CorpComms Magazine

The World Health Organisation's executive board will this month discuss a draft global strategy to reduce harmful use of alcohol.

If the WHO precedents are an indicator, over the next three years the regulatory environment is likely to change fundamentally, touching every aspect of product development, marketing, information to consumers, labelling and other traditional regulatory instruments.

Ultimately, the discussion will not centre on aspects of alcohol misuse but whether alcohol is a good or a bad thing for society, with the key touch points being healthcare costs, obesity, family cohesion, and societal wellbeing.

The alcohol market will be forced to revolutionise: there will be new products with lower alcohol levels, a push for smaller bottles and greater transparency on ingredients and alcohol units.

There are three important areas where the alcohol industry needs to focus this year, therefore:

Behavioural change. Alcohol manufacturers maintain that consumption patterns are established early on and impacted by a complex set of factors: genetics, family consumption patterns and so on. Since behavioural change is ultimately what the WHO seeks, the greater the understanding the industry is able to bring to the table, the more likely it is to have a seat.

Defining and leading on 'shared responsibility'. The industry should act now to understand the expectations of government, non-governmental organisations and others so that it can meet or exceed them.

Documenting counterfeiting. This will become a future battleground for alcohol manufacturers in markets that introduce stringent pricing and tax regimes to discourage consumption. The case against over-regulation will need to be articulated carefully.

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