Australian Anti Ice Campaign (AAIC)
Introduction
Australian Anti Ice Campaign (AAIC) is one of the leading awareness campaigns in Australia. Essentially, AAIC offers individuals and communities education and prevention awareness about the ICE (Methamphetamine). ICE is a controversial substance used both as a recreational drug as well as second-line treatment for individuals with obesity and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders. However, the drug has already been declared a national menace by the Australian government due its associated health risk. AAIC targets various stakeholders such as families, parents, children and youth. These are individuals who are the risk of the dangers and consequences of consuming ICE, and the campaign seeks to expose such as adverse effects of the stimulant. Brisbane is one of the Australia’s largest city that has been targeted for this campaign.
Evaluation and Analysis
AAIC employs a number of strategies to reach its target audience and effect the desired change. Firstly, the campaign runs many in-school programs to sensitize school children, educators and other stakeholders about the addictiveness and other destructive effects of ICE. One of the notable factors that have boosted AAIC’s effectiveness is collaboration with a large support network of scientists, healthcare organizations, counselors, rehabilitation centers as well as family support groups with local communities in Australia. The organization also conducts extensive workshops
AAIC’s communication strategy has contributed immensely to the campaign’s success. Effective emotional appeal in its advertisements has helped AAIC to resonate and gain support of many of many individuals and groups. For instance, the organization employs individuals who have recovered from Ice addiction and adopt their horrific stories in its media campaigns against the drug. The organization integrates such stories into different high impact promotions which are conducted through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other traditional platforms.
The other notable strength of AAIC’s communication strategy strong media presence. Since its inception, AAIC has taken advantage of the available types of media to create more awareness about ICE. These include social media saturation, radio and television commercials, and national billboards among others. This multichannel communication strategy has helped to reach a wider audience more conveniently, cost-effectively and more quickly. According to Laroche et al. (2013) multichannel approaches helps presents the diverse audience with information as well as the ability to react to the information across a variety of communication channels. AAIC’s multichannel approach to advertising helps the campaign to reach and appeal to school children, adolescents, middle-aged adults, parents and other groups of people. ICE not only destroys the users’ physical and mental health and increases suicide risk. As such, the drug has far-reaching effects on families and friendships and this why AAIC has continued to campaign against it.
The effectiveness of AAIC’s media strategy and exposure is evidenced by its ability to attract partners from across all sectors. In the state of Queensland, the campaign has partnered with renowned organizations such as Vodafone, Hansen Ford, Mercer & Cooper, The Drug Detection Agency, and Complete Security Australia among others. The collaboration with these organizations and agencies has helped AAIC to roll out its programs in highly populated places such as Brisbane, LongReach, and Cannmulla. Moreover, AAIC’s partnership with these organizations during media campaigns has also helped to appeal to a wider audience. According to Mirońska & Zaborek (2019) collaborative campaigning helps to bring together a range of experiences, expertise knowledge and sharing of resources. In so doing, campaigns reach a broader base of audience and supporters.
The other notable success of this campaign is excellence in primary and secondary prevention.
It should be noted that the anti-Ice campaign role model program employed by AAIC has already been tested and confirmed to be successful in the United States. According to Australian Anti Ice Campaign (2020), this role model program has helped the US reduce ICE by 80 percent over the last decade. This implies that if well implemented in Brisbane and other major cities in Australia, AAIC can effectively cut down the consumption of ICE thus saving the citizenry from its associated risks.
Recommendations
While AAIC and its partners have strived to sensitize the Australian population about ICE, the problem is far from over since addiction levels are still high in the country. The first strategy that may be adopted to enhance its effectiveness in creating awareness more targeted prevention campaign using a more robust social media strategy. As social media becomes more popular among people from all ages, it is important for AAIC to adopt a more targeted prevention social media campaigns that targets specific groups of people. The organization should adopt some of the new social media platforms such as popular such as TikTok, Lasso, Vero and Steemit to reach a wider audience.
According to the stemming the demand for ice should prioritize evidence-based prevention strategies that have been appropriately targeted. For instance, AAIC should develop new social media campaigns and events that specifically target firs-time ICE users, typically the adolescents. This strategy will help AAIC to address some of social determinants of drug and substance risk factors that contribute to abuse and addiction for people in different age groups. Moreover, AAIC should increase its multisector collaboration in order to increase its reach and capacity. This means collaboration with social institutions within the society to eradicate negative drug culture associated with ICE. In the words of Galbraith (2015) methamphetamine use as a recreational drug continues to rise across the world. AIC should thus collaborate with other stakeholders to cultivate the right attitudes, knowledge and understanding of ICE and its true effects.