By Taro W
Indiantelevision.com Team

(18 December 2006 8:35 pm)

BANGLORE: Alarmed by the spate of high profile accidents and incidents across the country due to drunkenness, and fearing legislation or bans (prohibition), the Confederation of Indian Beverage & Alcohol Companies (CIBAC) with United Spirits (the newly named Vijay Mallaya group) in the forefront, plans to launch an awareness campaign with three basic messages: (1) No drunken driving (2) No excess drinking -know when to stop (3) No underage drinking. In short “Enjoy Responsibly” which is the catch phrase of the campaign.

A graphic TVC will be aired shortly across news and youth channels. 15-16 slots are earmarked during the morning and evening time between (8 pm and 10 pm) for the TVC. Radio jingles are also planned across 3 channels in 6 major metros (Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chennai) of the country with the message “Don’t drink and drive” being repeated over and over again followed by an SMS number (3636) that one can send messages to for availing of taxi services in the six metros.

An SMS reading ‘We care’ can be sent by someone who has had one too many and would not like to drive, and the service provider will send out a list of taxi services with contact numbers for the tippler to ring up and arrange for a cab at his/her cost. This could be a useful tool, since quite often getting a cab during late hours can be a nightmare. Another initiative that United Spirits (USL) is considering is promoting the concept of ‘designated drivers’ next.

The TVC has been created by Mudra and the idea for the first of what could be more commercials emanated from USL exec. vp Alok Gupta and Mudra creative Bangalore team’s Radha as per sources. The media buying is from Mindshare, and since this is a public service message, the TV channels have offered discounted rates as per sources which revealed that Rs.4 million has been set aside by USL towards media buying starting 20-21st December, 2006 to the first week of January 2007.

Depending upon the response, the cab services, the TVC and radio campaign could be extended further in time as well as coverage (more cities) according to USL president and md Vijay Rekhi. “The cumulative earnings of all the states in India from alcoholic beverages and spirits is a staggering Rs.3600 billion, a lot of this money is spent on infrastructure development and even development of education.

We would like the government to participate with industry in creating awareness that alcohol must be enjoyed responsibly by spending a fraction of a percent of this. Alcohol is a reality, bans and prohibition will not work as has been proved time and again in India as well as abroad.”

“This dictum – creating awareness about responsible drinking though new in India has been practiced by most of the alcohol and beverages manufacturers around the world”, added Rekhi.

Another initiative that USL plans is by incorporating the message in all point of purchase material, packaging and other promotional avenues available to reach the customers.