New York, NY (1888PressRelease)
April 26, 2009 - In an innovative use of social media, the students of the Pace University-New York Advertising Team launched a new initiative to combat the dangerous over-consumption of alcohol on college campuses around the country. To coincide with its campaign developed for the American Advertising Federation’s National Student Advertising Competition, Pace-NY’s Advertising Team has taken the initiative to begin to reach out to students throughout the country with the message that students “have had enough” of excessive drinking.
Pace-NY Ad Team estimates that over $1 Billion has been spent by the world’s leading communicators in the fight against alcohol abuse. Regardless, binge drinking rates on college campuses have remained relatively unchanged. After careful research, the team has developed a campaign that targets and effectively leverages the powerful influence of the friend in binge drinking culture on college campuses with a presence on Facebook becoming an important element in the campaign.
According to the team’s primary research, 66% of binge drinkers would listen to a friend when confronted about their behavior. Research also shows that only the friend of the drinker has the level of influence that can convince students to change their drinking behaviors. Over 80% of college drinkers said they would reduce their consumption if confronted by a friend.
By empowering friends to finally speak up, the Had Enough campaign creates a customized message that provides a deeper impact on students lives than would a campaign tailored to the binge drinker. Although students say they feel comfortable talking to their friends about drinking habits, they do not always speak up out of fear that their advice will not be accepted or welcome.
“As college students, we know that the strongest influence in our lives, and especially on our drinking habits, is our friends,” said Pace-NY Ad Team President and senior marketing major David Trahan. “For many students drinking is an integral part of college life. Students aren’t drinking alone – they are drinking with their friends, and because of that, we realized that the consequences of drinking come on a peer-to-peer level.”
The social media outreach will begin with a Facebook initiative and Causes application that is designed to spark an open dialogue for students to create discussions, express their feelings and share negative experiences related to a friend’s drinking. The page will feature viral videos and interviews with students in the greater New York area about their drinking-related experiences. The Pace-NY Ad Team expects that this campaign will facilitate important conversations about drinking habits between peers and increase awareness of the consequences of binge drinking on college campuses.
For more information contact: Jackie Berg, Pace University at: jacqueline.berg ( @ ) pace dot edu | (302) 437-6010 or David Trahan, Pace University at: david dot w dot trahan ( @ ) pace dot edu | (508) 369-6187 dot You can learn more about the Pace University Advertising team at http://webpage dot pace dot edu/paceadteam/
The Had Enough Facebook page can be accessed once you have logged in to Facebook, at this link:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Had-Enough/63699867279.
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