Sip Safe
By Y&R Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
For Monash University
Crème de la Crème in category Health & Wellness
In subcategory Consumer-Traditional
Project Description
4,500 Australians have their drink spiked every year - 40% of which lead to sexual assaults.
As a caretaker of young people Monash University set a brief to help educate and make their students and the wider community more aware of drink safety.
The objectives we set out to achieve were to instil young people with the ability to ensure their safety when socialising in various surroundings.
A key indicator of success was to see a change in awareness of drink safety by creating behavioural change at a key moment in life. This change in behaviour was crucial in the ultimate objective of preventing drink spiking before it happens.
The product has been prototyped, refined, launched, rolled out at scale and is available for commercial purchase.
As a caretaker of young people Monash University set a brief to help educate and make their students and the wider community more aware of drink safety.
The objectives we set out to achieve were to instil young people with the ability to ensure their safety when socialising in various surroundings.
A key indicator of success was to see a change in awareness of drink safety by creating behavioural change at a key moment in life. This change in behaviour was crucial in the ultimate objective of preventing drink spiking before it happens.
The product has been prototyped, refined, launched, rolled out at scale and is available for commercial purchase.
Agency Solution
After observing that young people are accustomed to wearing wristbands at festivals and other events we found inspiration to create something to help stop drink spiking.
The Sip Safe wristband detects if a drink has been spiked with drugs. The wearer simply puts a drop of their drink onto the wristband and in a short amount of time the wristband changes colour if it has been exposed to ketamine or GHB – two common drink spiking drugs.
The ability to test your own drink provides the freedom to manage risk for the wearer. Also, wearing the Sip Safe wristband provides a visual deterrent to any would be drink spiker. The design of the wristband can incorporate the logos of any brand, nightclub or festival that provides these wristbands to its patrons.
The Sip Safe wristband was first launched at the Schoolies end of exams party in November 2017. This activation was paired with market research through interviews and surveys that provided learnings on distribution, usage and engagement.
Taking this feedback on board a program of activations was launched on Monash University campuses in April of 2018. This initial program saw more than 6,000 wristbands distributed to university students along with drink safety information. Coinciding with these activations we engaged the founder of Bars of the North, a venue safety organisation, to begin a program of lobbying licensed venues.
Scaling up to order quantities of over 6,000 units has prepared the initiative to go beyond Monash University’s duty of care and to play a role of harm minimisation in the broader community.
The Sip Safe wristband detects if a drink has been spiked with drugs. The wearer simply puts a drop of their drink onto the wristband and in a short amount of time the wristband changes colour if it has been exposed to ketamine or GHB – two common drink spiking drugs.
The ability to test your own drink provides the freedom to manage risk for the wearer. Also, wearing the Sip Safe wristband provides a visual deterrent to any would be drink spiker. The design of the wristband can incorporate the logos of any brand, nightclub or festival that provides these wristbands to its patrons.
The Sip Safe wristband was first launched at the Schoolies end of exams party in November 2017. This activation was paired with market research through interviews and surveys that provided learnings on distribution, usage and engagement.
Taking this feedback on board a program of activations was launched on Monash University campuses in April of 2018. This initial program saw more than 6,000 wristbands distributed to university students along with drink safety information. Coinciding with these activations we engaged the founder of Bars of the North, a venue safety organisation, to begin a program of lobbying licensed venues.
Scaling up to order quantities of over 6,000 units has prepared the initiative to go beyond Monash University’s duty of care and to play a role of harm minimisation in the broader community.