Why DrinkWise won Best Marketing Innovation at 2015 BRW Most Innovative Companies Awards

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DDa3bqs3L18__s759x427 (1).jpgClemenger BBDO Melbourne’s ‘How to Drink Properly‘ campaign for DrinkWise was named as the Best Marketing Innovation at the BRW Most Innovative Companies Awards on Monday night. Here’s why…

The campaign started strongly with over 2 million views in its first weeks after launch and has continued to grow since then.

The campaign used a variety of social channels to reach young drinkers. With 57,000 shares in the first four weeks of the campaign, it achieved the social media nirvana of the message being shared by a friend, rather than an organisation. In fact, the engagement rate on Facebook was a phenomenal 5.4 per cent, more than two times above the alcohol-industry average and well above the public service announcement average of 1.1%.

Of those who had seen the campaign, 33 per cent self-reported that they were drinking less after seeing it. When asked what prompted those to begin drinking less, 26 per cent reported to ‘stay classy’ (one of the key messages of the campaign), 20 per cent said to ‘drink within their limits’, and 17 per cent said to ‘be more responsible’.

DrinkWise CEO, John Scott, says the organisation is delighted with the win.

Says Scott: “This award is acknowledgement that the culture of innovation we’ve instilled at DrinkWise is gaining traction. We work hard to target the precise time people are making drinking decisions and the How to Drink Properly campaign demonstrates you need to be prepared to push boundaries if you want to create meaningful impact.

“This campaign is about teaching young Australians how to drink in a classy way. It’s the first time this audience hasn’t been preached a message of abstinence. Pleasingly, the independent research data is showing that the campaign is making a difference.”

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne chairman Jim Moser says having innovative clients like DrinkWise pushes the agency to consistently move beyond the traditional boundaries of the marketing world.

Says Moser: “How to Drink Properly embodies our philosophy of the most creative work also being the most effective work. Utilising DrinkWise’s strategy, together we stretched the latest digital tools for the campaign and it worked.”

Also on the night, Clemenger BBDO Melbourne was ranked 13th out of the top 500 companies in Australia at the BRW Most Innovative Companies awards, making it the top agency on the prestigious list.

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne’s Managing Director, Paul McMillan said, “We are ecstatic with the win for the agency, and we are even more delighted for DrinkWise in winning Marketing Innovation of the year. This was truly a team effort.”