Carrying the can?

This year’s Alcoholic Drinks Conference concentrated on the social responsibility issue and how to handle it

WITH THE spectre of the Government’s alcohol harm reduction strategy looming over the industry, the eighth annual Alcoholic Drinks Conference was a timely piece of event management.

Held by The World Advertising Research Centre (WARC), Admap and The Drinks Business, this year the conference was aimed at the issues of social responsibility faced by the alcoholic drinks industry.  Chairing the event was the strategic planning director for Bartle Bogle Hegarty, Nick Kendall.

Other members of the panel included Christopher Searle, executive director of Bacardi-Martini Ltd; Andrew Brown, director general of the Advertising Association; Helmut Wagner of The Amsterdam Group; the chief executives of The Marketing Society (Hugh Birkitt) and The Portman Group (Jean Coussins), and a political scientist from The World Health Organisation (WHO), Leanne Riley.

However, the speaker that kicked off proceedings for the day was Rita Clifton, chairman of Interbrand. 

Talking and listening

Clifton opened proceedings with a talk entitled, The Growing Need For Social Leadership In a World of Sophisticated Consumers.  She was one of the most well received speakers of the day and her point was that corporate social responsibility (CSR) has always been vital to successful brands. 

She emphasised that there were ways of demonstrating CSR without becoming po-faced about the matter and that an added bonus was the opportunity for building brand value through the concept as well.  Following on from Clifton, the debate opened up with presentations from members of the panel. 

Jean Coussins of The Portman Group, talked about the public demands that her organisation faced; Andrew Brown was able to give the delegates the benefit of his positions at the Advertising Association and at the Committee of Advertising Practice; Hugh Birkitt was able to talk about his experiences not only as an advertising executive but also as the father of a teenage son; and Leanne Riley from the WHO, gave a presentation based on her knowledge of alcohol policy issues through her work in youth prevention on alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs.

The final two panel members to speak were Helmut Wagner, who was able to draw on the 20 years experience he has in public affairs, issue management and corporate communications, and Chris Searle who gave an impassioned appeal for a programme of education on alcohol targeted at 16-24 year olds and for the industry to engage with the Government at this time of concern and debate.

Questions

The panel’s presentations gave much in the way of food for thought, as the second half of the conference began with a study of case histories in social leadership from Hamish Pringle, director general of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA).

He concentrated on the different approaches taken by global brands such as Shell, Walkers, Co-op Bank and Kia cars and asked if the burden of social responsibility was a threat or an opportunity? Taking the issue ever wider, Alan Mitchell a journalist and author, looked at the challenges and responses in parallel industries.

He pointed-out that the debate about advertising alcohol, was simply a "stalking horse" for the bigger issues such as the role of corporations and governments in society and the nature and limits of democracy.

He was followed by the next speaker, Wendy Darlington, brand marketing director for Diageo who used her company as a case study in social leadership, and Jonathon Hall, managing director of GOOD who gave a presentation on how to measure the value of social leadership and his concerns over the accusation that social responsibility activities were just PR exercises, or "greenwashing" as he put it.

The final two speakers of the day looked at the benefits of social leadership.  Gerry Moira, chairman and executive creative director at advertising agent, Publicis, tackled the creative opportunities that social responsibility afforded.

Next, Mike Spurling, who has turned around the fortunes of Chivas Regal and brought Bombay Sapphire to a major audience, looked at the business opportunities of social leadership.

In particular, he concentrated on the potential that lies in the on-trade.  It was the most relevant environment in which to communicate social responsibility, he told the delegates.

And answers

For more information or the conference papers, contact Sarah Miller on sara.miller@warc.com or 01491 418646 or go to www.warc.com/conferences.