Helping addicts quit is tough. Figuring out how to craft an effective message to convince smokers to become partners in the fight for their lives isn’t easy either.
“The Reasons” documentary-style Tobacco Free Florida campaign takes a refreshingly respectful approach to encouraging smokers to quit. Aimed at Florida’s rural communities, where smoking rates are 33 percent higher than the rest of the state, the campaign employs empathy rather than the usual scare tactics.
We decided on this approach after conducting ethnographic research showing that motivation to quit was based on long-term dreams smokers have for themselves and their children, not fear of potential health effects.
The campaign launched in April 2018 and has been running with other anti-tobacco messages throughout 2018 to communicate the free Quit Your Way cessation services offered by Tobacco Free Florida. The ads introduce us to real-life smokers who acknowledge the dangers and cost of smoking—and that they’re struggling to make the right choice.
By shifting our strategy to a more empathetic one driven by the target’s introspection versus preaching from the brand, we moved closer to our goal of reducing the state’s smoking rate. While it’s too early quote definitive data, the campaign has earned a Cannes Lion and requests to use the work in New York, Australia, and Brazil. The result is an emotive creative that is respectful of smokers we are trying to reach while also communicating that Tobacco Free Florida is here as a partner.