Alcohol. Think Again.

Assignment 1 Campaign Analysis

Angela Dinh n8006628

Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 3 Campaign ...................................................................................................................................................... 3 Alcohol and Cancer Campaign and Its Strategies ..................................................................................... 3 Semiotics Analysis ......................................................................................................................................... 5 Imagery ..................................................................................................................................................... 5 Sound ........................................................................................................................................................ 5 Opportunities and Problems ......................................................................................................................... 6 Recommendations ........................................................................................................................................ 6 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................... 7 References .................................................................................................................................................... 8

Introduction
Alcohol drinking has always been a critical problem to modern societies, which leads to un-secured community, public health problems, the increase of traffic accidents and numbers of people injured and die accordingly and so on. This is an issue of great concern to Governments, sociologists, doctors as well as individuals thus many organizations including Government, Non-Government and private ones have been attempting to build numerous communication campaigns persuading people about the harms of alcohol and to reduce their drinking amount for others and their own benefits. As drinking is a popular culture of such an open country as Australia, Australian Government is facing alcohol related issues and trying to communicate about and encourage responsible drinking. One of the most significant campaigns in Western Australia called Alcohol and Cancer, one in many phases of the Alcohol. Think Again master campaign, which gained a lot of attention and diverse responses from the public at the time it was launched. The campaign is going to be analysed in this report using semiotics method that is to find out the real meaning of an object (signified) via its container (signifier) (OSullivan et al, 1983).

Campaign
Alcohol Think Again is an Alcohol Education Campaign being a partnership project between the Injury Control Council Western Australia (ICCWA) and the Drug and Alcohol Office (DAO). The campaign was first launched in February 2008 with the purpose of reducing risky alcohol use in Western Australia through changing the acceptability of drunkenness within the community and creating safer drinking environments (Alcohol. Think Again, 2011). The campaign has been maintained well through many phases including Keep Alcohol Under Control Campaign, 2008, Alcohol and Cancer Campaign, May 2010, and Tolerance of Drunken Beaviour Campaign, September 2010.

Alcohol and Cancer Campaign and Its Strategies

Alcohol and Cancer Campaign, May 2010, was built by the Brand Agency Perth, with Creative Director and Art Director Craig Buchanan, Copywriter Des Hameister, Strategic Planner Corvertte Cross and others. As alcohol responsible drinking had already been a very familiar topic in the community, The Brand Agencys strategy was attempting to approach the issue in a new direction that makes the direct link between alcohol and cancer (Pia McMorran, 2010). It was based on the fact that alcohol is classified as Group 1 carcinogen along with tobacco and asbestos; and the number of people died of alcoholcaused cancer is increasing dramatically in Australia. There are about 2997 new cases of cancer and 1376 deaths due to alcohol-caused cancer reported each year (Alcohol. Think Again, 2011). Although 3

many people are aware about the harms of alcohol, its seriousness is not taken fully and clearly as tobaccos. Hence, traditional prevention campaigns focused mostly on the behavioural effects of drinking, thus this could be considered as an innovative approach in the Drug and Alcohol Education Category. Based on the big idea, the Creative strategy then was developed applying the dramatization of serious consequences cancer - caused by alcohol binge. To illustrate for the consequences, The Brand Agency used pictures of alcohol spreading through a human body (TVC1) and stains of an alcohol bottle on a table-cloth (TVC2). TVC1

TVC 2

Semiotics Analysis
The TVC series utilized the strength of imagery and sound containing hidden meanings which can be analysed using semiotics analysis, A method for analyzing the production and communication of meaning (Benson,2011).

Imagery
The content of TVC1 was about red alcohol from a fallen glass spread out quickly on the table creating a human body shape. The red alcohol spreading looked as if it mixed with blood running in veins, fast and unstoppable. In addition, the content of TVC2 was about red alcohol stains on a white table-cloth, which looked like blood stains after bleeding and ultimately create a Cancer word beside the bottle. These pictures definitely brought scary association between alcohol and death to the audience. Applying semiotics analysis method, the first signifiers (the physical form of the sign that we see) (Chandler, 2009) in the TVCs were the alcohol spreading (TVC1) and the alcohol stains (TVC2) which represented for cancer and its spreading in a human body (signified). The second signifier was the redcoloured body (TVC1) drawn by non-stop spreading alcohol that referred to the endless painful feelings of patients suffering from cancer due to over-drinking in a long time. In addition, the red-coloured stains on the table-cloth in TVC2 also represented for a signified as it is too late to be cured.

Sound
Similar to the use of pictures, sound effect was utilized considerably in Alcohol and Cancer Campaign. At first, harsh, terrifying and scary sounds, which possibly made the audience relate the ads to a horror movie, was the signifier of the spreading of cancer in a drinkers body. Additionally, the voice-over tone that were high, slow and haunting was another signifier representing for how serious the problem was to drinkers. Ultimately, the combination of imagery and sound in Alcohol and Cancer TVCs has successfully sent clear and strong messages to the audience which are stay at a low risk of alcohol caused cancers and other diseases and Have no more than two standard drinks on any day (Alcohol and Cancer Campaign, 2010).

Opportunities and Problems

Approaching alcohol responsible drinking in a different way and applying a striking illustration style, Alcohol and Cancer campaign efficiently grabbed a lot of attentions and created debates among the community. Some people believed that the campaign had successfully stated a new issue related to alcohol, while the others denied the effectiveness of the campaign as they argued the risk is negligible (Campaign Brief,2010). Whichever the final winning side is, the campaign has archived the most important goal of communication that is gaining attention of the public. Moreover, as it has just opened a new direction to the Drug and Alcohol Education, there are still many approaches for the campaign to be developed further in the future (see recommendations). On the other hand, the campaign still has two problems that need to be put in considerations. Firstly, the communication was commented to be not persuasive enough to people who have drinking habit target audience of this campaign because as it has been a habit, it is difficult for people to withdraw or reduce. The bad result of alcohol long-term consumption is not visible instantly, thus many people try to ignore it or claim it to be negligible (Campaign Brief,2010). Furthermore, as this campaign aiming at changing peoples habit and behavior, it requires a long time, patient and effort.

Recommendations
In order to achieve effectiveness in long-term, it is necessary for Alcohol. Think Again campaign to develop phase 2 of Alcohol and Cancer Campaign which focuses on Each type of cancers caused by consuming too much alcohol, because the first phase only mentioned briefly about the name of these types of cancer that was pretty generic and not convincing enough Presenting figures and real-case related to alcohol-caused cancer for the audience to see how serious the problem really is; and Using a specific doctor, scientist or specialist as an ambassador of the campaign to enhance credibility of the campaign Media: Airing the campaign at a high frequency and in a wide area e.g. malls, universities, offices, hospitals etc.; and Utilising other mediums such as radio, ambient and online along with TVCs and print-ad 6

Conclusion
In conclusion, Alcohol and Cancer Campaign has successfully addressed a new approach to responsible drinking - the link between alcohol and cancer. It also effectively deployed imagery and sound in TVCs so that the audience could receive the core message clearly and as a result was attracted to and interested in discussing about the campaign as well as issue raised by the ads. Nevertheless, if Alcohol and Cancer Campaign just stopped at this point, the attempt of approaching the issue in a new direction would be a waste. Thus it is vital to develop the campaign further (phase 2) using facts and figures, and reality cases to be more convincing.

References
Alcohol Think Again, 2011. Alcohol and Cancer Campaign [online] Available at: http://www.alcoholthinkagain.com.au/Campaigns/Alcohol%20and%20Cancer%20Campaign.asp x [Accessed 8 May 2011] Benson, K., 2011. Media Analysis Techniques slides. Queensland University of Technology. Campaign Brief, 2010. The brand agencys confronting alcohol and cancer campaign launches tonight in Perth [online] Available at: http://www.campaignbrief.com/2010/05/the-brandagencys-confronting.html [Accessed 8 May 2011] Cancer Council Western Australia, 2010. Alcohol. Think Again campaign [online] Available at: http://www.cancerwa.asn.au/prevention/alcohol/where-to-go-for-more-information/alcoholcampaigns/ [Accessed 8 May 2011] Taffa, V. P., 2010. Minister launches Alcohol Think Again campaign *online+ Available at: http://www.southernthunderer.com.au/2010/05/minister-launches-alcohol-think-againcampaign/ [Accessed 8 May 2011] The Newspaper Works, 2010. In papers, June 05 [online] Available at: http://www.thenewspaperworks.com.au/go/news/alcohol-think-again/396e28a6-5056-887ea6f25278e127a513 [Accessed 8 May 2011] The Sydney morning herald, 2010. Alcohol linked to cancer in war against binge drinking [online] Available at: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/wellbeing/blogs/chew-on-this/alcohol-linked-tocancer-in-war-against-binge-drinking-20101115-17tzn.html [Accessed 8 May 2011]