Smoking cessation campaigns are no easy feat. While a wealth of research has shed light on what can be effective in encouraging smokers to quit, the process is layered with complexity. Behaviour change campaigns are already challenging, and the addition of addiction introduces another layer. Addicts have often heard the message “smoking is bad” countless times over the years, so reiterating that same message again and again is ineffective. To stand out, and make a real difference, smoking cessation marketing needs a fresh approach – one that truly understands its audience.
This blog explores what to consider when designing smoking cessation campaigns, offering insights into how to create campaigns that resonate, motivate, and ultimately lead to positive behavioural change.
Smoking cessation campaigns need to:
Creating an impactful smoking cessation campaign involves a well-structured behaviour change process. This framework ensures a strategic and systematic approach to tackling the challenge. Here are the key steps:
Begin by collecting data and using behavioural science principles to understand the problem. Assemble the best team for the job, clarify the desired behavioural outcomes, and establish a comprehensive project brief. This diagnostic phase lays the groundwork for a focused and effective campaign.
To connect with the audience, you need to walk in their shoes to connect with the audience. Understand their behavioural goals, motivators, barriers, and triggers. Investigate how they consume media and where they’re most likely to engage with your message. Empathy is the bridge between your campaign and its intended audience.
This step is split into two phases: intervention design and concept design. Intervention design involves utilising the tools such as ‘The Behaviour Change Wheel’ to plan the marketing and communication strategies. Concept design utilises design psychology principles and ensures alignment with the insights gathered during the Diagnose and Empathise stages.
Execution is key. Implement the planned campaign across selected channels and mediums, ensuring consistency with the design phase.
Analyse the campaign’s impact. Did it achieve its objectives? What worked, and what didn’t? Use these findings to inform future campaigns.
Understanding what has worked, and what hasn’t, in past campaigns provides invaluable insights. Successful smoking cessation campaigns have shared common threads that we can learn from:
Avoid Images of Smoking: Images of people smoking can trigger the habit rather than deter it.
Steer Clear of Shame: Campaigns should avoid shaming smokers, as addiction is deeply intertwined with emotional and psychological factors.
Examples of noteworthy campaigns include:
• Better Health
• Stoptober
• Smokefree
• Making Smoking History
• Never Quit Quitting
• Fresh
A critical challenge in smoking cessation is bridging the “intention-behaviour gap.” This phenomenon describes the disconnect between intending to quit smoking and actually taking action. Smokers may have every intention of quitting but often fail to follow through due to various barriers – whether those barriers are psychological, social or environmental.
Campaigns need to be exceptionally compelling to close this gap. A deeper understanding of the obstacles smokers face, combined with actionable solutions, can make all the difference.
An effective framework to address the intention-behaviour gap is the WOOP model (Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan). By being aware of this, and integrating it into your campaign, you can increase the chances of intention becoming a new positive behaviour. Here’s how it works:
Encourage the target audience to define a clear and ambitious goal. The audience must feel that their goal is ambitious, but achievable.
Envision the positive impact of achieving this goal. This step requires the audience to visualise the outcome. It could be the impact on your health or relationship for example.
Identify potential barriers. These might include societal stigma, nicotine cravings, or lack of access to help!
Develop strategic and actionable solutions to overcome these obstacles. Help the target audience to create an actionable plan. Encourage them to make and ‘if…then..’ plan to overcome obstacles.
Smoking cessation campaigns are about more than just telling people to quit – it’s about understanding them, empathising with their barriers to quitting, and designing campaigns that incite real change. By following a structured behaviour change process, learning from past campaigns, addressing the intention-behaviour gap, and leveraging frameworks like WOOP, we can create impactful, meaningful campaigns that make a difference.
It’s not an easy task, but with the right approach, we really can help people to quit smoking.
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