Alcohol is the most consumed drug in Uruguay, above the world average. 8 out of 10 young people in our country drink excessively at least once a week and beer represents 55% of the total amount of alcohol consumed annually.

However, the most alarming statistic is that only 1 out of 4 frequent consumers recognizes that there is a risk in this kind of behavior. This happens because moderate consumption is highly subjective; it depends on each consumer.

Many campaigns addressed this issue, but most of them failed in the attempt to cause changes in society. These campaigns were effective during a short period of time and didn’t tackle the problem from its root.

#ASKFORWATER is a social campaign whose objective is to promote alcohol consumption in a smart way. We want leisure and enjoyment moments to be special and not overshadowed by alcohol abuse.

We valorize these moments by means of something as pure as water, so as to make them safer and healthier.

This is why we launched an idea to solve this major problem in a simple way, “if you drink, ask for water”.

A social movement by AB InBev that seeks to change the culture, inviting people to alternate water with alcohol.

Moderate alcohol consumption is highly subjective; it depends a lot on the consumer.

With #ASKFORWATER we’ll instill in the society the habit of asking for water each time someone has a drink, and highlight the importance of a responsible consumption.

Just like beer represents gathering with friends, we’ll transform the concept of water, relating it to responsible consumption in a non-invasive manner, empowering people.

The campaign has an attractive tone for the target audience, creating a positive and modern association with responsible consumption.

The campaign had three stages of communication:

1- Impact – A new movement.

We’ll position water in moments where it has never been present before, making it epitome of responsible consumption.

2- Expand – Water in alcohol consumption situations.

We must go from a movement to a habit.

3- Transform – A responsible culture.

We’ll turn into a non-profit organization that represents the responsible consumption.

The campaign was carried out during the season of highest alcohol consumption (35% of our sales).

We partnered up with top Uruguayan celebrities and opinion leaders to launch a 360 campaign. The message was simple and clear: IF YOU DRINK, ASK FOR WATER.

Profiles with different ages, professions and styles allowed us to segment our audience and communicate in a natural way.

We worked together with the main restaurants and bars of each area to serve free water in-between drinks. We also gave them more than 10,000 bottles of water with the campaign’s message.

Geo Ads were targeted to the areas with highest sales (Digital and OOH) to strengthen the message.

Micro-influencers also joined the campaign making the message even closer for our target audience.

A social War Room was implemented on the first two months of campaign to assure the conversation reached deeper levels.

The habit of drinking water increased 9% during the first two months of the campaign.

It was the campaign with largest scope of the year and 95% of its outreach was through earned media.

Main Bars and restaurants in Uruguay joined the campaign (x3 forecast KPIs).

The Government placed water stations at events where alcohol was sold.