HSE QUIT 2 - The legacy of Gerry Collins
TBWA Dublin and Carat
Introduction & Background
The tragedy of real life belies anything that we can create.
Gerry
Gerry Collins, an ex-smoker, was one of three great people who allowed their personal stories to lead the HSE's award-winning 2011 QUIT campaign.
The other stories featured Margaret, who was 17 when her mum died from tobacco related lung cancer and Pauline, whose husband George died from a tobacco related heart attack at the age of 48.
Gerry's film was the success story – he had been diagnosed with throat cancer in 2008, and survived. Poignantly in that 2011 ad he shared his thoughts and feelings around his experience:
“I have many years ahead of me.... and I put that all at risk by smoking”.
In June 2013, just 2 years later, Gerry Collins was out running when he collapsed. He was taken to hospital, diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, and given 8 months to live.
Within a few hours, on that same day, Gerry had called the HSE QUIT team with a proposal – to film and broadcast his end of life story in the hope that it would encourage smokers to quit.
1 in every 2 smokers will die of a tobacco-related disease. QUIT.
Launched in 2011, QUIT takes stories shared by real Irish people to illustrate the stark fact that '1 in every 2 smokers will die of a tobacco related disease'. With unprecedented results, the campaign had won numerous awards and been presented as best practice on the international circuit. According to the HSE ,“it has proven to be one of the most comprehensive and effective behaviour change public education campaigns” they've ever been involved in.
As of May 2012, it had resulted in 277,780 smokers making a quit attempt, equating to a potential saving of €10,889,567 for the Irish Health Service. Taking into account the broader societal costs of smoking, this meant a potential saving of €32,668,701. [1]
It was these phenomenal results that earned us a Gold award in the 2012 IAPI ADFX awards, and also international fame.
International Fame for QUIT's 1 in 2
They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. In the UK, both the SouthWest and Fresh North East have acknowledged the inspiration from the HSE QUIT campaign on using the 1 in every 2 idea.
Be there tomorrow
http://www.smokefreesouthwest.org.uk/
http://www.betheretomorrow.co.uk
'Don't be the one'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXloClpBXHc
This success also ensured the campaign continued running for the remainder of 2012 and into 2013.
And so our story starts where the last left off.
[1] 2012 ADFX Entry – 1 in 2 smokers will die of a tobacco-related disease
Marketing Objectives
The objective of any smoking cessation campaign is to bring about a decrease in the number of people who smoke. We do that by aiming to increase the number of quit attempts people make.
Business Objectives:
- Increase sign-ups to QUITplans yoy (this had declined by 2.4% from 2012 to 2013....)
- Increase number of quit attempts yoy
Our Marketing Objectives would not change. They remained:
- Encourage smokers to make a quit attempt
- Encourage smokers to try again if an attempt doesn't succeed
- Promote and provide a range of support services to help smokers quit
Communication Objectives
- Tell smokers Why to quit
- Show them How to quit
- Encourage them to quit now not later
- Tell the Collins Family story with sensitivity and care for them and the audience
Measuring success
Since 2012, the HSE have actually adopted Cawley NeaTBWA's measurement methodology, with results calculated in real time and publicly communicated throughout the life of the campaign, a first internationally.
Rates and extrapolation methods used are all sourced from evidence-based international research. These are the same tactics for measurement that were employed in the first part of the campaign, which had won gold at the adfx awards in 2010 and best use of research.
The Task
Smoking was high on the national agenda.
2013 was the year when the Tobacco-Free Policy Review Group published their long-awaited report, Tobacco-Free Ireland. As part of this release, Minister Reilly also announced the date by which Ireland will be smoke-free. By 2025, Ireland aims to have a smoking prevalence rate of under 5% (i.e. under 5% of the population would be smokers).
The Tobacco Free Ireland report noted that for all involved in Tobacco-Control “A more concerted effort is now required...”.
Our QUIT campaign was, and is, evidently only one facet which will bring about this decline[1], however we would now be tasked with meeting ever higher targets.
Growth on a tiring (?) campaign
We would need to bring about this further growth on a three year campaign that had seemed to have given its all. The creative had been incredibly hard working, and lasted for three years, from 2011 to 2013. But cracks finally began to show towards the end of 2013, with the first decline appearing relative, of course, to the previous two year's massive gains.[2] Though visits to quit.ie were up, the crucial measurement metric 'Signups to QUITplans' were down compared to previous years.
[1] Legislative and taxation measures among others being key.
[2] Source: QUIT Campaign CRSG Proposal 2014
When the HSE got the call from Gerry in June 2013, they were unsure how to proceed. We had proven campaign principles that delivered optimum effectiveness, and a brand proposition that had delivered wild success. There is also a strong international evidence base for testimonial adverts, even from people in their final stages of illness. The concern was whether this might be a step backwards towards shock tactics, a route we knew could be less effective? We had consulted a behavioural psychologist about the merits of the campaign. There was concerns that any campaign of this kind would need to be careful to avoid making it difficult for people to watch, which would result in them essentially ignoring the message.
Learnings from our previous award-winning research in 2011 had shown that if the message is too hard-hitting, smokers immediately reject it, finding multiple 'ways out' and rationalizations as to why it doesn't relate to them.
Research – a tough crowd
We undertook further qualitative research in 2013: and lest we forgot, were reminded that smokers are undoubtedly the toughest and most cynical audience when it comes to a communications campaign.
Some participants in the focus groups we held had spoken quite flippantly about Gerry's story.[1]
“It's just another sad story, like you'd hear down in the pub every week sure”.
“We all hear everyday of someone dying from Cancer... and they might never have smoked a day in their life”.
“They put everything down to the fags”.
We understood that these justifications were coming from classic cognitive dissonance theory, yet we would have to work hard in our creative to address them.
[1] Source: Cawley NeaTBWA Qualitative Research
Smoking and Cognitive Dissonance
Smoking is often postulated as a prime example of cognitive dissonance because though its widely accepted that cigarettes can kill, almost everyone wants to live a long and healthy life. In terms of the theory, the desire to live a long life is dissonant with doing something (i.e. smoking) that will most likely shorten one's life. The theory posits that the tension produced by these contradictory ideas can be reduced in three ways:
- Justifying one's smoking
This is what we witnessed in our research; smokers rationalizing their behavior in sometimes inventive and creative ways, by concluding that only a few smokers become ill (“My granny smoked til she was 90”), that it only happens to very heavy smokers (“I'm going to give up before it gets serious”), or that if smoking does not kill them, something else will (“You could get knocked down by a bus as soon as you step out the door”).
- Denying the evidence of smoking related diseases, eg lung cancer
- Quitting smoking
Referencing Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance, we know that smokers are rationalizing and not always rational beings,[3] because it's easier to make excuses than it is to change behavior.
This would remain our greatest challenge.
The Strategy
Our strategy comprised of 4 key platforms:
- Staying true to the QUIT Campaign Principles
- Evolving the 1 in 2 proposition
- Honing in on the right insight
- Target smokers 'rationalizations' in the communications
1) Staying true to the QUIT Campaign Principles
Evidence and Effectiveness have been the driving forces behind the QUIT campaign since its inception, driven primarily by Dr. Fenton Howell, National Tobacco Control Advisor to the Department of Health. This dedication resulted in the co-creation and development of a number of campaign principles which the client and agency team abide by.
- Proven evidence based dual communications strategy:
- Tell me why I should quit: 1 in every 2 smokers will die of a tobacco-related disease. If it's not me, if I'm 'the lucky one', it means losing someone I love. It's not just me anymore.
- Show me how I can quit: it doesn't have to be that way. You can quit, and we can help.
- A belief that our loved ones are ultimately and always more important to us than the powerful draw to continue smoking. Family and friends are more important than the individual.
- Real people, real relationships and personal testimonials of loss are far more effective than actors and scripts.
- We are with smokers, not against them. Smokers must not be left feeling 'bullied' or 'criticised'.
- Success is measured in quit attempts. The goal of any effective campaign is to bring about the largest number of quit attempts possible.
2) Evolving the '1 in 2' Proposition
It was because Gerry truly believed in the power of the '1 in 2 smokers' idea, that he had called the HSE and it was he who showed us the natural evolution and opportunity for growth within our proposition. He told us,
“I thought I got away with it. I thought I was the 2 but now I discover that I am the 1”.
We realised that our proposition was even more powerful than we had thought. It had more than one side to it. It had the unique ability to manifest itself in a different way than we had first envisaged, it could evolve and be interpreted differently depending on what stage the smoker was at but from both perspectives the outcome was the same. So whether you are the 1 or the 2 in the proposition there was no avenue to escape it's powerful message. This is where the next stage of the platform could evolve to.
3) Honing in on the right insight
We, and Gerry, understood that his diagnosis and inevitable death while incredibly sad would not be the tool of effectiveness.
Instead it was the precious time as he approached death, the moments with his family and friends, their thoughts and feelings – this was the emotional time that connected with smokers.
It brought the '1 in 2' proposition to life in a fresh way – reminding smokers 'it's not just you anymore'. It was Gerry's insightful reflections about the people in his life, his gratitude for what he'd had, his regret at the decisions he made, and his final memories with his family and friends that have the powerful effect, rather than his diagnosis and death.
4) Target smokers rationalizations in the communications
In 2001, an Australian study[1] found that smokers endorsed significantly more rationalisations and distortions of logic regarding smoking than did non-smokers or ex-smokers. They recommended using interventions that target rationalizations in smoking cessation campaigns.
We wanted, in the crudest of terms, smokers to say 'God, that's me' when they watched Gerry's film. We could not allow smokers a way out, a way of rationalizing what had happened to Gerry and separating it from themselves.
Thus, our research needed to identify all of the potential 'ways out', that smokers could use to justify not quitting.
In order to ensure optimum effectiveness, leaving no way out for smokers we focused on addressing each and every one of these rationalizations (identified in research) in our three films, Gerry's narrative and PR.
[1] 'Addictive Behaviour'. 1991;16(5):349-53. Cognitive dissonance in tobacco smokers. McMaster C1, Lee C.
The Idea
Creative Strategy
- This testimonial was about Gerry, but also his family and friends
Gerry Collins and his family had given us the opportunity to do something unique in the second phase of our QUIT Campaign. They gave us, and the nation, the privilege of sharing with them his end of life experiences and reflections as an ex-smoker in the hope that other smokers would see the benefits of taking immediate action to QUIT.
Gerry was likable, genuine and articulate with a magnetic and affable nature. We believed that his character and dignity in facing his terminal illness would engender an empathy with a broad audience.
We had a duty to Gerry and his family to tell their highly powerful and emotional story with sensitivity and integrity. Undoubtedly, Gerry’s story would create dissonance and discomfort for smokers about their smoking and that is as it should be. This was not about being manipulative or melodramatic but nor was it to shirk the truth or sugarcoat the reality.
- A national focus
We knew that there was a very strong likelihood that the Collins’ family story would have a national focus and relevance beyond the conventional parameters of an advertising campaign. We believed it would spark opinions, debate and discussion across all media platforms. And we needed to be prepared for that. In December 2013, Gerry decided to forego Chemotherapy in order to film the next phase of the Quit campaign for 2 weeks. He wanted to be well enough to fulfill his PR duties .
Tone of Voice
With QUIT 1 we established a specific tone that allowed our protagonists to speak for themselves. By telling their own story in their own way they delivered a powerful message on behalf of QUIT. With QUIT 2 we had decided to follow the same principles. Our task was to facilitate Gerry and his family, allowing them to tell their individual stories that connect to one overarching narrative:
“That our loved ones are ultimately and always more important to us than the powerful draw to continue smoking”
Our research showed that it was Gerry's unique and heartfelt pauses about life and the individuals who he clearly loved and respected that made the viewing so haunting in its familiarity and could be assimilated for each individual who watched. Smokers would primarily connect with Gerry and his family and friends, before potentially seeing themselves go through his diagnosis and death.
“ I was watching that and I was delighted for him. I was like Thank God he was ok, and then when .... you realise he's not going to be ok .... well you really feel for him you know.”
“When he says 'I thought I got away with it'... that's exactly what I'd be thinking”.
“Now that would get in on me. Everyone has family, and blood is thicker than water. You'd kill for your family.. you'd do anything”.
“You've been on this journey with Gerry.... and now this is final. This is the end”.
We carefully ensured that all three ads would lead with this tack before punctuating it with the impending or resulting loss.
Targeting smoker rationalizations through the narrative:
A key component of our strategy had been to target smoker rationalizations through Gerry's narrative. Some surprised us, but we set out to address them all.
- 'Gerry is an actor': a minority of respondents[1] believed that in phase 1 of the campaign Margaret, Pauline and Gerry were actors. Now entering phase two, some of them believed that Gerry was not really dying. They spoke about Margaret's mother, and Pauline's husband being almost 'fictional' characters, because you can't see them. However, with Gerry there would be no such escape.
Thus Gerry's narrative very clearly, and unambiguously stated:
“I wish I was an actor. If I was I'd be acting about dying. But the reality is I am dying.”
“I'm dying from cancer as a result of smoking.”
- 'Gerry is dying from cancer, not from smoking': respondents spoke about this being 'just another sad cancer story'. They tried to block out the link between smoking and cancer, by talking about people they knew who had cancer but never smoked, thus downplaying the correlation between the two.
Narrative:
“I'm dying from smoking. Not from anything else”.
“I'm dying from cancer as a result of smoking.”
- 'It wouldn't have mattered when Gerry quit, he would have got cancer anyway'.
Narrative, emphatically delivered:
“ I wish I had stopped smoking earlier, I really do. My life would have been totally different.”
“Don't smoke, don't start and for those who have, stop”.
- 'Only a few smokers quit': interestingly, research shows that smokers tend to believe a much larger proportion of the population smoke than actually do. Similarly, respondents believed only a very small number of smokers would quit each year.
The HSE decided to use PR as the tool for releasing 'live updates' of the success of the campaign so far, using those numbers to encourage other smokers to quit. In newspapers, TV and radio interviews we would outline in precise numbers, just how many smokers had quit since the campaign began.
Use of Channels
Build Widespread Emotional Engagement
TV, Digital Video, Press and PR have proven to be hugely successful across 2013, and have kept QUIT high on the national agenda. Media bursts were used periodically across the year to avoid wear-out of copy, and this included an upweight of activity from New Year’s Day when people are most likely to consider giving up cigarettes. Five bursts ran over a 12 month period, and we have used Google analytics and website traffic to identify key periods when people are most responsive to our communications and influence the weight of burst (typically January and Ash Wednesday in early March were the heavier bursts).
A heavy and poignant PR campaign launched just before New Year’s Day, when the new TV copy broke. This comprehensive campaign brought out more of the story behind the ad – Gerry’s story. The deeper level of communications that this instilled made the campaign more real and almost personal, ensuring it hit home for anyone considering to quit smoking. Due to the human nature of the content, and relevant time of year and the heavy exposure on TV, Gerry’s story gained widespread coverage across print, broadcast, online and social media in a matter of days.
The campaign continued to leverage this high level of interest of the subsequent weeks from the New Year’s Day launch with Gerry and his family doing a series of interviews across TV, Radio, Press and Online. Gerry was extremely proud of the response and impact that his story was having at a public level.
Gerry Collins died on the 2nd March 2014, and was buried on Ash Wednesday – the day the second and third films were due to launch on TV. Taking the lead from Gerry's family and in consultation with them, it was decided to go ahead with the planned activity, with the films being edited to say that Gerry had died on the 2nd March, aged 57.
Gerry's daughter Lisa continued Gerry's good work, talking to the Press and Radio shortly after her father's funeral. During the interviews, she mentioned that the family decided to air the ads on the day of his funeral, because that was what Gerry would have wanted.
Continually Educate
QUIT used Radio, Digital Display and Search to share facts and direct people to our website for better guidance through their quit journey.
All TV bursts were followed with high frequency bursts of Radio to balance the emotional and rational messaging delivered across our communications. Previously Digital Display ran across the same period as TV and Radio, but we have moved more to an always on approach retargeting visitors to the site. Search has been always on since we began the campaign.
A Supportive Arm around the Shoulder
[1] All within the lowest SES bracket
A large supportive community exists online across forums, blogs and social media. The HSE knew that people trying to quit get confidence from the experience and recommendations of others and that the Quit.ie website has a lot of the tools, services and direction that they need. In 2013 and 2014 we increased the priority behind our Quit Facebook page, enhancing its profile within this online community and using it to give people greater access to the tools they need to Quit. Carat positioned the Quit Facebook page at the centre of this online community and started to link it on blogs and forums so that more of the conversation was directed toward us.
People are continually recruited to this page, and the great thing about it is that members of the page primarily start and contribute to the conversation. So the more members the You can Quit page has, the greater the engagement (and therefore HSE don’t need to spend a lot on of advertising spend on driving engagement like brand pages do) – it’s practically self-sustaining.
e.g. Fan initiated post:
The You can Quit page does regular shout-outs and sharing of success stories. All private messages in the page are answered directly, and are never shared publicly unless we are given permission to share it, or if the fan would like us to post it on their behalf so they can remain anonymous.
The Direct Messsage function is very powerful platform within our Quit FB community as it allows our fans to contact us in confidence, while it allows us to offer support and advice on a one-to-one capacity. Since the New Year (2014) we have responded to over 140 direct mails.
Towards the end of 2013, Carat turned the themes that popped up over the year on our Facebook page into native content that we ran on DailyEdge/Journal.ie, which broadened the reach of this conversation past social conversation and into published content. Then in a second follow-up content activation was implemented, featuring Gerry’s films and his personal story. These two New Year’s native content activations were very impactful as they supported Gerry’s launch event, and delivered great content at a very relevant time when people were setting their New Year’s resolutions. Combined, these pieces received over 2million impressions and over 60,000 views.
On New Year’s Day we also ran a Facebook Reach-Block which hosted the very powerful Gerry Collins video. This activation received 1,5239,344 views; 9,677 like, comments and shares and most importantly over 45,000 video plays.
Due to the success of these activations Carat have more content pieces planned for the future and these will be targeted more periodically in line with PR, but the rest of our social media activity is continuous, with peaks and dips across the year driven by our social media listening (typically this follows the patterns in Google analytics and web visits).
The following graphs show the increase in Facebook numbers, as well as engagement rates.
Increase in Facebook numbers
The Results
Gerry
This is one campaign we cannot take the credit for. It was the vision of one man, and his desire to leave a legacy beyond being just another statistic.
Gerry believed that his story could make a difference:
"There were three reasons I decided I wanted to do this. Firstly it was for myself - a positive thing for me to invest my energy in while dealing with my cancer.
"Secondly, I thought it would be good for my family, creating something powerful and meaningful for my kids to look back on.
"And, finally, if even one person stops smoking because of what we've done, then it will all be worth it for me."
Gerry died on the 2nd March 2013.
Before he died, Gerry got to see the results of his campaign celebrated in the media and amongst the nation. Gerry had said if 'even one person stops smoking' because of the campaign, it would have been worth it for him.
In terms of measuring exactly how many people had quit in the first three months of 2014, much like with the previous campaigns, it was extremely difficult to pinpoint how many lives that this campaign had affected, particularly between December and March, as the campaign has yet to run its full course and has not yet been measured fully.
In the 60 days the campaign was live before Gerry died, from the 30th December to the 1st March, we estimate that 60,000* people tried to quit smoking because of his vision. (*Based on on-going behavioural research, both in Ireland and internationally, we know that consistently only 5% of all quitters use a support service; most go 'cold turkey'. Therefore, based on the 3,000 people who used our online interactive QUITplan between 30th December 2013 and 1st March 2014, only one of the range of supports offered, 60,000 quit attempts were made to date, with 200,000 targeted for the full year.)
That equates to 1,000 people quitting every day of Gerry's last two months.
We also know that after one year, 5% of these people (conservatively) will remain quit.[1]
That equates to at least 3,000 people who will most likely not smoke again because of this campaign’s first two month, and a targeted 10,000 for the full year’s first 2 months, and a targeted 10,000 for the full year.
Research has proven that 1 in every 2 smokers will die of a tobacco related disease[2], thus we can surmise that half of that 3,000 people would have died from a smoking related disease.
That means, that before he died, Gerry and his campaign had already saved 1,500 lives.
[1] Source: Callum C, Boyle S, Sandford A. Estimating the cost of smoking to the NHS in England and the impact of declining prevalence. Health Econ Policy Law. 2011 Oct; 6 (4): 489-508.
[2] Source: The Doctor's Study
Proving Effectiveness
In addition to saving lives, the campaign has also already been a financial success.
The cost to the Irish Health Service is estimated to be €784 per smoker, per annum.[1]
Thus taking the figures from the first two months of the campaign alone, we know that it has potentially saved the government's health service €2,352,000 to date (5% of 60,000 smokers who have quit x €784) and more importantly, a projected €7,840,000 for the full year (per HSE historic audited data) – as it estimated that 5% of smokers who make a quit attempt will be smoke-free a year later, meaning that 10,000 of the 200,000 smokers who would quit during our campaign might be removed from the future health costs of tobacco care. This amounts to the projected €7,840,000 (10,000 sign-ups x €784) potential saving for the HSE.
This is in line with the consumer response to the 'Gerry' ads vs the first phase of 1 in 2 (Margaret, Gerry and Pauline), of Impact on Behavioural Attitude.
However, it is important to consider that Health Service costs are only one element of the total societal costs of smoking, with one UK paper showing that the true costs of smoking to our society are at least three times that of the cost to the Health Service, [2] (eg through productivity losses, long-term incapacities).
Thus in order to get a truer view of the total benefit to society, we triple our savings to estimate a potential saving of €23,520,000 or 124% increase on the pre '1 in 2' campaign (2010).
Looking at the advertising spend versus the potential money saved there is a potential Return on Marketing Investment of €1: €47.18, a 116% improvement on ROMI of the pre '1 in 2' campaign.
(We've also included an alternative way of addressing savings – see footnote for detail).[3]
1 in 2 smokers have quit
Altogether, there have been a massive 540,000 quit attempts to date since the campaign began (combining the results from June 2011 to April 2014). [4]
We know that there are 800,000 smokers in Ireland[5]. Accounting for some overlap in the 540,000 quit attempts (i.e. some smokers may have tried to quit more than once during campaign), we can still safely estimate that approximately 1 in 2 smokers have made a quit attempt since the campaign began.
The Millward Brown Lansdowne Research Omnibus (fieldwork 11-26th February 2014) further reinforced this amazing finding; “Over half of smokers said they had tried to quit smoking since they've seen / heard the campaign. “
International Fame for Gerry
In March 2014, the Department of Health presented the QUIT campaign at the European Conference on Tobacco or Health (ECToH) in Istanbul, and the Gerry Collins ads were incredibly well received, with some members of the audience becoming quite emotional.
Since that presentation, and in addition to the UK work, where we saw our idea being imitated, The Danish Ministry for Health has also been in touch with the QUIT team to find out more about the campaign, as they are in the developing stage of a new quit smoking campaign and are 'very taken with the 1 in every 2 message'.
[1] Source: Callum C, Boyle S, Sandford A. Estimating the cost of smoking to the NHS in England and the impact of declining prevalence. Health Econ Policy Law. 2011 Oct; 6 (4): 489-508.
[2] Source: Callum C, Boyle S, Sandford A. Estimating the cost of smoking to the NHS in England and the impact of declining prevalence. Health Econ Policy Law. 2011 Oct; 6 (4): 489-508.
[3] An alternative way of calculating the financial worth is to narrow the scope, and focus only on the costs associated with four tobacco related diseases (MI, stroke, lung cancer and COPD). According to an Australian Economic Assessment , for every 1000 smokers who quit there was an average saving of €277,370 in healthcare costs (€277.37 per smoker, per annum). The Assessment notes that these four diseases constitute approximately one third of the total health cost per smoker estimated at €830 per smoker.
[4] 480,000 (June 2011 – December 2013) + 60,000 (Dec 30th 2013 – March 1st 2014) = 540,000 quit attempts
[5] hse.ie
The Impact
Lisa Collins, (Daughter of Gerry Collins)
The Irish Independent, March 2014
The behavioural response for 1 in 2, and in particularly to 'Gerry' the latest evolution, has just been phenomenal.
Gerry's campaign did particularly well with the hard to connect with 'C2DE' audience.
Overall, it elicited a significant emotional response and encourage them 'to think about quitting.
The 'Gerry' ads have been the highest performing QUIT ads since its inception – which is no mean feat. In addition, it significantly surpasses Millward Brown norms.
There was strong impact and reaction seen immediately on and offline, with thousands of smokers mentioning quitting and Gerry.
Gerry appeared on the Brendan O'Connor Saturday Night Show, and speaking on the Ray D'Arcy and Pat Kenny radio shows.
People planned to take action as a result of the campaign, but most importantly as we saw earlier in Results and Payback, 1 in 2 smokers said they had already quit as a result of the campaign.
New Learnings
Statistics can be amazing.
But it all depends on how you look at them.
For years there was one fact that everybody who worked on tobacco control knew, but the general public did not. For our clients in Ireland, and in deed clients around the world, it was a case of not seeing the wood for the trees.
In our initial briefing, back in 2011, the clients supplied us with a brief. But they also gave us reams of research and within the wealth of information and statistics about tobacco, we found that: Half of all smokers will die from tobacco related diseases.
We took that fact and presented it back to the client as,
1 in every 2 smokers will die from a tobacco-related disease.
A simple twist on a fact that everybody in the industry knew, but the public did not.
This statistic, this twist has led to international acclaim, and the hugely successful Irish QUIT campaign.
Summary
This is one campaign we can't take the credit for.
Gerry Collins and his family gave us the opportunity to do something unique in the second phase of our QUIT Campaign. They gave us, and the nation, the privilege of sharing with them his end of life experiences and reflections as an ex-smoker in the hope that other smokers would see the benefits of taking immediate action to QUIT.
Gerry said he would have been happy if even one smoker quit.
In the 60 days the campaign was live before he died, 60,000 smokers quit – 1,000 a day.
Since the campaign's inception (June 2011) to date, 1 in 2 smokers have actually quit – a beautiful and fitting full circle, from proposition to result.
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The tragedy of real life belies anything that we can create.
Gerry
Gerry Collins, an ex-smoker, was one of three great people who allowed their personal stories to lead the HSE's award-winning 2011 QUIT campaign.
The other stories featured Margaret, who was 17 when her mum died from tobacco related lung cancer and Pauline, whose husband George died from a tobacco related heart attack at the age of 48.
Gerry's film was the success story – he had been diagnosed with throat cancer in 2008, and survived. Poignantly in that 2011 ad he shared his thoughts and feelings around his experience:
“I have many years ahead of me.... and I put that all at risk by smoking”.
In June 2013, just 2 years later, Gerry Collins was out running when he collapsed. He was taken to hospital, diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, and given 8 months to live.
Within a few hours, on that same day, Gerry had called the HSE QUIT team with a proposal – to film and broadcast his end of life story in the hope that it would encourage smokers to quit.
1 in every 2 smokers will die of a tobacco-related disease. QUIT.
Launched in 2011, QUIT takes stories shared by real Irish people to illustrate the stark fact that '1 in every 2 smokers will die of a tobacco related disease'. With unprecedented results, the campaign had won numerous awards and been presented as best practice on the international circuit. According to the HSE ,“it has proven to be one of the most comprehensive and effective behaviour change public education campaigns” they've ever been involved in.
As of May 2012, it had resulted in 277,780 smokers making a quit attempt, equating to a potential saving of €10,889,567 for the Irish Health Service. Taking into account the broader societal costs of smoking, this meant a potential saving of €32,668,701. [1]
It was these phenomenal results that earned us a Gold award in the 2012 IAPI ADFX awards, and also international fame.
International Fame for QUIT's 1 in 2
They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. In the UK, both the SouthWest and Fresh North East have acknowledged the inspiration from the HSE QUIT campaign on using the 1 in every 2 idea.
Be there tomorrow
http://www.smokefreesouthwest.org.uk/
http://www.betheretomorrow.co.uk
'Don't be the one'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXloClpBXHc
This success also ensured the campaign continued running for the remainder of 2012 and into 2013.
And so our story starts where the last left off.
[1] 2012 ADFX Entry – 1 in 2 smokers will die of a tobacco-related disease
The objective of any smoking cessation campaign is to bring about a decrease in the number of people who smoke. We do that by aiming to increase the number of quit attempts people make.
Business Objectives:
- Increase sign-ups to QUITplans yoy (this had declined by 2.4% from 2012 to 2013....)
- Increase number of quit attempts yoy
Our Marketing Objectives would not change. They remained:
- Encourage smokers to make a quit attempt
- Encourage smokers to try again if an attempt doesn't succeed
- Promote and provide a range of support services to help smokers quit
Communication Objectives
- Tell smokers Why to quit
- Show them How to quit
- Encourage them to quit now not later
- Tell the Collins Family story with sensitivity and care for them and the audience
Measuring success
Since 2012, the HSE have actually adopted Cawley NeaTBWA's measurement methodology, with results calculated in real time and publicly communicated throughout the life of the campaign, a first internationally.
Rates and extrapolation methods used are all sourced from evidence-based international research. These are the same tactics for measurement that were employed in the first part of the campaign, which had won gold at the adfx awards in 2010 and best use of research.
Smoking was high on the national agenda.
2013 was the year when the Tobacco-Free Policy Review Group published their long-awaited report, Tobacco-Free Ireland. As part of this release, Minister Reilly also announced the date by which Ireland will be smoke-free. By 2025, Ireland aims to have a smoking prevalence rate of under 5% (i.e. under 5% of the population would be smokers).
The Tobacco Free Ireland report noted that for all involved in Tobacco-Control “A more concerted effort is now required...”.
Our QUIT campaign was, and is, evidently only one facet which will bring about this decline[1], however we would now be tasked with meeting ever higher targets.
Growth on a tiring (?) campaign
We would need to bring about this further growth on a three year campaign that had seemed to have given its all. The creative had been incredibly hard working, and lasted for three years, from 2011 to 2013. But cracks finally began to show towards the end of 2013, with the first decline appearing relative, of course, to the previous two year's massive gains.[2] Though visits to quit.ie were up, the crucial measurement metric 'Signups to QUITplans' were down compared to previous years.
[1] Legislative and taxation measures among others being key.
[2] Source: QUIT Campaign CRSG Proposal 2014
When the HSE got the call from Gerry in June 2013, they were unsure how to proceed. We had proven campaign principles that delivered optimum effectiveness, and a brand proposition that had delivered wild success. There is also a strong international evidence base for testimonial adverts, even from people in their final stages of illness. The concern was whether this might be a step backwards towards shock tactics, a route we knew could be less effective? We had consulted a behavioural psychologist about the merits of the campaign. There was concerns that any campaign of this kind would need to be careful to avoid making it difficult for people to watch, which would result in them essentially ignoring the message.
Learnings from our previous award-winning research in 2011 had shown that if the message is too hard-hitting, smokers immediately reject it, finding multiple 'ways out' and rationalizations as to why it doesn't relate to them.
Research – a tough crowd
We undertook further qualitative research in 2013: and lest we forgot, were reminded that smokers are undoubtedly the toughest and most cynical audience when it comes to a communications campaign.
Some participants in the focus groups we held had spoken quite flippantly about Gerry's story.[1]
“It's just another sad story, like you'd hear down in the pub every week sure”.
“We all hear everyday of someone dying from Cancer... and they might never have smoked a day in their life”.
“They put everything down to the fags”.
We understood that these justifications were coming from classic cognitive dissonance theory, yet we would have to work hard in our creative to address them.
[1] Source: Cawley NeaTBWA Qualitative Research
Smoking and Cognitive Dissonance
Smoking is often postulated as a prime example of cognitive dissonance because though its widely accepted that cigarettes can kill, almost everyone wants to live a long and healthy life. In terms of the theory, the desire to live a long life is dissonant with doing something (i.e. smoking) that will most likely shorten one's life. The theory posits that the tension produced by these contradictory ideas can be reduced in three ways:
- Justifying one's smoking
This is what we witnessed in our research; smokers rationalizing their behavior in sometimes inventive and creative ways, by concluding that only a few smokers become ill (“My granny smoked til she was 90”), that it only happens to very heavy smokers (“I'm going to give up before it gets serious”), or that if smoking does not kill them, something else will (“You could get knocked down by a bus as soon as you step out the door”).
- Denying the evidence of smoking related diseases, eg lung cancer
- Quitting smoking
Referencing Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance, we know that smokers are rationalizing and not always rational beings,[3] because it's easier to make excuses than it is to change behavior.
This would remain our greatest challenge.
Our strategy comprised of 4 key platforms:
- Staying true to the QUIT Campaign Principles
- Evolving the 1 in 2 proposition
- Honing in on the right insight
- Target smokers 'rationalizations' in the communications
1) Staying true to the QUIT Campaign Principles
Evidence and Effectiveness have been the driving forces behind the QUIT campaign since its inception, driven primarily by Dr. Fenton Howell, National Tobacco Control Advisor to the Department of Health. This dedication resulted in the co-creation and development of a number of campaign principles which the client and agency team abide by.
- Proven evidence based dual communications strategy:
- Tell me why I should quit: 1 in every 2 smokers will die of a tobacco-related disease. If it's not me, if I'm 'the lucky one', it means losing someone I love. It's not just me anymore.
- Show me how I can quit: it doesn't have to be that way. You can quit, and we can help.
- A belief that our loved ones are ultimately and always more important to us than the powerful draw to continue smoking. Family and friends are more important than the individual.
- Real people, real relationships and personal testimonials of loss are far more effective than actors and scripts.
- We are with smokers, not against them. Smokers must not be left feeling 'bullied' or 'criticised'.
- Success is measured in quit attempts. The goal of any effective campaign is to bring about the largest number of quit attempts possible.
2) Evolving the '1 in 2' Proposition
It was because Gerry truly believed in the power of the '1 in 2 smokers' idea, that he had called the HSE and it was he who showed us the natural evolution and opportunity for growth within our proposition. He told us,
“I thought I got away with it. I thought I was the 2 but now I discover that I am the 1”.
We realised that our proposition was even more powerful than we had thought. It had more than one side to it. It had the unique ability to manifest itself in a different way than we had first envisaged, it could evolve and be interpreted differently depending on what stage the smoker was at but from both perspectives the outcome was the same. So whether you are the 1 or the 2 in the proposition there was no avenue to escape it's powerful message. This is where the next stage of the platform could evolve to.
3) Honing in on the right insight
We, and Gerry, understood that his diagnosis and inevitable death while incredibly sad would not be the tool of effectiveness.
Instead it was the precious time as he approached death, the moments with his family and friends, their thoughts and feelings – this was the emotional time that connected with smokers.
It brought the '1 in 2' proposition to life in a fresh way – reminding smokers 'it's not just you anymore'. It was Gerry's insightful reflections about the people in his life, his gratitude for what he'd had, his regret at the decisions he made, and his final memories with his family and friends that have the powerful effect, rather than his diagnosis and death.
4) Target smokers rationalizations in the communications
In 2001, an Australian study[1] found that smokers endorsed significantly more rationalisations and distortions of logic regarding smoking than did non-smokers or ex-smokers. They recommended using interventions that target rationalizations in smoking cessation campaigns.
We wanted, in the crudest of terms, smokers to say 'God, that's me' when they watched Gerry's film. We could not allow smokers a way out, a way of rationalizing what had happened to Gerry and separating it from themselves.
Thus, our research needed to identify all of the potential 'ways out', that smokers could use to justify not quitting.
In order to ensure optimum effectiveness, leaving no way out for smokers we focused on addressing each and every one of these rationalizations (identified in research) in our three films, Gerry's narrative and PR.
[1] 'Addictive Behaviour'. 1991;16(5):349-53. Cognitive dissonance in tobacco smokers. McMaster C1, Lee C.
Creative Strategy
- This testimonial was about Gerry, but also his family and friends
Gerry Collins and his family had given us the opportunity to do something unique in the second phase of our QUIT Campaign. They gave us, and the nation, the privilege of sharing with them his end of life experiences and reflections as an ex-smoker in the hope that other smokers would see the benefits of taking immediate action to QUIT.
Gerry was likable, genuine and articulate with a magnetic and affable nature. We believed that his character and dignity in facing his terminal illness would engender an empathy with a broad audience.
We had a duty to Gerry and his family to tell their highly powerful and emotional story with sensitivity and integrity. Undoubtedly, Gerry’s story would create dissonance and discomfort for smokers about their smoking and that is as it should be. This was not about being manipulative or melodramatic but nor was it to shirk the truth or sugarcoat the reality.
- A national focus
We knew that there was a very strong likelihood that the Collins’ family story would have a national focus and relevance beyond the conventional parameters of an advertising campaign. We believed it would spark opinions, debate and discussion across all media platforms. And we needed to be prepared for that. In December 2013, Gerry decided to forego Chemotherapy in order to film the next phase of the Quit campaign for 2 weeks. He wanted to be well enough to fulfill his PR duties .
Tone of Voice
With QUIT 1 we established a specific tone that allowed our protagonists to speak for themselves. By telling their own story in their own way they delivered a powerful message on behalf of QUIT. With QUIT 2 we had decided to follow the same principles. Our task was to facilitate Gerry and his family, allowing them to tell their individual stories that connect to one overarching narrative:
“That our loved ones are ultimately and always more important to us than the powerful draw to continue smoking”
Our research showed that it was Gerry's unique and heartfelt pauses about life and the individuals who he clearly loved and respected that made the viewing so haunting in its familiarity and could be assimilated for each individual who watched. Smokers would primarily connect with Gerry and his family and friends, before potentially seeing themselves go through his diagnosis and death.
“ I was watching that and I was delighted for him. I was like Thank God he was ok, and then when .... you realise he's not going to be ok .... well you really feel for him you know.”
“When he says 'I thought I got away with it'... that's exactly what I'd be thinking”.
“Now that would get in on me. Everyone has family, and blood is thicker than water. You'd kill for your family.. you'd do anything”.
“You've been on this journey with Gerry.... and now this is final. This is the end”.
We carefully ensured that all three ads would lead with this tack before punctuating it with the impending or resulting loss.
Targeting smoker rationalizations through the narrative:
A key component of our strategy had been to target smoker rationalizations through Gerry's narrative. Some surprised us, but we set out to address them all.
- 'Gerry is an actor': a minority of respondents[1] believed that in phase 1 of the campaign Margaret, Pauline and Gerry were actors. Now entering phase two, some of them believed that Gerry was not really dying. They spoke about Margaret's mother, and Pauline's husband being almost 'fictional' characters, because you can't see them. However, with Gerry there would be no such escape.
Thus Gerry's narrative very clearly, and unambiguously stated:
“I wish I was an actor. If I was I'd be acting about dying. But the reality is I am dying.”
“I'm dying from cancer as a result of smoking.”
- 'Gerry is dying from cancer, not from smoking': respondents spoke about this being 'just another sad cancer story'. They tried to block out the link between smoking and cancer, by talking about people they knew who had cancer but never smoked, thus downplaying the correlation between the two.
Narrative:
“I'm dying from smoking. Not from anything else”.
“I'm dying from cancer as a result of smoking.”
- 'It wouldn't have mattered when Gerry quit, he would have got cancer anyway'.
Narrative, emphatically delivered:
“ I wish I had stopped smoking earlier, I really do. My life would have been totally different.”
“Don't smoke, don't start and for those who have, stop”.
- 'Only a few smokers quit': interestingly, research shows that smokers tend to believe a much larger proportion of the population smoke than actually do. Similarly, respondents believed only a very small number of smokers would quit each year.
The HSE decided to use PR as the tool for releasing 'live updates' of the success of the campaign so far, using those numbers to encourage other smokers to quit. In newspapers, TV and radio interviews we would outline in precise numbers, just how many smokers had quit since the campaign began.
Use of Channels
Build Widespread Emotional Engagement
TV, Digital Video, Press and PR have proven to be hugely successful across 2013, and have kept QUIT high on the national agenda. Media bursts were used periodically across the year to avoid wear-out of copy, and this included an upweight of activity from New Year’s Day when people are most likely to consider giving up cigarettes. Five bursts ran over a 12 month period, and we have used Google analytics and website traffic to identify key periods when people are most responsive to our communications and influence the weight of burst (typically January and Ash Wednesday in early March were the heavier bursts).
A heavy and poignant PR campaign launched just before New Year’s Day, when the new TV copy broke. This comprehensive campaign brought out more of the story behind the ad – Gerry’s story. The deeper level of communications that this instilled made the campaign more real and almost personal, ensuring it hit home for anyone considering to quit smoking. Due to the human nature of the content, and relevant time of year and the heavy exposure on TV, Gerry’s story gained widespread coverage across print, broadcast, online and social media in a matter of days.
The campaign continued to leverage this high level of interest of the subsequent weeks from the New Year’s Day launch with Gerry and his family doing a series of interviews across TV, Radio, Press and Online. Gerry was extremely proud of the response and impact that his story was having at a public level.
Gerry Collins died on the 2nd March 2014, and was buried on Ash Wednesday – the day the second and third films were due to launch on TV. Taking the lead from Gerry's family and in consultation with them, it was decided to go ahead with the planned activity, with the films being edited to say that Gerry had died on the 2nd March, aged 57.
Gerry's daughter Lisa continued Gerry's good work, talking to the Press and Radio shortly after her father's funeral. During the interviews, she mentioned that the family decided to air the ads on the day of his funeral, because that was what Gerry would have wanted.
Continually Educate
QUIT used Radio, Digital Display and Search to share facts and direct people to our website for better guidance through their quit journey.
All TV bursts were followed with high frequency bursts of Radio to balance the emotional and rational messaging delivered across our communications. Previously Digital Display ran across the same period as TV and Radio, but we have moved more to an always on approach retargeting visitors to the site. Search has been always on since we began the campaign.
A Supportive Arm around the Shoulder
[1] All within the lowest SES bracket
A large supportive community exists online across forums, blogs and social media. The HSE knew that people trying to quit get confidence from the experience and recommendations of others and that the Quit.ie website has a lot of the tools, services and direction that they need. In 2013 and 2014 we increased the priority behind our Quit Facebook page, enhancing its profile within this online community and using it to give people greater access to the tools they need to Quit. Carat positioned the Quit Facebook page at the centre of this online community and started to link it on blogs and forums so that more of the conversation was directed toward us.
People are continually recruited to this page, and the great thing about it is that members of the page primarily start and contribute to the conversation. So the more members the You can Quit page has, the greater the engagement (and therefore HSE don’t need to spend a lot on of advertising spend on driving engagement like brand pages do) – it’s practically self-sustaining.
e.g. Fan initiated post:
The You can Quit page does regular shout-outs and sharing of success stories. All private messages in the page are answered directly, and are never shared publicly unless we are given permission to share it, or if the fan would like us to post it on their behalf so they can remain anonymous.
The Direct Messsage function is very powerful platform within our Quit FB community as it allows our fans to contact us in confidence, while it allows us to offer support and advice on a one-to-one capacity. Since the New Year (2014) we have responded to over 140 direct mails.
Towards the end of 2013, Carat turned the themes that popped up over the year on our Facebook page into native content that we ran on DailyEdge/Journal.ie, which broadened the reach of this conversation past social conversation and into published content. Then in a second follow-up content activation was implemented, featuring Gerry’s films and his personal story. These two New Year’s native content activations were very impactful as they supported Gerry’s launch event, and delivered great content at a very relevant time when people were setting their New Year’s resolutions. Combined, these pieces received over 2million impressions and over 60,000 views.
On New Year’s Day we also ran a Facebook Reach-Block which hosted the very powerful Gerry Collins video. This activation received 1,5239,344 views; 9,677 like, comments and shares and most importantly over 45,000 video plays.
Due to the success of these activations Carat have more content pieces planned for the future and these will be targeted more periodically in line with PR, but the rest of our social media activity is continuous, with peaks and dips across the year driven by our social media listening (typically this follows the patterns in Google analytics and web visits).
The following graphs show the increase in Facebook numbers, as well as engagement rates.
Increase in Facebook numbers
Gerry
This is one campaign we cannot take the credit for. It was the vision of one man, and his desire to leave a legacy beyond being just another statistic.
Gerry believed that his story could make a difference:
"There were three reasons I decided I wanted to do this. Firstly it was for myself - a positive thing for me to invest my energy in while dealing with my cancer.
"Secondly, I thought it would be good for my family, creating something powerful and meaningful for my kids to look back on.
"And, finally, if even one person stops smoking because of what we've done, then it will all be worth it for me."
Gerry died on the 2nd March 2013.
Before he died, Gerry got to see the results of his campaign celebrated in the media and amongst the nation. Gerry had said if 'even one person stops smoking' because of the campaign, it would have been worth it for him.
In terms of measuring exactly how many people had quit in the first three months of 2014, much like with the previous campaigns, it was extremely difficult to pinpoint how many lives that this campaign had affected, particularly between December and March, as the campaign has yet to run its full course and has not yet been measured fully.
In the 60 days the campaign was live before Gerry died, from the 30th December to the 1st March, we estimate that 60,000* people tried to quit smoking because of his vision. (*Based on on-going behavioural research, both in Ireland and internationally, we know that consistently only 5% of all quitters use a support service; most go 'cold turkey'. Therefore, based on the 3,000 people who used our online interactive QUITplan between 30th December 2013 and 1st March 2014, only one of the range of supports offered, 60,000 quit attempts were made to date, with 200,000 targeted for the full year.)
That equates to 1,000 people quitting every day of Gerry's last two months.
We also know that after one year, 5% of these people (conservatively) will remain quit.[1]
That equates to at least 3,000 people who will most likely not smoke again because of this campaign’s first two month, and a targeted 10,000 for the full year’s first 2 months, and a targeted 10,000 for the full year.
Research has proven that 1 in every 2 smokers will die of a tobacco related disease[2], thus we can surmise that half of that 3,000 people would have died from a smoking related disease.
That means, that before he died, Gerry and his campaign had already saved 1,500 lives.
[1] Source: Callum C, Boyle S, Sandford A. Estimating the cost of smoking to the NHS in England and the impact of declining prevalence. Health Econ Policy Law. 2011 Oct; 6 (4): 489-508.
[2] Source: The Doctor's Study
Proving Effectiveness
In addition to saving lives, the campaign has also already been a financial success.
The cost to the Irish Health Service is estimated to be €784 per smoker, per annum.[1]
Thus taking the figures from the first two months of the campaign alone, we know that it has potentially saved the government's health service €2,352,000 to date (5% of 60,000 smokers who have quit x €784) and more importantly, a projected €7,840,000 for the full year (per HSE historic audited data) – as it estimated that 5% of smokers who make a quit attempt will be smoke-free a year later, meaning that 10,000 of the 200,000 smokers who would quit during our campaign might be removed from the future health costs of tobacco care. This amounts to the projected €7,840,000 (10,000 sign-ups x €784) potential saving for the HSE.
This is in line with the consumer response to the 'Gerry' ads vs the first phase of 1 in 2 (Margaret, Gerry and Pauline), of Impact on Behavioural Attitude.
However, it is important to consider that Health Service costs are only one element of the total societal costs of smoking, with one UK paper showing that the true costs of smoking to our society are at least three times that of the cost to the Health Service, [2] (eg through productivity losses, long-term incapacities).
Thus in order to get a truer view of the total benefit to society, we triple our savings to estimate a potential saving of €23,520,000 or 124% increase on the pre '1 in 2' campaign (2010).
Looking at the advertising spend versus the potential money saved there is a potential Return on Marketing Investment of €1: €47.18, a 116% improvement on ROMI of the pre '1 in 2' campaign.
(We've also included an alternative way of addressing savings – see footnote for detail).[3]
1 in 2 smokers have quit
Altogether, there have been a massive 540,000 quit attempts to date since the campaign began (combining the results from June 2011 to April 2014). [4]
We know that there are 800,000 smokers in Ireland[5]. Accounting for some overlap in the 540,000 quit attempts (i.e. some smokers may have tried to quit more than once during campaign), we can still safely estimate that approximately 1 in 2 smokers have made a quit attempt since the campaign began.
The Millward Brown Lansdowne Research Omnibus (fieldwork 11-26th February 2014) further reinforced this amazing finding; “Over half of smokers said they had tried to quit smoking since they've seen / heard the campaign. “
International Fame for Gerry
In March 2014, the Department of Health presented the QUIT campaign at the European Conference on Tobacco or Health (ECToH) in Istanbul, and the Gerry Collins ads were incredibly well received, with some members of the audience becoming quite emotional.
Since that presentation, and in addition to the UK work, where we saw our idea being imitated, The Danish Ministry for Health has also been in touch with the QUIT team to find out more about the campaign, as they are in the developing stage of a new quit smoking campaign and are 'very taken with the 1 in every 2 message'.
[1] Source: Callum C, Boyle S, Sandford A. Estimating the cost of smoking to the NHS in England and the impact of declining prevalence. Health Econ Policy Law. 2011 Oct; 6 (4): 489-508.
[2] Source: Callum C, Boyle S, Sandford A. Estimating the cost of smoking to the NHS in England and the impact of declining prevalence. Health Econ Policy Law. 2011 Oct; 6 (4): 489-508.
[3] An alternative way of calculating the financial worth is to narrow the scope, and focus only on the costs associated with four tobacco related diseases (MI, stroke, lung cancer and COPD). According to an Australian Economic Assessment , for every 1000 smokers who quit there was an average saving of €277,370 in healthcare costs (€277.37 per smoker, per annum). The Assessment notes that these four diseases constitute approximately one third of the total health cost per smoker estimated at €830 per smoker.
[4] 480,000 (June 2011 – December 2013) + 60,000 (Dec 30th 2013 – March 1st 2014) = 540,000 quit attempts
[5] hse.ie
Lisa Collins, (Daughter of Gerry Collins)
The Irish Independent, March 2014
The behavioural response for 1 in 2, and in particularly to 'Gerry' the latest evolution, has just been phenomenal.
Gerry's campaign did particularly well with the hard to connect with 'C2DE' audience.
Overall, it elicited a significant emotional response and encourage them 'to think about quitting.
The 'Gerry' ads have been the highest performing QUIT ads since its inception – which is no mean feat. In addition, it significantly surpasses Millward Brown norms.
There was strong impact and reaction seen immediately on and offline, with thousands of smokers mentioning quitting and Gerry.
Gerry appeared on the Brendan O'Connor Saturday Night Show, and speaking on the Ray D'Arcy and Pat Kenny radio shows.
People planned to take action as a result of the campaign, but most importantly as we saw earlier in Results and Payback, 1 in 2 smokers said they had already quit as a result of the campaign.
Statistics can be amazing.
But it all depends on how you look at them.
For years there was one fact that everybody who worked on tobacco control knew, but the general public did not. For our clients in Ireland, and in deed clients around the world, it was a case of not seeing the wood for the trees.
In our initial briefing, back in 2011, the clients supplied us with a brief. But they also gave us reams of research and within the wealth of information and statistics about tobacco, we found that: Half of all smokers will die from tobacco related diseases.
We took that fact and presented it back to the client as,
1 in every 2 smokers will die from a tobacco-related disease.
A simple twist on a fact that everybody in the industry knew, but the public did not.
This statistic, this twist has led to international acclaim, and the hugely successful Irish QUIT campaign.
This is one campaign we can't take the credit for.
Gerry Collins and his family gave us the opportunity to do something unique in the second phase of our QUIT Campaign. They gave us, and the nation, the privilege of sharing with them his end of life experiences and reflections as an ex-smoker in the hope that other smokers would see the benefits of taking immediate action to QUIT.
Gerry said he would have been happy if even one smoker quit.
In the 60 days the campaign was live before he died, 60,000 smokers quit – 1,000 a day.
Since the campaign's inception (June 2011) to date, 1 in 2 smokers have actually quit – a beautiful and fitting full circle, from proposition to result.