Tackling smoking - pledging to stop smoking
ICE's social change team worked in partnership with NHS Coventry to deliver the city’s biggest ever initiative to help people stop smoking - our social marketing approach included generating demand for an increased local provision in Stop Smoking Services (SSS) and motivating local people to want to quit smoking.
As well as utilising existing research to understand the views of local people (particularly routine and manual workers, pregnant women and young people) we reviewed Stop for Life data and aligned this to our previous behaviour change work with NHS Coventry.
Our behaviour change specialists created ‘The BIG Pledge’ brand identity to bring the project to life and encourage local people to make a ‘pledge’ to stop smoking either for themselves, for a friend or family member - or to make a smoking pledge as a group of friends. We launched this creative and high impact campaign in January to capitalise on the known trigger point of New Year for smoking cessation.
During the eight week campaign, the team travelled with the BIG Pledge bus into the heart of communities, offering giveaways including lung age test monitors, CO monitors and ‘aged photos’ for people to take away and see what they would look like in 20 years time as a smoker.
To support positive, sustainable behaviour change, our trained community intervention workers were on hand to engage local communities, and give practical advice and information. The ICE-built BIG Pledge website also allowed people to make their personal pledges online.
