Smoking cessation creative campaign

Igniting change: a multi-channel campaign to help smokers go smoke-free.

Challenge

To boost awareness and engagement among long-term adult smokers with cessation services in Birmingham and Solihull, our task was to create an integrated communications campaign in just three weeks, from briefing to the campaign being live across outdoor media, on the radio and across social media.

Key to campaign success was to ensure communications resonated with six specific, hard to reach and diverse audiences.

Solution

We began by crafting a compelling campaign proposition built harnessing the power of behavior science and eye-catching design.  Our ‘Light up your Life’ concept focused on the positive health and wellbeing benefits of going smoke-free, offering an uplifting twist on the familiar phrase, using behavioral science principles to encourage lasting change. We explored three creative routes to bring the concept to life, working closely with Birmingham City Council and Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council to refine the chosen direction.

This involved:

Creation of campaign microsite: We designed and built a dedicated, multilingual campaign website. With an engaging homepage and two bespoke pages tailored to Birmingham and Solihull residents, the site directed users to stop smoking services and practical support — turning awareness into real impact.

Multi-Channel Asset Creation: With the creative approved, we delivered over 60 assets tailored for a wide-reaching media campaign. This included digital and printed out-of-home (OOH) billboards, adshels, bus interiors and exteriors, posters, and a suite of social media content. We also developed a script for a regional radio advert to ensure the campaign message reached audiences on the move.

Impact

In less than three weeks, we:

• Achieved widespread multi-channel reach, delivering over 60 creative assets across billboards, adshels, bus adverts, digital display ads, and social media platforms including Google Ads, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok.

• Strong audience engagement and motivation - The campaign resonated deeply, with 73% of smokers finding it motivating—especially 25–34-year-olds, where motivation hit 90%. This heightened awareness drove positive sentiment, with 69% responding positively to the messaging. Importantly, 41% said the campaign encouraged them to quit smoking, and 23% connected it to improved health outcomes.

• Encouraged conversations and community impact with 66% of smokers reporting that the campaign sparked conversations about quitting smoking within their social circles, amplifying the message organically.

• Expanded regional reach via radio across the midlands on the global radio network. This complemented the visual campaign, reinforcing the message to a wider audience.

• Drove digital action and website traffic, successfully directing over 5,800 unique visitors from Birmingham and Solihull to the dedicated website, with 21% arriving through direct traffic, showing strong recall and motivation to seek support after encountering the campaign.