The Challenge

In 2021, public health research revealed low awareness levels of the Stop Smoking Service due to residents’ limited knowledge about the service.

While many were aware of the NHS smoking cessation service through GPs, they lacked familiarity with local service names and the option for self-referral. Despite being highly regarded by users, the service was not universally known, hindering efforts to assist smokers in Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, and Milton Keynes in achieving smoke-free lives.

To address this, We Can were briefed to develop an engaging awareness campaign focused on encouraging individuals to seek support for smoking cessation. The campaign required an enticing hook, key messages, and a suite of well-designed digital assets to sustain targeted tactical efforts throughout 2023-24.

The Solution

We Can collaborated closely with CBCs Communication and Stop Smoking teams to develop insights and create compelling, relevant content and campaign assets.

Our approach diverged from conventional smoking cessation communications to avoid appearing preachy. We tailored messaging to the target audience, predominantly manual labourers, focusing on “breaking the habit” during work breaks and we used a clever typographic solution in cyan and magenta against a black background for impact.

In response to budget constraints and the need for a year-long campaign, we devised a cost-effective strategy. By creating customisable templates in Canva, we enabled the client to extend the campaign’s duration while maintaining consistency.

Quarterly reviews informed our messaging strategy, ensuring continuous refinement. In the final quarter, platform regulations changed, prompting us to adapt messaging for a broader audience while retaining the campaign’s core objectives.

The Results

Our campaign has succeeded to amplify awareness of the Stop Smoking Service, effectively addressing its previously low visibility, through the use of social adverts and programmatic displays.

It is an ongoing project, but during the first quarter it achieved over 1,035,000 impressions on socials and around 213,000 impressions on other display adverts.