This document discusses the issue of alcohol abuse among young people in New Zealand and outlines a marketing strategy and recommendations for an advertising campaign to address it. It notes that alcohol abuse has become normalized in New Zealand culture and many young people learn drinking behaviors from their parents. The objectives are to change social norms around drinking and reduce underage consumption by 2020. The proposed strategy targets parents to educate them on the dangers of supplying alcohol to children and encourage them to be positive role models. Recommendations include television ads depicting health risks of alcohol and using packaging-style warnings.

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Ministry of Health (Legislation)
Marketing Communication Individual Report
Student Name: Daniel Chuah
Student No: 14833837
Due date: 22/09/2014
Group 12

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Table of Contents
1.0Executive Summary…………….…………………………………………………………3
2.0Introduction……..………………………………………………………...………………..4
3.0The Current Situation……………….…………………………………………………….4
3.1Drinking Culture in New Zealand………………………………………………..4-5
3.2Drinking Patterns among Teenagers……………………………………………...5
3.3Supply of Alcohol to Young People……………………………………………..5-6
4.0Marketing Objectives…….………………………………………………………………..6
4.1Where do we want to be?………………..…………………………………………6
5.0Marketing Strategy……………..………………………………………………………….6
5.1What are we doing to get there?………….......…………………………...……...7
5.2How can we make this law believable?............................................................7
6.0Who do we need to talk to?......................................................................................7
7.0Implementation….…………………………………………………………………………8
8.0Recommendations…….…………………………………………………………………..8
9.0Appendices…..…………………………………………………………………………9-10
10.0 References…...………………………………………………………………………..11
11.0 Bibliography……….………………………………………………………………….12

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1.0 Executive Summary
The purpose of this report is to examine the misuse of alcohol consumption by
young people. It describes the harmful effects associated with alcohol abuse and to
outline policy options for both regulating the use of alcohol and reducing the consumption
of alcohol. Furthermore, this report is mainly for the purpose of giving a clear direction for
the agency to work on campaigns clarifying the importance of the new alcohol law that
was implemented and the considerations of health purposes.
The Ministry of Health believes that good creative advertising executions need to
be done for the public to be aware of the current misuse and drinking problems faced by
our country especially the young drinkers. Advertising components must be aligned with
the big idea to fit perfectly with the cultural trends and standards of New Zealand.
This report will include an introduction to our organization, the current situation,
marketing objectives, marketing strategies, implementations and recommendations for
the agency.

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2.0 Introduction
On 18th December 2013, New Zealand’s alcohol law was changed. It is illegal to
supply alcohol to someone under 18 unless the person supplying alcohol is a parent or
legal guardian. If alcohol is supplied to under aged children, there will be a fine up to 2000
dollars. We as the Ministry of Health are the ones responsible to educate and inform New
Zealanders on the harmful substances of alcohol in our body and the law relating to the
supply of alcohol to young people and licenses responsibilities. We know that this new
law has been taken lightly by business owners and parents and we would like your help
in tackling the problem.
According to the Ministry of Health (2013), among people who had consumed
alcohol in the past 12 months (‘past-year drinkers’), one in five (19%) had hazardous
drinking patterns. This is about 532,000 people (Ministry of Health, 2013). Alcohol abuse
has been a tremendously big issue for our country and we would like to try and control or
stop alcohol abuse. Alcohol is one of the most commonly used drugs in New Zealand
(Health Promotion Agency, n.d.).
Moreover, statistics and data have shown that more young drinkers have been on
alcohol abuse and this poses a threat to our nation. With this new law being implemented,
we hope to control and stop the abuse of alcohol and supply to under age children. We
need your help in this by first researching thoroughly what the cause of alcohol abuse is
in our country and second how do we tackle it. Public awareness campaigns have been
run throughout the month of December in the year 2013 such as the “Cooldad”
commercial but it still does not place any effect among Kiwis.
3.0 The Current Situation
Alcohol abuse is a common thing here in New Zealand. We as the Ministry of
Health are facing problems with the consumption of alcohol especially from teenagers.
3.1 Drinking Culture in New Zealand
Alcohol is a legal, regulated and widely available product and an unquestionable
feature of contemporary New Zealand social relations. The large majority of New Zealand
adults drink at least occasionally and, for many, alcohol is used positively and in
moderation as a symbol of hospitality and in the celebration of important events (Alcohol
Advisory Council of New Zealand and Ministry of Health, 2001). However, research has
stated that New Zealand has a drinking culture whereby Kiwis tend to abuse the
consumption of alcohol. We believe that alcohol abuse is such a common thing in New
Zealand due to the social norm among Kiwis especially to the Maori and Pacific ethnic
group. (Appendix 1) Parents are also supplying or giving alcohol to their children under
the legal age. Most young drinkers learn the ways of drinking from their parents and this

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poses a huge problem for our country. In addition, teenagers tend to abuse alcohol in
ways such as “Binge Drinking” or as we call it pre-loading before getting into town.
Although binge drinking by young people is a primary concern for the country, we should
also seek and advice younger aged drinkers on the negative effects of alcohol. Teenagers
enjoy alcohol more and more due to the exposure of social media and the easy access
of alcohol that can be bought in nearby stores. Most teenagers now tend to post party
events, pictures of themselves being drunk, and more on social media platforms such as
Facebook, Twitter, etc. They tend to update themselves with their friends on different
party events and night clubs just so that they fit with society. With this, a large proportion
of young drinkers are learning the ways of their seniors with the access of social media.
They tend to perceive the drinking activity as something socially acceptable. Most parents
have not been helping much in this situation as well as they do not mind their children
under the age limit to drink one or two cups of alcohol. They view the situation as
something normal and it is done by everyone such as their neighbors, brothers and sisters
that have their own children. In the 2004 “New Zealand Health Behaviours Survey –
Alcohol Use”, 6.8 percent of young people aged 12 to 17 and 29.6 percent aged 18 to 24
reported drinking at least six standard drinks (men) or four standard drinks (women) one
or more times a week (Youth Statistics, 2004).
3.2 Drinking Patterns among Teenagers
Due to the fact that alcohol is easily accessible in our country, Kiwis tend to use
this to their advantage by abusing it. (Appendix 2) From the chart, we can see that the
highest alcohol consumption are of the age 18 to 24. Teenagers are now buying and
drinking alcohol at any time of the day. Most of them are now pre-loading in the afternoon
till night before heading to nightclubs. This is due to the fact that nightclubs and pubs are
selling alcohol at a more expensive price. Teenagers tend to think they are saving more
money if they pre-load alcohol that is bought in grocery stores or other off-licenses places.
The intention of young drinkers does not revolve around how intoxicated he or she
becomes. For them, it is “OK” to get drunk as long as it is not an everyday thing. Some
even stated that “You are not enjoying your night if you could still remember what has
happened”. This places a primary concern for the country as we need to try and improve
our social standards and upbringing of our younger generations.
3.3 Supply of Alcohol to Young People
In our country, the main sources of supply in alcohol to young people under the
minimum legal purchase age are reported to be parents, legal guardian and friends.
Children are learning the ways of drinking alcohol from parents and they think that this is
acceptable. Parents have also been through the same scenario when they were a child
and this has been an on-going cycle through generations. Although it is morally wrong,
parents still think it’s best for them to teach their kids rather than outsiders. In 2007, just
over a third of students (37.4% of males, 33.1% of females) thought it was okay for people
their age to drink alcohol regularly, and just under two-thirds (62.9%) reported that their

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parents drink (Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand and Ministry of Health, 2007).
Besides that, there is also a significant variation between ethnic groups in the usual
sources of alcohol. Maori, Asian and NZ European students all reported friends, parents,
and getting someone else to buy it for them is the most common sources of alcohol.
However, this varies as to how Pacific students obtain alcohol. They most likely get
alcohol from parents, getting someone else to buy it for me, an acquaintance gives to me,
and siblings.
4.0 Marketing Objectives
We as a nation have to work together to make a social change for our future
generations. It is getting worse as generations gone by. At one time it used to be that
people started drinking alcohol at the age of 17 but now it is as young as 10 years old.
4.1 Where do we want to be?
We want our country to learn from others and change the way we see things.
Alcohol abuse has become a social norm for our country and we would like this to change.
It is the biggest threat to our children, our country and our society. By the year of 2020,
we would like our country to be free from alcohol abuse. We would like on and off licenses
businesses to supply alcohol responsibly. We want drunkenness to be seen as socially
unacceptable and for young people to delay drinking until they are older.
5.0 Marketing Strategy
The main objective of your advertisement should be aligned against an existing
strategy; perhaps a marketing strategy, communications strategy or a campaign strategy.
A process which involves the management and organization of all ‘agents’ in the analysis,
planning, implementation and control of all marketing communications contacts, media,
messages and promotional tools focused at selected target audiences in such a way as
to derive the greatest enhancement and coherence of marketing communications effort
in achieving predetermined product and corporate marketing communications objectives
(Pickton & Broderick, 2005).

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5.1 What are we doing to get there?
How do we want our target audience to describe the new implementation of law
and dangers of misusing alcohol especially to the young? How would they talk about
future perception and societal norms of the country?
The culture of intoxication such as binge drinking or pre-drinking is a huge problem
for our country and it has been a known fact among the Kiwis. Research has shown that
52 percent of young drinkers learn drinking from their parents or legal guardian. This
poses a threat to our country as we need to tackle the parents and bring awareness to
them. We need to raise the awareness on the dangers of alcohol consumption in a short
period of time by posting up pictures and videos of people getting admitted to hospitals
due to alcohol abuse.
5.2 How can we make this law believable?
Fifty percent of New Zealanders accept drunkenness as socially acceptable with
1.2 million believing it’s okay to get drunk, 350 000 binge-drinking on their last drinking
occasion and 275 000 setting out to get drunk on their last drinking occasion (Alcohol
Advisory Council, n.d.).We as a country need to not accept this and to change the way
we see things. We can demonstrate that we know how people feel by showing them how
they feel: like a Child-Adult effect. Alcohol is uniquely placed to ‘own’ this insight because
to quote from respondents in groups, “my Dad gave me beer when I was a kid”. This is
enormously powerful. Alcohol is in a very real sense a part of almost everyone’s lives.
6.0 Who do we need to talk to?
We need to target the adults primarily the parents. Through data and research
collected, we know that most young drinkers learn how to drink from their parents or legal
guardian. By forming a more stable relationship among parents and children, we can
tackle this problem. Parents have to know the danger of letting their children have a drink
at such a young age. Verity Johnson stated that adults need to help teach teenagers. Set
a good example at home. Be a mentor not a tormentor. Otherwise teens might not make
it to adulthood (Johnson, 2012). The youth drinking culture may broadly mirror the adult
drinking culture.

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7.0 Implementation
Is there any anything else worth thinking about that might help our country improve
and to meet our objectives? The Child-adult insight is a paradox like “Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde” – one person embodying two polar opposites. Currently the legal drinking age is
18 years old at which alcohol may be purchased by 18 years and above. This message
has to be sent across to the country. We do not want business owners and parents to
take this lightly by supplying or giving alcohol to the young. We must use this opportunity
to build an emotional bridge among parents and children. Let’s try to move away from
rational executions but try to create a compelling and meaningful message to parents
across our country.
8.0 Recommendations
We would like the agency to come up with a good creative campaign that would
help bring awareness to parents on the importance and danger of supplying alcohol to
the young. We want parents to be an example for their children.
The direction of the campaign would have to explain the consequences of adults
forgetting their youth. By not remembering their youth, parents are unable to put their
shoes to educate the prospect of their own child. Moreover, this could lead the future
parents in the next generation a blur image. This could be in any form of advertising
campaign acts or social media campaigns.
There should also be television commercials depicting the harmful substances that
stays in our body when we drink alcohol and what health problems may arise when we
drink too much. Such as the case of packaging warning pictures on cigarette boxes, we
need to portray the exact same feeling as it is to drinking alcohol in through the line
advertising.
We want to get people talking about the ads so that the new law implementation
will be the first thing they think of before supplying or giving alcohol to their children.
2253 words.

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9.0 Appendices
Appendix 1
Figure 1. Statistics showing potentially hazardous drinking, among all adults aged 15
years and over by ethnic group and sex. Retrieved from
http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/snapshots-of-nz/nz-social-
indicators/Home/Health/hazardous-drinking.aspx. Copyright 2013 by the New Zealand
data. Reprinted with permission.

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Appendix 2
Figure 2. Statistics showing potentially hazardous drinking, among all adults aged 15
years and over by age group and sex. Retrieved from
http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/snapshots-of-nz/nz-social-
indicators/Home/Health/hazardous-drinking.aspx. Copyright 2013 by the New Zealand
data. Reprinted with permission.

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10.0 References
Pickton, D., Broderick, A. (2005). Integrated marketing communications (2nd ed.). United
Kingdom: Pearson Education Limited.
Johnson, V. (2012). Blame parents for teen binge drinking culture. Retrieved September
7, 2014, from http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10816923
Youth Statistics. (2014). Hazardous and problem drinking. Retrieved September 8, 2014,
from http://www.youthstats.myd.govt.nz/indicator/healthy/problem-drinking/index.html
Ministry of Health. (2013). Hazardous drinking in 2011/2012: Findings from the New
Zealand Health Survey. Retrieved September 8, 2014, from
http://www.health.govt.nz/publication/hazardous-drinking-2011-12-findings-new-
zealand-health-survey
Ministry of Justice. (n.d.). Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand. Retrieved September
9, 2014, from http://www.justice.govt.nz/publications/global-publications/d/directory-of-
official-information-archive/directory-of-official-information-december-2009/alphabetical-
list-of-entries-1/a/alcohol-advisory-council-of-new-zealand
Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand. (2007). The Health and Wellbeing of
Secondary School Students in New Zealand. Retrieved September 10, 2014, from
http://www.alcohol.org.nz/sites/default/files/research-
publications/pdfs/Youth'07_Alcohol_Report.pdf

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11.0 Bibliography
Health Promotion Agency. (n.d.). Publicity Campaign. Retrieved September 11, 2014,
from http://www.alcohol.org.nz/cooldad
Health Promotion Agency. (n.d.). Liquor Licenses. Retrieved September 11, 2014, from
http://www.alcohol.org.nz/legislation-policy/liquor-licences
Ministry of Justice. (n.d.). The Current Situation – An Overview. Retrieved September 11,
2014, from http://www.justice.govt.nz/publications/global-publications/s/the-sale-and-
supply-of-alcohol-to-under-18-year-olds-in-nz/5-the-current-situation-2013-an-overview
Informa Healthcare. (2007). Parent attitudes on the supply of alcohol to minors. Retrieved
September 12, 2014, from
http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09595230601037018