PAN-GRAMPIAN ALCOHOL & DRUG PARTNERSHIPS CAMPAIGN REPORT NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION (NEW PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES)

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1 PAN-GRAMPIAN ALCOHOL & DRUG PARTNERSHIPS CAMPAIGN REPORT NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION (NEW PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES) Background The three Grampian Alcohol & Drug Partnerships, Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray came together early in 2014 to develop and deliver a campaign targeted towards raising awareness of issues around new psychoactive substances (NPS), usually referred to as legal highs (somewhat unhelpfully) in the popular media. With increasing concerns being reported across the partnership areas and indeed nationally in terms of prevalence of NPS use (with the Scottish Government also making NPS a ministerial priority from onwards) the three ADP areas looked to develop and deliver a campaign targeted at potential experimental users (i.e. those who might not be fully aware of the risks/and or contemplating use of such substances). Furthermore, with many NPS substances regularly becoming available (and not controlled by current legislation) the perceived ease of availability (via both online and via high street head-shops ), gives additional concern. In terms of evidence of effectiveness, a previous campaign evaluation Home Office Insight Project from (utilising the web based Talk to Frank resource) concluded that communications appeared more effective with the contemplators/dabblers audience. Effectiveness of communications with a user audience was seen as more questionable, in particular where finite campaign resources are involved. Interventions for the latter group were thought better delivered through health/community interactions (from the Drugscope, Business as Usual, a status report on NPS, May 2014). 1

2 Campaign Development & Key Message A previous event held in Aberdeen City hosted by Transition Extreme and funded by Police Scotland and Aberdeen City Alcohol & Drug Partnership allowed an opportunity to engage a broad population of young people (secondary school age and above) around messages regarding NPS, i.e. that legal does not = safe. Young people engaged with the Transition Extreme Academy prior to the event came up with the message not for human consumption as a play and reference to the packaging and branding of NPS products which display this term as a disclaimer when selling the products online or on the high street. The true purpose of use is hidden behind a clever range of product branding (for example selling as; herbal incense, bath salts, chemical research powders/pellets etc). Importantly this key message was well received and understood by other young people and various stakeholders and therefore having being tested in this way was adopted as the key message for the purpose of this campaign where it was felt that an unofficial and a non-overtly health directed message was essential. Again evidence suggests that issues regarding health risks are often overlooked where the legal status of substances is the more prescient aspect in terms of factors that influence decisions to initiate use of NPS. A decision was taken to engage The Big Partnership a PR and digital marketing agency with a wide operating base across Scotland with the required expertise and insight in terms of the campaign outcomes. This took the form of a social media approach and it was further agreed that no additional publicity would be used within the campaign (to reflect the online nature and appeal of such substances) with Facebook as the singular campaign tool identified as desirable for effective delivery. The Campaign format was developed with the idea of enticing potential experimental users as customers through creation of bespoke adverts similar to those currently in active use by NPS vendors. All adverts linked to a specially created website which would display a range of NPS placebo products (created to mimic the real NPS products currently available). Although it might seem to risk bringing undue attention to NPS for those with little current awareness, it is clear however that with 1,330,000 Google search returns for legal highs and 434,000 similar returns for buy legal highs (accessed Oct 2014) there is already a well established presence. Of course notwithstanding the estimated 631 online vendors available (2011 data), and high levels of media coverage, it is arguably difficult to avoid attention. Furthermore the Royal College of Psychiatrists recommend in a recent report (One New Drug a Week (2014) that both users and the general public should be more empowered through education. Target Audience: Geographic area of Grampian Age range Interests music, music festivals and various music genre 2

3 Adverts used: 3 different adverts Blue 52, Cosmic Dust, Elevator, Hyperspace Tried Legal Highs? Huge Range Available 3

4 Campaign Adverts (3) 4

5 Website Homepage Anyone deciding to show further interest in the advertisements visited the retail website were they were presented with the shop window with the full range of products apparently for sale: When clicking on any of the products visitors were then immediately met with the key message for the campaign Not for Human Consumption and with a 5

6 further click then redirected finally to an information portal (the MYCREW website): This site contains more detailed and thorough information on key messages around NPS and specific NPS products including support options that can be easily accessed. CREW a harm reduction organisation (based in Edinburgh) were specifically chosen as being already funded by the Scottish Government Drug Policy unit with a remit to provide information, education, training and general expertise around NPS nationally. 6

7 Campaign Deliverables Over the 5 week campaign period (2 nd July 2014 to 8 th August 2014), the Facebook advertising campaign reached a total of 121,652 people and resulted in 2,066 clicks through to the website. Advert Huge Range Available Legal Highs Interested? Reach & Web Clicks 47,697 (909) Comments Likes MYCREW Hits Tried Legal Highs? Check out our website 41,058 (663) Blue 52, Cosmic Dust, Elevator, Hyperspace Check out our website 32,897 (494) Total: 121,652 (2,066)

8 Google Analytics Review (Demographics) 8

9 Google Analytics Review (Social Media Platforms) Page Views Pages Sessions Average Bounce Rate % Session Duration 2, : On average, each user viewed 2.33 pages which equated to 1,572 users clicking through and thus increasing exposure to the not for human consumption key message. The average time spent on the site was just over one minute which would also suggest that users were taking the time to consider the options on the website given the fact there was not a lot of content on this site. The bounce rate is 46.38% which is strong, showing that the majority of users stayed on the page and didn t leave the website immediately. The average bounce rate for websites is between 40% and 60%. Furthermore, whilst the campaign was live a total of 134 individual messages were left via the Facebook page. Many of these messages were from people angry that the adverts had appeared in their news feed and they posted comments to that effect. In order to correct any misperceptions about the purpose of the campaign a further two adverts were run via Facebook. The adverts contained a short message and advertised the MYCREW website. 9

10 Target Audience Geographic area of Grampian Age range Interests music, music festivals and various music genre Adverts used 2 different adverts Thanks for your support. Continue to show your concerns about legal highs. Please share. Against legal highs? Legal highs are not for human consumption. Show your support against legal highs. Pls share. Anti legal highs? Follow Up Phase Deliverables (21 st August 4 th September 2014) Reach Website clicks Comments Likes 28,

11 Campaign Results Summary The Facebook adverts were targeted to a potential audience of 121,652 with over 2,000 Facebook users clicking on the advertisements and visiting the Legal Highs website (with a total of 1,572 engaged with the Not for Human Consumption key message). Given the broad base of potential audience and of course that not everyone targeting would display an interest in NPS products, it was interesting to note that nearly a quarter (21% (424) of the overall visitors) to the Legal Highs website subsequently clicked through to MYCREW website. On average, each user viewed 2.33 pages and spent just over one minute on the site (and with the bounce rate of 46.38% which is strong), demonstrated that the majority of users stayed on the page and didn t leave the website immediately. The majority of website traffic came from males (54%) Interestingly, a pattern emerged in that clicks were coming from people with a common interest in sports/individual sports/running and walking and the majority of clicks came from people living in UK, but also reached people living in the Netherlands and USA. Campaign costs: 3, (excluding VAT). This included web page design and build, legal high packaging creation, Facebook advertising design/spend and associated administration and project management. 11

12 Conclusion The campaign was a completely novel and therefore untested approach with a budget set that reflected a degree of caution. That said, when compared directly with previous ADP sponsored media based campaigns utilising other platforms, the cost effectiveness is clearly high with this particular approach whereby only a single social media platform was employed. Although the number of those successfully engaged (2,066) in comparison to the overall reach (121,652) appears to show at a very slight proportion (1.69% of overall reach), statistics used by local media provided by the Internet Advertising Bureau suggest an average of 0.08% engagement rate via online advertising. This would suggest, particularly given that respondents had to click through more than once in order to reach the message, that this is a very strong response rate indeed. This could potentially also be read as a relatively strong response when factoring in as a proxy the broad prevalence estimates of NPS use in Scotland (generally considered to be lower in the adult population than illegal drug use, but often higher in younger age groups). However a degree of caution needs to be exercised in this instance when working with population based estimates and making comparisons with campaign interactions. The campaign will have potentially reached a number of individuals who could be classified as curious as opposed to demonstrating a strong desire to actually purchase NPS products online. The approach taken was broad enough to have significant reach, but obviously this precluded non Facebook users and others within the overall target population. Value was demonstrated in the ability to reach an audience extremely difficult to target accurately with more conventional or traditional methodology. The campaign approach has also been effective in providing a useful baseline for measuring deliverables. With a strong ratio of reach/hits and a high level of engagement on the web pages, this provides encouragement for any further campaign development utilising this format. Initial reports from the Google analytics for the MYCREW webpage also support the reach of the campaign. For example, Aberdeen based hits referred from outnumbered those from the Edinburgh (normally highest) area itself during the period of the campaign. Further analysis and comparative work will be required in order to make fuller conclusions. Although 134 negative comments were received, in the spirit of what the campaign was trying to achieve these were in fact positive and conducive to the overall message aim. Furthermore it would be difficult to see a situation in which this sort of anti-nps publicity could be generated free of cost. Other learning points not available until now point to the type of advert most likely to attract interest as well as improving recognition of the demographics of those engaged with the campaign. 12

13 The website will remain live over the coming year, and further discussions will take place in terms of refreshing the campaign for a further period during Applying learning from the demographics of respondents and the effectiveness of specific advertisements could further the longevity of the campaign message, also taking into account any further policy and legislative developments that may arise regarding new psychoactive substances. ADP Campaign Leads: Heather Wilson (Aberdeen City), Christine Herron (Aberdeenshire) Paul Johnson (Moray) & Leah Dawson (NHS Grampian) Report Compilation: Fraser Hoggan (Aberdeen City) Report Statistics: Suzanne Bennett (The Big Partnership) October