How can we support parents whose kids are about to start smoking? Parents read newspapers, so we asked prominent columnists to write about teenage smoking. How did we get columnists to write about a given subject? Let us explain: 'Järkikuoppa' – the 'intelligence gap'. The Cancer Society of Finland found out that kids entering eighth grade are likely to fall into the trap of stupidities. It’s in the 8th grade when the need to be cool is peaking and it’s during that year that kids are most prone to start smoking – if they don’t start then, they probably won’t start at all. We suggested that columnists would write about this 'intelligence gap' together with potential victims: 14-year-olds. All the columns would be collected to järkikuoppa.fi where we would present the gang of writers and the phenomenon to parents. The majority of the columnists said yes to our idea and we gained media space for the cause worth tens of thousands of euros.

The Cancer Society’s aim was to reach out to parents of kids in the 8th grade and the creative brief was formed as follows: How can we support parents whose kids are about to start smoking? In order to succeed, we needed to reach out to parents on a broad scale and get them to realise that they could actually make a difference in giving their kids a longer and better life. The Cancer Society of Finland conducts yearly qualitative studies amongst teenagers. 'The intelligence gap' was amongst the 2010 findings.

The campaign planning started in August 2011. We started off by mapping all the potential newspapers and magazines in Finland. We then narrowed down the selection so that it represented a varied view of what parents with different backgrounds actually read.

The next step was to start contacting both the columnists and their editor-in-chiefs. We made personal calls and sent information packages and follow-up letters. We also helped the journalists to pair up with the teenagers. The majority of the columnists and editor-in-chiefs were excited and said yes to our idea.

The campaign was timed to take place from January to March 2012 to also allow for long-lead media to be included. The website was launched in early January 2012 when the columns started appearing in the media.

For the event:- We would get under 5 columns;- We also had a plan-B campaign option.

Our aim when starting the campaign was to get 5 columns along in the initiative.

So far we have 12 columns; altogether 19 newspapers or magazines have committed to the initiative and more are coming in all the time. The summed distribution for the newspapers and magazines this far is 2,498,800 and the readership reaches a calculated total of 4,483,600. That is a lot in a country of 5m people.

The Intelligence Gap campaign clearly stirred up a discussion. During the campaign period several articles that dealt with the theme teenage smoking appeared in media and as letters to the opinions pages. Thus far we already have 31 press clippings relating to the subject. The parents' role in supporting their kids has been highlighted in the discussion.

In order to respond to the brief, we needed to make the 8th graders' parents understand the problem, and tell them that they can make a difference. We needed to reach the adults on a broad scale, on all socio-economic levels throughout the country and in both official languages - Finnish and Swedish.We started off by thinking about the media usage of parents. Which media do they consider credible? Finland is a strong newspaper country and according to Statistics Finland’s Time User Survey from 2009 more than 9 out of 10 persons aged 45 or over follow newspapers regularly. So we knew parents read newspapers.

To make the information credible, we decided to ask prominent columnists to write about smoking and the 'intelligence gap' together with 8th graders. We decided to reach out to a wide range of newspapers and magazines, from gossip magazines to serious national newspapers.

The Cancer Society of Finland is one of Europe’s oldest and one of Finland’s biggest help organizations. Among its many tasks is campaigning against youth smoking.

The 'intelligence gap' effect was found in studies commissioned by the Cancer Society. In the 8th grade, the circumstances are right for kids to fall into the trap of stupidities. It’s the time when the need to be cool is peaking and it’s during that year that kids are most prone to start smoking. If parents would support them over this relatively short period, the probability to start smoking decreases dramatically.