We open on a real ex-smoker telling his story. It encapsulates the human truth shared by many smokers—the love/hate relationship with cigarettes. We chose animation because not only is it differentiating in a market full of testimonials, but animation allows viewers to easily project themselves onto the main character. The Masthead introduced a series of stories from successful quitters to offer inspiration to those who want to quit. We simultaneously launched a personalized support program that pivots to where people are in their quit and a mobile app that lends encouragement and helps smokers track their quit progress.

This video was launched as a YouTube masthead takeover on Desktop and Mobile devices on January 3, 2017. This date was selected as it was the first working day following New Year’s, which is the most popular time for smokers to make the decision to quit. While this placement lasted for only 24-hours, it had a 100% share of voice across YouTube on desktop and mobile, and achieved substantial reach to interested consumers. The Masthead resonated with potential quitters, resulting in over 100,000 subscribers to our My Quit support program.

• Over 3.1 million video views.

• 355% increase in YouTube channel subscribers

• $2.22 eCPM across devices for the banner.

• 14.8k new YouTube channel subscribers.

• Over 100,000 My Quit subscribers.