Despite the fact that everyone knows smoking is dangerous there has not been a significant change in the number of young smokers in Denmark in the past 20 years. In fact, the number of young occasional smokers has actually increased (occasional smokers are those who mainly smoke in social situations – and who often turn into regular smokers).

We were asked by the NGO The Danish Cancer Society to create a concept that would get young people to think about quitting smoking – or not start at all.

The main objectives of The Danish Cancer Society were:

Get 10% of the target group to consider whether smoking is actually cool.

Get 50% of the target group to find the campaign message relevant.

Get an ad liking of 50%.

And get 7,500 persons to download an app (that can help you quit smoking).

It started with the production of handmade lollipops made from natural ingredients and no added sugar.

Then we placed/seeded the lollipops at music festivals, in fashion magazines, in a music video etc.

After this we sent direct mails to 100 celebrities and influencers. The DM explained the idea, had a personalized handwritten message for each recipient and 50 lollipops in 3 different flavours. They now started posting pictures on their social channels using only #slikkepind (#lollipop) and we reached the critical social reach numbers where the press started covering the story asking why lollipops were a trend?!

Now The Danish Cancer Society started doing PR about the campaign and we launched a nationwide integrated campaign featuring 13 ambassadors looking cool with a lollipop. Celebrity social posts kept the buzz going.

Finally, a tactical element was added in step 2 with a "download app" CTA to help the smokers quit.