In this AdForum exercise, you start with the research, then use that research to choose a creative solution. Advertising is often used to address social problems, and in this exercise you will have a choice of two very serious ones. The first is binge drinking, which is most prevalent in young people (18–25). The second is domestic violence.
You will start with the research. Information about binge drinkingcan be found here: http://www.cspinet.org/booze/collfact1.
htm and information about domestic violence is here: http://helpguide.org/mental/domestic_violence_abuse_types_signs_causes_effects.htm. You may wish to supplement what you learn about these problems with your own secondary research search.
Now it’s your turn. Using the research at these sites, as well as any additional research findings that you found, propose a campaign to battle the problem. Think carefully about:
■ Who are the possible targets of a campaign about this problem?
■ What should the campaign do? Raise awareness? Persuade? Change a behavior?
■ How can advertising do this? Think about the consumer influences you read about in Chapter 5.
■ What kinds of ads should be used?
■ What kinds of posttesting could help to assess the campaign?

You may wish to compare your ideas with advertising professionals. If so, when you are finished, go to the AdForum Playlist for Chapter 7. You will find two cases there that represent real attempts to deal with the problems you’ve been thinking about.