SAB swirls international anti-underage drinking ad waters

Launched in November 2015, SAB's #BeTheMentor 18+ aims to prevent underage drinking. But it's about more than simply steering clear of colourful coolers before the legal drinking age, as there's a strong nation-building aspect, too. The campaign serves as a movement of change in calling on young adults to 'Be the mentor you wish you'd had'.

That's a strong message - view the TV ad aspect of this comprehensive campaign below if it's skipped your attention:

Jessica Yellin, SAB corporate reputation manager, and Adam Weber, ECD at Joe Public agency, tasked with bringing the campaign to life, share how this compelling campaign came about...

1. What sparked the idea for the underage drinking campaign?

Yellin: The current #BeTheMentor campaign is an evolution of the original 18+ campaign against underage drinking, which SAB launched last year. That campaign targeted adults or parents with a call to action for them to be role models to the youth and to have open and honest conversations about alcohol with their teens.

The campaign was well received but we felt that still more could be done. We looked at the dynamics and decided that teenagers would be more receptive to a "don't drink until you're 18" message if it came from someone within their own circle - someone like an older brother or sister. Given the work we are doing around mentorship with the Future Leaders programme, we decided to expand this concept and the #BeTheMentor campaign was born.

As a leading alcoholic beverage company in South Africa, SAB takes responsible drinking and the fight against alcohol abuse very seriously and spends in excess of R40 million annually on initiatives which aim to combat the abuse of drinking and encourage responsible consumption.

2. Explain the 18+ campaign in more detail - who are the mentors?

Yellin: It comprises a hard-hitting TV commercial to create awareness, as well as radio to extend reach and frequency and an active social media campaign to really engage the target market. To give the mentorship movement legs, through Instant Grass we appointed 150 mentors from Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town aged between 23 and 30 years to champion the cause and rally other South Africans to rise to the challenge of being a mentor. The mentors are required to be active in their social networks, both on- and offline, sharing stories of how they have influenced their younger peers and siblings. This was based on the thinking by Malcolm Gladwell that you need 150 people to create a 'tipping point'. We hope that between the 150 official mentors and the people we inspire to take on the mentorship role through the advertising campaign, we will create a significant and impactful movement in SA of mentors making a difference to the lives of the youth. We aim to give the youth hope for the future and reduce the incidence of underage drinking.

A screenshot from the TV ad

3. The campaign has quickly become a hit with international interest. Tell us what specific feedback has been like.

Weber: The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Both from the point of view that SAB is taking positive steps to address a real issue through mentorship, as well as that SAB has produced a piece of communication that is breakthrough and highly insightful to the target audience. The audience has found it 'edgy' for a corporate message, and it seems to resonate because it talks in a tone and visual language that they understand.

4. How important is personal responsibility and mentorship in building a brighter future overall?

Yellin: Mentoring is about more than just counselling or coaching, it is about helping a young person deal with the frustrations of life; giving constructive criticism; helping them cope with disappointments, being let down by friends or loved ones; and teaching them to behave with compassion and consideration for others. Peer mentorship can lead to increased academic achievement; greater self-efficacy; improved social skills; a greater feeling of connection to school and peers; decreased behavioural problems; lower rate of engaging in risky behaviours; increased school attendance and a greater rate of continuing education.

Sounds to me like a win-win opportunity.

All South Africans are encouraged to #BeTheMentor. Simply visit the SAB 18+ web page to take the pledge, download the mentor guides and take on a mentor role.