YoungShand

Client: Health Promotion Agency /Homecare Medical/Quitline
Product: Quitline
Title: Quit For Your Pets
Media: Online Film
Country: New Zealand
Date Of Campaign: 1st August 2019 - 22nd August 2019

Background: Research has shown that people who use Quitline are more likely to quit successfully than those who go it alone. Their free services are developed in-line with international best-practice, research, and client feedback, and they help thousands of Kiwis quit smoking every year. Quitline, supported by the New Zealand Government’s Health Promotion Agency are on the frontline of New Zealand’s mission of being smoke-free by 2025. With smokers becoming desensitised to messaging over time and quitting for good often taking multiple attempts, there is a need to continue to find new levers to engage smokers. Our job was to inspire a quit attempt, with the help of Quitline, by breaking through the barriers with a message that smokers couldn’t ignore.

Idea: To get under smokers' skin, we showed them the impact their habit has on an unexpected member of their family – their pet. New Zealand has one of the highest rates of pet ownership in the world, with these furry companions taking up a special place in our hearts. It's this powerful connection and the unbreakable loyalty between a man and his dog that the campaign centres around – educating smokers on the little-known fact that when you smoke around pets, they're twice as likely to get cancer. The 'Quit For Your Pets' campaign is built around a two-minute film and supported by a layer of education and hope messaging. The film taps into the relationship we have with our pets and demonstrates that it is their loyalty, the very thing we love about them, that puts them at risk from our smoking. The two-minute film, which gives viewers a unique dog’s view of the world, was launched exclusively on The Project, one of New Zealand’s major current affairs shows. The film starts as the story of a man and his dog; however, as it progresses, we realise that smoking is leading them both somewhere they don’t want to go. The campaign ran from 01/08/19 - 22/08/19 across PR, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Display Advertising across Google Networks and Native Placements. The hero film was supported by teaser videos and a layer of education and hope messages, all designed to drive people through to the ‘Quit For Your Pets’ landing page to sign up for support.

Results: With a media budget of NZD34,000, we needed an idea that would engage our audience, adding to its impact through social sharing. As a result of the campaign, we recorded the highest traffic ever on the Quitline website and saw a 28% increase in completed web registrations for support. The campaign had a unique reach of 1.7 million in New Zealand, with 4.5 million minutes watched globally. It was also ranked top 5 YouTube ads New Zealanders chose to watch in 2019.