Smokefree Generation
While the number of smokers in the UK has steadily dropped year on year, the decrease is less marked among routine and manual workers. For many, smoking is a shared, social occupation and quitting is not currently on their radar. The objective of this campaign was to increase motivation to quit smoking among the specifc target audience.
In 2009, a radical new digital communications approach was implemented in order to cut-through the apathy and surround targeted individuals with relevant and motivating messaging wherever they journeyed online.
A combination of socio-demographic, contextual, and behavioural targeting was deployed for the frst time in the UK along with bespoke creative that varied according to the audience’s reaction to previously viewed messaging.
The results were outstanding. Interaction rates of more than three times the norm demonstrated that the new strategy, though radical, was extremely effective. With a recently introduced government target of halving smoking rates among routine and manual workers by 2020, this digital work marks a step change in advertising communications for the Department of Health.
