Smoking is the largest preventable cause of death and disease in Australia, killing 15,000 people every year.

Whilst 96% Australians were aware of its harmful consequences, and 82% had tried to quit at least once in the past, only 4% to 7% of quit attempts were proving successful.

To help the Australian National Preventive Health Agency reduce smoking from 16% to 10% by 2018, media had to not just provoke people into quitting, but to help them through their quit attempt.

Our idea was to create a mobile support app that would be with quitters 24/7 and provide all the tips and advice they could need.

On World No Tobacco Day, My QuitBuddy was launched – an innovative iPhone and Android app available 24/7 to nurture them through their quit attempt.

Rational functionality provided support tailored to their stage in the journey and gaming and social functionality provided emotional support.

My QuitBuddy quickly became Number 1 Health & Fitness app, generating over 250k downloads and 7m sessions in Australia alone.

Crucially, 39% of users indicate they are managing to stay quit – 800% higher than standard success rates. We are now on a strong course to reduce smoking to 10% by 2018.

On World No Tobacco Day, My QuitBuddy was launched – an innovative iPhone and Android app available 24/7/365 to nurture them through their quit attempt.

Rational functionality provides support tailored to their stage in the journey:

•Review every day, hour and minute achieved smoke-free, the corresponding milligrams of chemicals avoided, and dollars saved

•Keep fingers occupied through distraction tips and a Fruit Sorter mini game

•See your own recovery through a human body infographic visually healing over time

Gaming and social functionality provide emotional support:

•Record personal goals in pictures, words or audio messages e.g. “You can do it Daddy!”

•Share progress and quit tips with others in the same journey via Community Notes

•Unlock ‘recovery levels’ e.g. “After 2 weeks tobacco has faded from your fingers”

•Beat your previous Personal Best. If a lifetime of being smoke-free is just too distant a goal than go for a new ‘high score’.

My QuitBuddy’s innovative approach generated over $750k of equivalent media value without ATL support.

It quickly became the Number 1 iTunes app within Health and Fitness, has an average 4.5 review star rating (out of 5) and was featured on the App Store. It has achieved 280,000 downloads across iPhone and Android, and over 1.7m sessions has generated 47k hours of valued support.

Ultimately, smoking cessation is our key success measure. 39% of smokers who have used My QuitBuddy have indicated they are managing to stay quit, which is an incredible 800% increase on standard success rates.

My QuitBuddy’s combination of creative thinking, social psychology and smart development enabled us to exploit the mobile channel to its greatest potential. This approach is helping save thousands of Australians’ lives and set us on a strong course to reducing the prevalence of daily smoking to 10% by 2018.