Scottish Government Smokeline campaign breaks
The Scottish Government’s ‘Smokeline’ campaign is now rolling out following a soft launch at the end of last year.
The campaign, created by Story, aims to raise awareness of the services that have been made available to help people stop smoking, and will run for six weeks across radio with two 30 second radio adverts, alongside two, ten second follow-up ads that will run across all Scottish local and community radio stations.
The proposition created for the campaign is ‘We’ll match the quit method that’s right for you’, and will target smokers between the ages of 25-55 who want to stop smoking, aiming to have them call the Smokeline helpline or visit the campaign website.
Alongside Story, Weber Shandwick Scotland and Mediacom have also collaborated to deliver the campaign’s creative, digital, PR and buying planning and buying strategy.
The PR strategy focuses on working with stakeholders, media and partnerships with Scottish Slimmers and a number of Scottish Football Clubs, to target smokers who want to quit and take their first step towards a smoke-free future.
Activity will include road-shows throughout Scotland, a campaign website, online banners (see below) and promotional items such as a ‘Quit Calendar’ which gives day-to-day advice on how to stop smoking.
Paula Macdermid, senior strategic marketing manager at the Scottish Government, explained: “Just over a quarter of all adults in Scotland still smoke. However, there are positive signs that Scotland’s smokers are, more than ever, thinking about quitting. Our campaign targets the more than half of adult smokers in Scotland who want to quit, directing them to Smokeline, Scotland’s free stop smoking helpline, to help choose the best method to help them give up for good.”
Jim Kelly, head of planning at Story, added: “The challenge here was to create a campaign that would break down the barriers people have about calling a helpline for support to stop smoking. The campaign is empathetic and draws on real experiences which helps to draw people in and hopefully makes sure that smokers who want to quit, get the help they need.”