Directorate of Health - through to the final of Aller Best Q4

The Norwegian Directorate of Health wanted to try something new in this year's smoking cessation campaign. What was also new this year was that it would only run digitally - and not on TV as before. This gave Aller Media a chance to show ingenuity and modern storytelling.

There are still many smokers in Norway. The numbers are falling, but not fast enough. At the same time, the threshold for quitting smoking for good is high for many. That's why the Norwegian Directorate of Health wanted to strike a blow for the quit attempts. Most smokers see themselves as smoke-free in the future.

To reach the public, the Directorate of Health enlisted the help of Aller Media.

- In October, the Norwegian Directorate of Health focuses on smoking cessation. This year, they did not want to ask people to quit smoking, but rather make a quit attempt. Research shows that if you manage to quit for 28 days, your chances of remaining smoke-free increase fivefold.

This is according to Jasmina Lie, Strategic Group Customer Manager at Aller Media.

HDIR-casen is nominated for Aller Best Q4.

The advertising agency Per Høj came up with an idea to follow some smokers in their quit attempt. At the same time, it was important to provide information about what actually happens physically to the body if you stop smoking for 28 days.

- The Norwegian Directorate of Health wanted a diversity of participants with different motivations for quitting smoking. This allowed us to be relevant to as many people as possible, as there is no single definition of 'a smoker' or how quitting smoking affects you," says Lie.

The ambition was to inspire more smokers to join a quit attempt.

Enormous commitment

The hunt for participants for the campaign turned out to be easy.

- "We received 340 applications and the level of commitment was enormous," says Jasmina Lie.

In the end, they ended up following quitters Elvis, Mona, Silje and Glenn. Every day. For 28 days, through thick and thin.

- Considering that the applicants had to film themselves, answer questions, commit to sharing their everyday lives in self-produced films for 28 days and participate in several different productions, 340 applicants was more than we had dared to hope for," says Jasmina Lie.

- They produced huge amounts of content. Laughter, tears, annoyance and proud moments. The participants shared with joy - and it became our job to pick out the most memorable moments while motivating and supporting them throughout the process.

Tailor-made design

The task of following so many participants over such a long period of time required customized solutions. The focal point was the participants' own video clips. These diary-like videos were embedded in a brand new element from Gobi, giving the articles a SoMe-style story feel.

- All the 'shutterbugs' were given their own campaign page for readers to follow. There they encountered articles in a tailor-made design, specifically adapted to the campaign. Participants submitted self-produced films of themselves every day. "These films showed, completely unfiltered, what the final attempt was like," says Jasmina Lie.

- The videos showed that there are several different ways to navigate the quit smoking challenge - and that it's okay.

- How did you go about it in practical terms?

- Once the participants had been selected, we started the campaign by introducing them to Aller readers. The quitters were presented with introductory films in their daily environment where they talked about the challenges they faced and their motives for quitting. The following weeks were kick-started with a Monday meeting on Teams with all the 'quitters' and smoking cessation counselor Heidi Myklemyr from the Norwegian Directorate of Health. There, experiences and challenges were shared honestly - and the participants received good advice.

The participants were also given four challenges, which in total were intended to highlight what happens to the body, day by day, in a smoking cessation process. This harmonized with the content of the Norwegian Directorate of Health's own "Quit" app, which also addresses the physical consequences of quitting smoking.

- Glenn had a health check before and after quitting smoking, Mona tested her new taste buds at a restaurant, Silje had a skin analysis at the dermatologist - and the whole gang, led by Elvis, performed physical tests with Mesternes Mester at Ullevålseter.

- It must have been a complicated puzzle to solve?

- Yes, it was a big cabal with many people involved. A detailed publication plan was drawn up so that everyone had a complete overview of what was to be published when. In addition, we had a clear framework from the start, so we weren't delayed by long approval processes.

Vital work

The result was 64 video publications spread over 27 days. The videos had a high completion rate and generated over five full weeks of video viewing, in addition to 300,000 clicks to the articles. The campaign was a complete success.

- The article test we conducted showed that 54 percent of Aller readers wanted to make a final attempt, while 82 percent liked what they read. In addition, Mindshare conducted a pre- and post-test of the campaign. "The results were exceptional - and exceeded all expectations," says Lie.

The pre- and post-test Mindshare conducted showed the following lift during and after the campaign period compared to before the start of the campaign:

Doubling of those who have tried to quit smoking.

17% increase in those who say they want to quit smoking.

16% increase in those who plan to quit smoking in the next 6 months.

24% increase of daily smokers who see themselves as smoke-free in the future.

Christian Næss Gundersen, Account Manager for the Directorate of Health at Mindshare, has no doubt that this year's campaign delivered what it was supposed to.

- The insights from previous Stopptober campaigns showed that we needed to think outside the box, and the insights from this year's campaign are the proof that we have succeeded! This is, quite literally, vital work.

This opinion is echoed by Jasmina Lie at Aller Media.

- The campaign succeeded in getting people to try, want or plan to quit smoking. Both the personal and societal benefits of this are great. "It was a great pleasure to work with this concept. This is work that saves lives and really matters. There is no doubt that this gave us at Aller Media the motivation to do our very best.

And how did the participants fare?

- Since then, Mona, Glenn, Silje and Elvis have stayed smoke-free. We all had tears in our eyes when the participants thanked us for the campaign and said that it has helped them to a new and better life.