Situation

Tobacco is the number one preventable cause of disease, disability and death in the United States. Almost 70% of the 45.3 million adult smokers in the U.S. want to quit smoking. But of those who try to quit without support, less than 5% are successful. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) partnered with the agency to change that dismal ratio.

Strategy

We knew these smokers wanted to quit. We also knew that previous anti-smoking campaigns hadn’t worked for them. Instead of a new message, we decided to use an entirely new medium. Something that was already in their pocket. Something they carried everywhere and interacted with constantly. So we turned the text-message platform of their ubiquitous mobile devices into a valuable new ally in the battle to stop smoking.

The agency leveraged a team of clinical psychologists, cessation experts and technology consultants to develop a cognitive and motivational program to be delivered via text, built around key moments and milestones in the quit-smoking process.

Execution

After opting into the SmokefreeTXT program, users receive messages scheduled in the system’s behavior-based algorithm. Based on their responses to mood, craving and smoking status messages, users receive customized responses, including cognitively tailored advice from our cessation experts. With every response, the program collects data to help determine its effectiveness.

We designed SmokefreeTXT to express joy and praise when users achieve a smoke-free milestone, and encouragement when they may have slipped. After participating in the six-week program, SmokefreeTXT follows up at one, three, and six months to check on the user’s smoke-free status, and offer additional assistance if needed.

A supporting campaign: “U&I Unite 2 Quit” targeted anyone who knew and cared about a smoker, to encourage participation in SmokefreeTXT. The campaign used online banner ads, social media pushes and select media outreaches timed around the Great American Smokeout and New Year’s resolutions.

Results

Earned media coverage at launch produced stories in USA Today, New York Times, NCI Cancer Bulletin and the American Dental Association.

U2Q generated 18+ million ad impressions, 28,703 clicks to banner ads, 275 unique Twitter accounts; 600+ mentions and retweets. The New Year’s campaign brought in nearly 4,000 new subscriptions to SmokefreeTXT.

But our most meaningful measure of success came in an analysis of active subscribers. The 17% who reported quitting smoking represented more than three times the national quit rate for people trying to quit on their own, a success that encouraged a national scientific study and increased federal funding, aimed at making SmokefreeTXT a new force in public health.