StateWays is the only magazine exclusively covering the control state system within the beverage alcohol industry, with annual updates from liquor control commissions and alcohol control boards and yearly fiscal reporting from control jurisdictions
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/64952
EDUCATION & ENFORCEMENT and Prevention in Pennsylvania Partnerships G By Jeremy Nedelka iven Pennsylvania's size, the largest control state system in the country could easily become an outdated bureaucracy opposed to change. But that's just the opposite of what's happened, as the Liquor Control Board has invested in local training and enforcement initiatives and pioneered using new media to reach new demographic audiences. The state's "Call the Shots" advertising cam- paign is one of the first of its kind, targeting legal drinkers aged 21-29 who engage in risky behavior like binge drinking. The PLCB created posters, radio ads and a dedicated website to target the under- served demographic in an attempt to reach them when they were at risk. "We recognize that, espe- cially at a state agency, we have to step out of the box and commit to dealing with the medium that our target audi- ence uses daily – in this case instantly," says Jerry Waters, the PLCB's Director of Regulatory Affairs. "We took a bold step to say that if we wanted a meaningful cam- paign, it was important to use all media and networks to get a message to them at the appropriate time so they could make an informed decision." potential negative consequences of their actions by walk- ing backwards through a night. It's also personalized, asking users to enter their name and those of two friends, as well as their genders. "We don't want to just tell people what to do, we want to show them where they could have done some- thing differently," says Leslie Coombe, the board's director of alcohol education. "We also developed a mobile site to serve as a field guide, which they could use in an establish- ment as they're engaging in these high-risk activities." The field guide provides tips on how to reduce the These rather graphic posters are part of the PLCB's "Call the Shots" advertising campaign, which target legal drinkers aged 21-29 who engage in risky behavior like binge drinking. Those steps included posters distributed to licensees and local radio spots played on Thursday-Saturday nights and Sunday mornings and the creation of www.controltonight.com. The website is a virtual jour- ney through a night of bad decisions, showing users the 16 number of beverages users are consuming, a reminder to eat before going out and ways to keep friends safe during a fun night. The mobile site is meant to be conversational, Coombe says, to show how to avoid negative consequences. The cam- paign also included posters and coasters placed at license-holding establishments in three target markets: Harrisburg, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. When interviewing their target audience before beginning the campaign, Stacy Kriedeman, the deputy director of external affairs for the PLCB, says the board learned that almost everyone knew a friend who had abused alcohol, so they decided to focus on the "friend perspective" and encourage people to help others make better decisions. "A lot of media efforts out there are focused on pre- venting underage drinking, so this is a new area for us and there's a lot of potential for different social responsi- bility messages to come out of this campaign," Coombe says. "For example, in this campaign we asked what does StateWays s www.stateways.com s May/June 2012