The British Heart Foundation launched an anti-smoking campaign, taking advantage of online communications. They created a micro-site that exhorts, "Give up before you clog up" to support the campaign and teach people about smokers' health problems. The site, developed by the digital agency DNA is clean and quite usable. The "advertainment" comes in with a "Totaliser" to calculate how much money a smoker will save by quitting smoking.
To learn more about the initiative, MarketingWonk's Martina Zavagno spoke with Paula Barker, Marketing Manager at DNA Consulting.
Martina Zavagno: In this project, your goal is educating people, instead of marketing a product. What's the difficulty in working in the online communication for an issue like "quit smoking"?
Paula Barker: I don't beleive there is a difficulty in using online communication to educate people. The only area to consider is creating enough awareness that the information is there for people to access, which can come from online marketing or above-the-line as part of a larger campaign. We have found that a web site works excellently as an educational tool, as it can contain vast amounts of information, allow people to search for pieces relevant to them and at their own pace. It can also engage in a way that other media can't, through personalisation and real engagement in the campaign message. It has worked particularly well as part of larger campaigns, where the site is the focal point that all other media leads to.
M: What is the campaign target?
PB: The target audience is the C1C2D profile people within the UK. The objective is to stress the message that every cigarette causes fatty deposits to collect in your arteries - so stop smoking now. Therefore the campaign's target center's around generating awareness of this message amongst the target audience.
Why did you decide to use an advergame to deal with such an important health topic?
PB: The message we are communicating is not a pleasant one for many smokers and something that they may not want to hear. Through the use of games and other interactive features we can engage them and draw them into the information to enable the message to still be communicated. The information is there for people that want to access this directly where as the entertianment focused areas allow visitors to become more involved with the message and the benefits they can gain from giving up.
M: Many of DNA's clients are in the public sector or are non-profits. What is it about your approach to online communication that they like?
PB: There are several benefits of online communication for public sector or charities. These include the lower cost in comparison with other forms of media, the measurability of campaigns and the way developments can be scaled to either help manage budgets or to assess return on investment.
