to the election.

The government has seized the initiative by introducing measures to tackle alcohol abuse from April 6, with the banning of speed drinking games, volumes drinks promotions and 'dentists' chairs', where alcohol is poured directly into drinkers' mouths.

Licensees also face fines of up to £20,000 or up to six months in jail for offers such as 'All you can drink for £10' or 'Free drinks for women under 25'.

Bars must also offer smaller measures of beer, wine and spirits and provide free tap water. Compulsory identity checks will also be introduced.

The Conservatives have already laid out their plans to roll back 24 hour drinking and also 'take back' town centres. A recent government-funded survey found that one person in every four avoids local areas that are associated with crime and disorder linked to alcohol abuse.

The Conservatives would also introduce a duty increase on drinks associated with binge drinking, such as alcopops and super-strength cider, and give local councils more power to tackle issues caused by excessive drinking. Measures may include late night levies on off licences open after 10.30pm and drinks venues open after midnight. These revenues would be used to pay for extra policing and clearing up problem areas.

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