With the latest research estimating that nearly six million people worldwide will lose their lives to tobacco next year[1], an innovative approach is critical to helping the 43 million Americans who smoke to finally quit. This month, new advertising that aims to help individuals do just that will begin airing on television and radio networks, as well as online and in ambient/out-of-home. The ads are part of the strategically targeted second year of EX®, a national quit smoking campaign sponsored by the National Alliance for Tobacco Cessation (NATC), a two-year old collaborative of state and national public health groups spearheaded by LegacySM, creators of the award-winning truth® youth smoking prevention campaign.
EX helps smokers “re-learn their lives without cigarettes,” by focusing on the smoking triggers that make it hard for people to quit smoking. The successful program, called EX provides smokers with a free comprehensive quitplan at www.BecomeAnEX.org. This site is also a convening point for smokers who want to quit and collaborate on their successes and challenges in the difficult quit process. Research has shown that social support is one of the most important pillars of a successful attempt to quit smoking. Since March 2008, when the first round of creative debuted, over a million people have visited the site. In addition, more than 14,000 smokers have joined the online community, forming nearly 300 customized support groups.
The new creative builds on the attention-getting first round of EX advertising and reaches smokers where they interact, learn and play both on- and off-line. The ads have a heavy rotation with sports fans who are known to have high smoking rates.
“This year, there have been several historic changes in public policy related to tobacco prevention and cessation. From the passage of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act increasing the Federal excise tax on tobacco to the Family Smoking Prevention and Control Act securing authority for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco. The movement to reduce the number of smokers in America is evolving,” said Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH, president and CEO of Legacy. “What is yet to change are the financial resources available to help smokers quit, so we have had to become even more creative with our public education strategy and are confident that our PSA partnership with the Ad Council will effectively supplement our more traditional paid media efforts in this campaign.”
For the rest of 2009, EX will continue to educate smokers through advertisements on television, radio and online, through mobile channels and via out-of-home promotions. The campaign launched with a sponsorship of Major League Baseball’s post-season action on FOX TV and includes a strong presence on ESPN2’s outdoor programming block, including coverage of “Bassmasters” fishing events. The campaign will run from mid-Fall (November 9) through January, in order to reach smokers who are planning to quit as their New Year’s Resolution.
Descriptions of television spots:
Many smokers light up when they drive. At the beginning of “Spin,” a man leaves his store for a smoke break. Cigarette in hand, he tries the doors of a few cars, before jumping into an idling delivery van and driving off. The voiceover relates: “You don’t drive every time you smoke; yet, you smoke every time you drive” and encourages the viewer to “re-learn life without cigarettes” for free at www.BecomeAnEX.org.
“Receptionist” is a look at the connection between smoking and drinking alcohol. Cigarettes at the ready, a woman at her desk in an office setting crushes ice, chops strawberries and then blends the mixture while her coworkers all try to work. As she heads outside with her cocktail, the voiceover explains “You don’t drink every time you smoke; yet, you smoke every time you drink” and offers that the viewer can “re-learn life without cigarettes” for free at www.BecomeAnEX.org.
Creative for EX was produced by Austin, Texas-based GSD&M Idea City, the agency of record for Legacy’s advertising on smoking cessation. New York City-based PHD conceptualized and implemented the media planning and buying strategy for the EX campaign.
EX is more than an advertising campaign. It provides evidence-based tools to help smokers quit, including information that can help them prepare for a quit attempt by 1) “Re-learning” their thinking on the behavioral aspects of smoking and how different smoking triggers can be overcome with practice and preparation; 2) “Re-learning” their knowledge of addiction and how medications can increase their chances for quitting success; and 3) “Re-learning” their ideas of how support from friends and family members can play a critical role in quitting.
Creative Note from John Trahar, VP/Group Creative Director at GSD&M Idea City:
Working with Directors Blue Source brought a more documentary approach and aesthetic to the process. The idea was to interview each character and hear from them what they were going through. This made the characters in the spots and their struggles with smoking that much more real to the viewer. And the more smokers can see themselves and their situations in the spots, the more relevant and effective the advertising will be. We believe this documentary style will help increase that connection.
Legacy EX Creative Credits
November 2009
AGENCY
Agency: GSD&M Idea City
Launch Date: 10/16 (Spin & Receptionist); Early 2010 (Friends & Forklift)
Spot Title: Spin, Receptionist, Friends, Forklift
Executive Creative Director:
Group Creative Directors: Luke Sullivan & John Trahar
Art Director: Spin & Receptionist: Carly Conrad; Friends & Forklift: Mark Peters
Writer: Spin & Receptionist: Nicole DuMouchel; Friends & Forklift: Mark Peters
Executive Producer: Karen Jacobs/Jeff Johnson
Producer: Jen Dennis
Prod Company: MJZ
Director: Blue Source
Editor: Hutchco
Director of Photography: Chris Soos
Stylist: Hala Bahmet (wardrobe)
Art Buyer: Jessica Spruill
Account Service: Maureen Barry, Stacey Schwab, Allison Friefield
Marketplace Planning: Andrew Teagle
“Spin”
Music Company: Agoraphone
Music Supervisor: Beth Urdang
Song: Oh Sweet Music! “Four Long Years”
“Reception”
Music Company: Agoraphone
Music Supervisor: Beth Urdang
Song: Kelley Stoltz “Bishop”
“Friends” and “Forklift”
Music Company: Agoraphone
Music Supervisor: Beth Urdang
Song: Bert Kaempfert and his Orchestra “Swingin’ Safari”
WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT (online banners):
Agency: GSD&M Idea City
Creative Team: Carly Conrad & Nicole DuMouchel
Producer: Courtney Grimsley
Account Team: Lauren Luscombe & Megan Braman
Smoking in America
Most smokers in America – 70 percent – want to quit, but in 2000, only about five percent of smokers were successful in quitting long-term. Quitting smoking is ultimately the single most important lifestyle change one can make to improve and extend his or her life. Tobacco-related death is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S.; smokers therefore need to be armed with all the available information to make the best, most informed choices about the smoking cessation medications and resources available to them.
In 2006-07, Legacy pilot tested EX in four markets throughout the country: Buffalo, N.Y.; San Antonio, Texas; Grand Rapids, Mich.; and Baltimore, Md. A new study released in the September 2009 issue of Social Marketing Quarterly found that smokers who were thinking about quitting found EX to be a trusted and empathetic brand. As a result of the successful pilot program, in 2007, Legacy brought together several national organizations states to form the NATC and launch EX nationally. The NATC is a growing group of states, non-profit organizations, foundations and corporations, all dedicated to helping people quit smoking.
Founding members of the NATC include:
– The American Cancer Society
– The American Heart Association
– National Cancer Institute
– C-Change
– Legacy
– The Mayo Clinic
– The Rapides Foundation
– Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
– The Association of State and Health Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO)
– Arkansas Department of Health
– Arizona Department of Health Services Bureau of Tobacco Education and Prevention
– Connecticut Department of Public Health
– D.C. Tobacco Free Families, a partnership of D.C. Department of Health, American Lung Association of D.C., and the American Cancer Society
– Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation
– Kentucky Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program
– The Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living
– Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Bureau of Primary Care and Rural Health Tobacco Control Program
– Missouri Foundation for Health
– New York Department of Health
– North Carolina Division of Public Health
– North Dakota Department of Health Division of Tobacco Prevention & Control
– Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust Center for Health Promotions
– Oregon Public Health Division Department of Human Services Tobacco Prevention and Education Program
– Rhode Island Department of Health
– Vermont Department of Health
– Washington State Department of Health Tobacco Prevention and Control Program
– Wyoming Department of Health
All of these organizations agree that while smokers may know why they should quit, many just don’t know how. Therefore, EX steers away from focusing on the reasons for quitting and instead empowers smokers to use FREE resources and methods that have been proven to increase smokers’ chances of quitting successfully.
The EX quitplan was designed in collaboration with Mayo Clinic and with input from former and current smokers who have lived with this struggle, in order to provide smokers with a realistic approach built on evidence-based research.
EX® is a collaborative public health campaign presented by the National Alliance for Tobacco Cessation, a partnership of the nation’s leading public health organizations and states. The campaign helps smokers prepare to quit and guides them to useful resources that foster successful quit attempts including the EX plan, a free personalized quit plan available on the campaign’s Web site www.BecomeAnEX.org. EX is the culmination of several years of research and testing, combining an understanding of the power of nicotine addiction with messages that resonate with and motivate smokers toward behavior change. The EX approach is peer-to-peer and focuses on “re-learning life without cigarettes” by encouraging smokers to think differently about the process of quitting. The campaign, which began airing nationwide in March 2008, includes television, radio, online and out-of-home advertising. The EX Web site helps smokers create their own individual plan to quit and connects them to a virtual community of other smokers sharing stories and strategies about quitting. Founding members of the NATC include numerous states and the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the National Cancer Institute, the American Legacy Foundation, C-Change, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and clinical partner, the Mayo Clinic.
[1] Tobacco Atlas, American Cancer Society and World Lung Association, August 2009.
