New Drive Dry campaign launches on Facebook

The hard-hitting social media activism campaign, a first for the industry, is designed to change behaviour amongst South African youth with regard to drinking and driving.

At the heart of this year's campaign is a somewhat shocking Facebook application called The Drive. The Drive brings to life the harsh realities of drunk driving in an impactful way, and encourages South Africans to make a public commitment to never drink and drive.

It also encourages young people to select a designated driver before going out to socialise and make such a decision an active part of their social culture.

Public Drive Dry pledge

The first person to make the public Drive Dry pledge was South African kwaito artist and entertainment personality, DJ S'bu (Sibusiso Leope). "No doubt, partying is part of youth culture. However, despite being illegal, and having potentially dire consequences, drunk driving also demonstrates a complete lack of respect for fellow citizens," he said.

"The company remains committed to addressing the role that alcohol plays when it comes to drinking and driving. We acknowledge the need for intervention programmes and initiatives to address the issue. Drive Dry is one of the initiatives we have in place to promote the responsible use of alcohol," says Michael Mabasa, corporate relations director for brandhouse.

Though aimed at the youth, the 2013 Drive Dry campaign calls on all South Africans to make a public pledge to drink responsibly and make the public pledge to "drink and not drive" or "drive and not drink" on Facebook.

Similar to past Drive Dry campaigns, such as " Pappa wag vir jou" that made use of strong emotional imagery to raise awareness of drunk driving in an impactful way, the 2013 campaign makes use of shock tactics - The Drive is designed to take consumers through a fictional social scenario with a shocking and unexpected outcome.

"It can happen to me"

"We want people to experience The Drive and contextualise drinking responsibly to change the perception of 'it won't happen to me' to 'it can happen to me'," says Mabasa.

Although Drive Dry speaks to all South Africans who have access to a car and who drink alcohol socially, it targets mainly 18-25 year olds who tend to be more casual about drinking and driving.

"For this reason, the Facebook application is perfectly aligned with the target market that is highly active on social media. Coupled with the need to be accepted by their peers, Drive Dry reaches the target market and makes them accountable to others in a positive way.

"We want them to pledge to drink and not drive or drive and not drink, via the social media platform. Each pledge is a public declaration to drink responsibly and makes consumers accountable for their actions amongst family and friends."

To encourage the target market to participate, a reward mechanism is in place where consumers can win vouchers from Vida-e-Cafe, Pick 'n Pay, Engen (convenience shop) and KFC, among others.

"We are proud of this year's campaign because we are moving from an awareness mode to consumers playing an active role in the campaign. We will also be able to measure the success of the campaign through the number of pledges made during the course of the 2013 campaign and use this as a benchmark for future engagements with our consumers," concludes Mabasa.

For more, go to www.drivedry.co.za and www.facebook.com/Drivedry.