COI-NHS 'Go Smoke Free'

Interactive Advertising Campaign:

 

The NHS offers free local support that is extremely effective in getting people to quit smoking. One in every two people who use the service quit smoking just four weeks later. To get more people inspired to quit smoking and to encourage them to make use of the services provided, the NHS launched a large-scale national advertising campaign involving both above and below the line elements.

With their NHS ‘Go Smoke Free' campaign, not only did they want to increase the awareness of the services offered, they wanted to encourage people to take action and ultimately, stop smoking. The Central Office of Information (COI) knew from previous TV campaigns that by getting people to engage with an ad, to take the first step by pressing red, there was a greater chance that quitting would become a reality. The ‘Go Smoke Free' interactive TV campaign ran between the 26th December 2007 and 31st March 2008.


Objectives

  • Increasing awareness of the ‘Go Smoke Free' services to 16-34 years olds
  • Increasing phone calls to the NHS and driving traffic to their website
  • Reinforcing that using NHS support, you're up to 4 times more likely to quit smoking
  • Communicating the options available to viewers through the distibution of a free DVD

 

The Campaign

The TV element comprised of 30" and 10" spots. The creative featured a man standing on top of a giant cigarette conveying the message that support services from the NHS can help you stop smoking. The ad also carried the interactive call to action - ‘Free DVD ? Press Red' and ‘See how other people quit'. The ‘Go Smoke Free' campaign used the DAL (Dedicated Advertiser Location) interactive format, giving COI full flexibility in creating a branded interactive environment. Once viewers had entered the DAL, they were met with a congratulatory message for taking the first step towards giving up smoking.

The interactive application comprised of a video highlighting the support services available and the facility to request a DVD with further information.

Insights

Three different sources of research were used to measure the success of the campaign: SkyView was used to measure the number of visitors and the average dwell time; Continental and Decipher were used for additional quantitative and qualitative research. SkyView revealed that across the campaign period, 71,000 households interacted with the ad for an average of 1min 35secs.

Quantitative research was carried out among 4 groups of respondents: interactors that requested a DVD after viewing the ad; interactors that didn't leave their details; viewers who just watched the ad; and non-viewers. Qualitative research was undertaken using 6 pairs of interactors. Questions were asked to determine ad perception, awareness, message take-out and action taken.

Ad Perceptions

Interactors reported a really positive reaction to the ad and the interactive experience. They said the ad made them think they should "stop putting it off and quit now" and "made me think it would be easier to quit with the NHS". The shift in perspective amongst interactors compared to those that just watched the ad was significant.

Awareness and Message Take-Out

Within the campaign, ad recall was high and was highest among those respondents who left their details to request a DVD . Interactors agreed that the video within the DAL had increased their awareness of the range of support services available from the NHS and they all felt very positive about the help on offer. The key message take-out from the content and the most powerful for respondents, which was mentioned by two thirds of respondents, was hearing comments from ‘real life quitters'. "Seeing other people's stories makes it more personal". "It [referring to the ‘real life quitters'] tells you that it's possible to quit, without ramming it down your throat."

Action Taken

Since interacting, the majority of interactors who requested information had talked to a friend or relative about quitting smoking. 26% set a date to stop smoking and 10% have actually quit as a result of the campaign. Interestingly, of those interactors that didn't leave their details, 20% chose to visit the website and 14% chose to call the helpline in contrast to just 12% and 9%, respectively, of those that left their details.

Results showed that people who left their details (and therefore ordered a DVD ) tended to be older whereas younger interactors were less likely to leave their details but went on to phone the help line or visit the website instead. The interactors that left their details were also more likely to be heavier smokers and were either actively trying to give up smoking or had the intention of giving up within the following six months.

Meeting the Objectives

The NHS ‘Go Smoke Free' campaign proved a great success. The choice of TV as a key medium and the addition of interactive allowed a broad reach and the opportunity for viewers to get started on the quitting journey by simply pressing red. The TV campaign delivered coverage of nearly 90% of UK Adults and 85% 16-34 year olds. Over 12 million 16-34's saw the ad at least once with 10.1 million seeing the ad 4 or more times.

Since the inception of iA, COI have run over 75 interactive campaigns; and have continued to embrace interactive TV as a core element of their TV communications.

"Seeing high rates of actionable outcomes amongst the interactor group shows us the value of interactive engagement. 32% of interactors visiting a local NHS support group is a very positive result."

Stephanie Youell, Campaign Manager, Department of Health

 

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