Like, comment, share: alcohol brand activity on Facebook

Abstract

...this research poses six questions for policy makers and regulators about this mode of alcohol marketing: How extensive and continuous should alcohol branding be? Current regulation of alcohol marketing does not address the volume or extensiveness of alcohol promotions. On Facebook, alcohol brands distribute a continuous stream of marketing content through the news feeds of their fans. This content is often interrelated with everyday practices and events. Facebook is being used to embed alcohol consumption in everyday life. Branding on Facebook is integrated with consumers’ visual, mobile and continuous mediation of everyday life. Regulatory frameworks should clearly address not only the content of promotional messages but also the volume, reach and impressions of those messages, together with the level of engagement they generate as consumers interact with them. What kind of collaboration with consumers is appropriate? Alcohol brands are using Facebook to get consumers to collaborate in the creation and circulation of brand messages. Current regulation of alcohol marketing does not address what kind of collaboration with consumers is appropriate. Policy makers need to explicitly address in regulatory approaches the role that marketers get consumers to play in their alcohol marketing activities. What kind of engagement with everyday life is appropriate? Alcohol brands are using Facebook to leverage real-world promotions. Current regulatory approaches make a distinction between traditional forms of advertising and real-world promotional activities. However, on Facebook real-world promotions are used to produce media content. Policy makers need to develop regulatory approaches that encompass all forms of alcohol marketing activity in one framework. How should global branding activities be addressed? Alcohol brands are using Facebook to develop global approaches to branding. Some brands have already moved to global brand pages that have several million fans and so offer a direct channel to an enormous target market. They also enable the centralisation of content production and data collection about that audience. Policy makers need to address the global strategies of the alcohol industry. What kind of surveillance and targeting is appropriate? The mode of branding evolving on Facebook involves extensive surveillance of fans and targeting of content in real time. Regulation of alcohol brands needs to address not just the content and messages distributed by brands, but also what information is collected about consumers and how it is used. Policy makers should challenge the industry to be transparent about what information is collected about consumers and how it is used. How transparent should alcohol brands be about their activities? The activities of alcohol brands on Facebook are not all public. This makes it difficult for governments, policy makers and researchers cannot scrutinise their activities. At the same time the industry is amassing large amounts of data about target markets and the extent to which content is seen and interacted with. Considering the industry has extensive data about the extent of interaction online, policy makers should challenge the industry to be more transparent about its marketing activities.

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