Chamber and committees

Our Alcohol Framework set out a commitment to engaging in a national marketing campaign to increase public awareness of the UK Chief Medical Officers’ lower-risk drinking guidelines. The ‘Count 14’ campaign aims to increase awareness of the weekly 14 unit lower-risk guidelines and to break down what this means in terms of specific alcoholic drinks.

We delivered the Count 14 marketing campaign over two phases, for three weeks in March 2019 and for six weeks through January and February 2020. The campaign included TV, radio, print and digital advertising as well a roadshow in local supermarkets and a range of partnerships.

The campaign was evaluated independently via pre and post campaign tracker surveys. I have today published an evaluation report summarising the effectiveness of the campaign, available at www.gov.scot/isbn/9781800047976 .

The results are positive and demonstrate that the campaign has made a positive impact on increasing awareness and understanding of the UK CMOs’ low-risk drinking guidelines in Scotland.

The proportion of those aware of guidelines, who could identify 14 units as the correct weekly limit, substantially increased from 21% pre-Count 14 to 39% after both phases of the campaign, an 18% increase. Among all of those surveyed, not just those who were aware of guidelines, awareness of the 14 unit limit increased from 17% pre-Count 14 activity to 32% after both phases.

The Scottish Government will consider future national marketing and health messaging on alcohol consumption in light of these findings.