On 1 July 2007, a new piece of legislation came into force, banning smoking in public places. An integrated campaign was devised to help ensure everybody understood what this legislation meant for them. The “Countdown” campaign was devised to clearly explain ‘what, how, when and where’ – ensuring everybody affected by the new law knew how it would affect them.
The strategy
The campaign aimed to build awareness of the date of the smokefree law’s implementation, increase understanding of how the law would affect the target groups and to secure compliance. The Countdown campaign was central to explaining the benefits of the law, what was involved and how it would affect smokers and businesses.
The creative
Insight showed that an informative rather than judgmental approach would work best and that the ‘Countdown’ approach worked well in communicating information about the places and date of the ban.
The campaign used a television ad to show an ‘everyday’ man walking through a variety of locations including a cafe, pub, garage, and office – all of which have become smokefree environments. The TV ad was complemented with outdoor, press, ambient and online advertising prior to the 1 July implementation of the new law.
The results
In February 2007, 33% of respondents were aware of the pending smoke-free law implementation date. This rose to 83% in June. Awareness of the smoke-free legislation in England continued to steadily increase after the law’s implementation (89% in February 2008, 93% in April 2008, 95% in June 2008, and 96% in May 2008).
Support for the smoke-free law remained consistent at around three-quarters of the adult population (74% in February 2007 and 78% in June 2007).
