Have you heard the phrase “sober curious” recently? Or maybe you’ve heard about Dry January, or Sober October?
Cutting down on alcohol consumption is all the buzz these days, and for good reason.
Drinking levels are up since the start of the pandemic. According to Harvard Health, nearly two-thirds of surveyed adults reported drinking more since the beginning of the pandemic than beforehand.* Many adults are pausing to reflect on their drinking habits, and the idea of cutting back on alcohol has become increasingly mainstream in recent years.
Dry January is gaining in popularity year after year.
In 2022, according to CNN, roughly 35% of legal-aged adults participated in Dry January, up from just 21% in 2019.* With increasing non-alcoholic alternative beverage options on the market and more awareness of the detrimental effects of alcohol, it’s easier than ever to try temporarily abstaining from alcohol.
Most people choose to go “dry” for an entire month, giving them time to reflect on their typical alcohol consumption habits and give their bodies a reset. This is especially beneficial after the holidays, when we are typically surrounded by alcohol at social gatherings, and it can be easy to let some of our healthy habits slide. Since most people prefer to participate alongside a community of others who can offer support and accountability, this challenge is a great opportunity to foster alcohol awareness together with your employees.
Check out how Reward Gateway adapted Press Pause on your Pint into their own “Dry May with Doug” initiative!
While January is a popular month to run an alcohol-free challenge, you can host Press Pause on your Pint any time of year to help your employees become more mindful of their alcohol consumption and habits.
MoveSpring’s parent company, Reward Gateway, proved cutting back on alcohol is effective year-round. CEO Doug Butler wanted to cut out alcohol in May, and dropped a note in Slack asking if anyone else would be interested in participating.
The response was a resounding yes! With leadership promoting the initiative across Slack and internal company blogs, 54 total employees ended up participating in the “Dry May with Doug” challenge for the entire month of May.
Klara Owens, Internal Communications and Employer Brand Manager at Reward Gateway, summarizes the challenges’ success:
Almost half of participants logged that they reached their goal to abstain from alcohol for at least 25 out of 31 days—no small feat! A big part of the success of the challenge was thanks to Doug’s involvement and engagement in the challenge. He was active in sharing photos and messages in the challenge chat, and even made it a point to ship some non-alcoholic beers and wines to the office as a unique alternative to make the month fun for all!
Doug also cited the flexibility of the challenge set up as key to success:
For anyone who wasn’t a big drinker, the challenge was easy. For those who enjoyed the occasional libation, we provided a little flexibility in targeting only 25 days of sobriety. We wanted the challenge to be inclusive so everyone could get involved! This is one challenge in which I think everyone should get a medal.
We found that genuine involvement and support from leadership coupled with an inclusive mindset made the initiative a huge success.
You don’t have to wait for January to start new healthy habits, so make sure to bookmark this post if you want to run this challenge later in the year.
Ready to run Press Pause on your Pint? See how below.
Challenge Details
Follow these specifications when creating your challenge in the Admin Center.
Challenge Name: Press Pause on your Pint
Challenge Modes & Goals:
- Custom Activity Stick to It - Abstain from alcohol 25 times over the course of the challenge (Activity nickname: 🚫 🍺 🍷 🍸)
- Content - Upload the “Going Alcohol Free” content collection from the library to educate your users on the benefits of cutting out alcohol
- Target - Keep everyone moving to reach 150,000 steps over the course of the challenge
Duration: 31 days
Description:
While drinking alcoholic beverages in moderation can be a normal part of our social lives, temporarily abstaining can have surprising benefits for your health. The goal of this challenge is to keep you accountable in abstaining for at least 25 days. Here's how it will work:
🚫🍻 Log daily that you've gone through the day without an alcoholic beverage.
👟Keep active to reach the Target step goal of 150,000 steps
Let’s press pause!
Head to the Admin Center to create the challenge now.
Communication Strategy
Challenge Invitation:
Send this invitation as an in-app announcement and as a message in Slack, Teams, or email.
When: 7 days prior to challenge start
Title: Let's press pause ⏸
Optional Image:
Description:
Ready to press pause on drinking? Join our next MoveSpring challenge!
While drinking alcoholic beverages in moderation can be a normal part of our social lives, temporarily abstaining can have surprising benefits for your health.
🚫🍻Join in the challenge to cut out alcohol for at least 25 days, or aim for each day of the challenge if you want a full reset.
Let’s cheer each other on to reach the goal, share tips for staying motivated, and celebrate an alcohol-free month!
Call to action button link: [INSERT CHALLENGE LINK]
Call to action button text: Join the challenge
Challenge Announcements
Challenge Kick-off Announcement:
Engage your users from day 1 by sending an in-app announcement that promotes your challenge.
When: First day of challenge
Title: Lock up the beverages! 🔐
Image:
Recipients: Send to challenge participants
Description:
Time to press pause! We hope you're ready to transform your body's health from the inside out.
We're challenging you to stick to at least 25 days without any alcohol this month. Feeling ambitious? Push yourself to go all 31 days! 🔥
Make sure to log your progress daily. You can always log completions up to 7 days back if you miss a day.
If you have any technical questions about the app or need help with syncing, contact the MoveSpring support team at help@movespring.com.
Good luck! 🍀
Challenge Wrap-up Announcement:
Recap your challenge by calling out stats and any rewards or prizes you are giving out. Be sure to include your own information in the placeholders below.
When: After grace period ends
Title: Just like that... 🎉
Image:
Recipients: Send to challenge participants
Description:
...you did it! Congrats on reaching the end of our Press Pause on your Pint challenge.
We've got lots to celebrate:
[X] participants met the Stick to it goal. Hope you're all ready for our [mocktail happy hour or pizza party]! 🥳
Everyone who met the goal was also entered into a prize-drawing raffle. The winner is: [PARTICIPANT]
Thanks to everyone who participated in our challenge! Whether you abstained from drinking for only a part of the challenge or the entire time, we applaud your effort. ✨
Want more announcement templates? Find more in our Announcement Templates for Challenge Updates.
Chat Prompts
All chat messages should be posted from your MoveSpring account in the mobile app or from the MoveSpring web app in the challenge chat. Encourage engagement by responding to the prompts yourself first to kick things off!
When: First day of challenge
Message:
Today’s the day! We're kicking off our Press Pause on your Pint challenge. Let’s get chatting—why are you joining in the challenge? Share your goal so we can cheer each other on!
When: End of the first week
Message:
Can you believe it's already been a week? We're curious, what has been your favorite go to beverage or snack that you've been replacing alcohol with so far? Photos of yummy mocktails or snacks are welcome. 🤩
Rewards Strategy
You can pull a report to determine the participants who met the Custom Activity Stick to It goal, and raffle off prizes to those who met the goal.
We suggest prizes that will reinforce the themes of the challenge, such as non-alcoholic alternatives or a celebratory party for reaching the goal!
Prize Ideas:
- SodaStream or other seltzer water maker
- Water infuser pitcher or bottle
- Pizza party or mocktail hour celebration
- Gift card to Starbucks or local coffee or tea shop
Want more challenge templates? Ask your client success rep about our Ultimate plan.
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