Impact of Alcohol Marketing. Wim van Dalen, director STAP, president of EUCAM. Vilnius

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1 Impact of Alcohol Marketing Wim van Dalen, director STAP, president of EUCAM Vilnius

2 Dutch Institute for Alcohol Policy (STAP) Independent non-profit organisation which advocates: - Reduction of alcohol related harm by: *Public awareness of risks of alcohol consumption. *Evidence based control policies regarding price, availibilty and marketing We work at:local, national and European level

3 EUCAM wants to counteract the alcohol industry by informing relevant bodies and persons about the disadvantages of self regulation and about the necessity of statutory regulation as an effective basis to protect young people against the impact of alcohol marketing. The monitoring task of EUCAM is a commitment of the European Alcohol and Health Forum

4 Statement... If you don t monitor alcohol marketing systematically you have not a clue of what s going on...

5 Statement: Alcohol marketing is not harmful. It is simply intended to assist the consumer in selecting a certain product or brand. The image communicated by the industry: Advertisements do not make people drink more. Advertisements simply assist the consumer in choosing the best brand. In order to prevent a small group of producers or retailers from marketing indecent advertisements, we, the industry, have established effective rules. This system of self-regulation works globally and has excellent results. 5

6 Monitoring Alcohol Marketing by STAP Monitoring Alcohol Marketing in the Netherlands commissioned by Dutch Ministry for Health European projects on Alcohol Marketing co-funded by the EC: - ELSA project ( ): overview of regulations, adherence and impact of alcohol marketing - FASE project ( ): effective regulations - AMMIE project ( ): systematic monitoring - AMPHORA project ( ): impact research

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8 National Regulations in Europe: We found 79 regulations in 24 countries (49 statutory and 27 non-statutory) Volume restriction: mainly statutory regulations Content restriction: mainly non-statutory regulations

9 National Regulations in Europe: All countries had at least one regulation on alcohol marketing and advertising, with most countries having several. In total 79 regulations were reported (49 statutory and 27 non-statutory) 23 countries had one or more forms of statutory regulation and 17 one or more forms of non-statutory regulation. In one country (UK), co-regulation existed due to a contract between the statutory body and the non-statutory body on advertising. Six countries had only statutory regulation, and two countries had in practice no statutory regulation: the UK and the Netherlands. Volume restriction: mainly statutory regulations Content restriction: mainly non-statutory regulations

10 Adherence to regulations? ELSA shows that very little research is available! There is not the slightest proof that the existing regulation is protecting young people against alcohol marketing Low punitive power sanctions Often no pre-launch advice system No structural monitoring system available

11 AMMIE Summary European Report

12 Some results of 10 years monitoring alcohol marketing in the Netherlands Over 300 content complaints to the Advertising Committee

13 Some results of 10 years monitoring alcohol marketing in the Netherlands Over 300 content complaints to the Advertising Committee Self regulation of marketing doesn t protect young people

14 Some results of 10 years monitoring alcohol marketing in the Netherlands Over 300 content complaints to the Advertising Committee Self regulation of marketing doesn t protect young people Formulation of the regulations is vague and multiinterpretal

15 Some results of 10 years monitoring alcohol marketing in the Netherlands Over 300 content complaints to the Advertising Committee Self regulation of marketing doesn t protect young people Formulation of the regulations is vague and multiinterpretal Endless discussions with advertising commitees about the content of ads (yes or no leading to social or sexuel success, yes or no focussed on young people)

16 Some results of 10 years monitoring alcohol marketing in the Netherlands Over 300 content complaints to the Advertising Committee Self regulation of marketing doesn t protect young people Formulation of the regulations is vague and multiinterpretal Endless discussions with advertising commitees about the content of ads (yes or no leading to social or sexuel success, yes or no focussed on young people) Changes of the regulations are addressed as improvements but finally were liberalisations

17 Statement 2 The marketing regulations of the alcohol industry are mainly focussed on the content of ads... The only volume based regulations (proportional standard of 30%) is only for window dressing... The target group of alcohol advertising may not consist of more than 30 % minors...

18 % minors of total population <20% 20-25% 25-30% 30-35% % minors in EU27 countries: 19.4 % Source: Eurostat

19 Current volume restrictions (i.e. proportional standards) in SR are ineffective Conclusions Alcohol Marketing Monitoring in Europe (AMMIE) More stringent proportional standards (e.g. 8% instead of 30%) have important practical limitations (independent monitoring, lack of data, after the fact monitoring, lack of effective sanctions).

20 Alcohol Marketing: Commercials on television

21 Alcohol Marketing Billboards/Posters

22 Alcohol Marketing Price Promotions

23 Alcohol Marketing Point of Sale

24 Alcohol Marketing Sponsorship

25 Alcohol Marketing Branding & Merchandising

26 Alcohol Marketing Mobile/SMS

27 Alcohol Marketing Product/pack design

28 Attractive to young people?

29 Alcohol Marketing Sponsorship of Sports, Music, Fashion, Film Grolsch & Loveland festival Bavaria City Racing Moscou Heineken sneakers SKYY wodka & Sex and the City The Movie Puschkin: Push the Edge parties

30 Cumulative effect?

31 Awareness of Alcohol marketing to young people of 13- years of age adverts on TV: 77% billboards or posters: 53% in store promotions: 55% branded clothing/other items: 66% special price offers: 60% mobile logos or screensavers: 24% web pages or pop-ups: 12% Source: ISM research (Institute for Social Marketing), Hastings & Gordon, Brussels 2008

32 Policy makers are so far mainly focusing on traditional media Research show causal link between alcohol marketing exposure and youth drinking. Most national volume restrictions focus on TV EU AVMSD Directive But the industry is no longer

33 Internet and social media are booming business

34 European youth is targeted and reached Amphora study shows that among 13 & 14 year olds in GE, IT, NL and PL: 1 out of 3 received promotional s from alcohol brands; 1 out of 5 looked at a web site for alcohol brands/drinking; 1 out of 5 downloaded a mobile phone or computer screensaver containing an alcohol brand name or logo; 1 out of 3 used a profile page on social media sites like facebook with an alcohol brand or logo; 2 out of 3 noticed an internet page that contained an alcohol advertisement, and 1 out of 5 reported to notice this often or very often.

35 The impact of alcohol branded internet advertising controlled for demographics and media use (N=9454) Televised alcohol advertisement.043*** Ownership promotional items Receiving promotional Looked at a web site for alcohol brands Downloaded a mobile phone or computer screensaver containing an alcohol brand Used a profile page on social media sites containing alcohol brand.082***.036***.103***.129***.051*** Standardized Beta Amount of alcohol consumed in past 30 days ***=p<.001

36 Guidelines Google: Before 2008: No alcohol ads allowed; 2008: wine/beer ads allowed, but spirits ads and direct marketing is not; 2009: spirits ads allowed; but direct marketing is not; 2010: direct marketing is allowed. Only content restrictions: Adverts must not be targeted at minors; not imply that consumption of alcohol can improve sexual, social or professional standing; Not imply that drinking alcohol is relaxing or therapeutic; Not imply that excessive consumption of alcohol is a positive activity; Not contain sexual content; Not include endorsements from any icons/people appealing to minors, including cartoon characters and athletes; Feature a landing page with both an age verification gate and statements about responsible drinking.

37 Online marketing is no longer the future, it is reality! Content restrictions: How to monitor? And how to enforce? Volume restrictions: How to monitor? And how to enforce? Recognizing the impact on young people and the difficulty to monitor and to enforce, permitting is not an option How to reach a ban for online alcohol marketing?

38 The long term effect of exposure to alcohol marketing: Conclusion of a review of 13 longitudinal studies (Anderson et al 2009, Smith & Foxcroft 2009) and the Science Group of the EAHF: Youngsters who are more exposed to alcohol advertisements: Start earlier with drinking alcohol; Drink higher quantities of alcohol at one occasion (binge drinking); Consume alcohol more frequently.

39 Does marketing communication impact on the volume and patterns of consumption of alcoholic beverages, especially by young people? Opinion of the Science Group of the European Alcohol and Health Forum

40 Multilevel marketing strategies The opinion notes that: Alcohol is also promoted by linking alcohol brands to sports and cultural activities through sponsorships and product placements, and by direct marketing that uses new technologies such as the Internet, podcasting and mobile telephones, areas for which scientific publications were not found.

41 Longitudinal studies Studies with positive effect (N) Total studies (N) Overall advertising 3 3 Brand recall and receptivity* 1 1 TV advertisements* 2 3 TV and video exposure* 3 3 Alcohol use in motion pictures* 3 3 Beer concession stands* 1 2 Alcohol branded merchandise* 3 3 Radio* 0 1 Magazines* 0 2 In store displays* 0 2 *controlling for the impact of the other media in multivariate analyses

42 Overall conclusions of opinion 1. Despite the above methodological concerns and despite the fact that not all studies found an impact for all the individual marketing exposures studied, nevertheless, the overall description of the studies found consistent evidence to demonstrate an impact of alcohol advertising on the uptake of drinking among non-drinking young people, and increased consumption among their drinking peers.

43 Overall conclusions of opinion 2. This finding is all the more striking, given that only a small part of a total marketing strategy has been studied, and is corroborated by the results of the other methodologies, including qualitative, econometric, cross-sectional and experimental studies.

44 Overall conclusions of opinion 3. It should be stressed that the studies come from countries with a long history of advertising and with relatively high levels of alcohol consumption, and it is difficult to speculate the size of the impact of marketing in cultures with either a short history of advertising or low alcohol consumption.

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46 Does marketing influence young people? (Institute for Social Marketing; Hastings & Gordon) The short answer is yes The question has been asked and answered for tobacco (Cochrane Collab, 2004) energy dense food (WHO, 2006) alcohol (JPHP 2005)

47 Recommendation: Monitoring alcohol marketing practices in Europe is desired; Alcohol marketing restrictions should cover the whole marketing mix; Alcohol marketing restrictions are recommended to restrict the volume of alcohol marketing to protect young people against alcohol marketing exposure; Harmonization of alcohol marketing regulations in Europe is recommended; These regulations should be embedded by law.

48 Effective content restrictions: 1. Content restrictions should address all elements that have shown to be appealing to young people (e.g. lifestyle images, humour). 2. Content restrictions should limit advertisements that young people find appealing even if these are not specifically targeting minors or are specifically appealing to minors (but to adults as well). 3. Alcohol advertisements should be evaluated according to young people s interpretation and not according to the intention of the advertiser.

49 Effective volume restrictions: 1. The bans proposed are not merely symbolic policies but contribute substantially to the total volume of alcohol advertising to which adolescents are exposed; 2. No significant substitution effects arise.

50 Effective Regulation System: 1. A supporting legal context; 2. Commitment of all stakeholders; 3. Available provisions of information to the public at every stage of the regulation process; 4. A pre-screening system; 5. An effective complaint system with easy access to and support from the public; 6. Independent advertising committee; 7. Sanctions that are expected to be most effective are withdraw broadcasting rights and substantial financial penalties; 8. Monitoring that is independent from commercial interests; 9. Restrictions should cover the entire range of forms of marketing activities and should be up to date.

51 The importance of monitoring Be alert to new trends in e.g. the areas just mentioned Gather as much information as you can, then patterns will emerge by itself! As the alcohol industry gets more and more restricted they will find new ways of marketing (e.g. buzzmarketing) that are not subject to regulations. Pay attention to new, maybe more subtle and less controllabe forms of alcohol marketing.

52 Thank you for your attention! Any questions?