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Healthcare & Wellness

New Mexico Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Program

OVERVIEW:

The New Mexico Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Program (NM TUPAC) provides free help and resources to New Mexicans who want to quit smoking. TUPAC sought to increase awareness and interest in its free Quitline. In particular, it wanted to increase the volume of calls from young men; this is the largest group of tobacco users and the hardest to convince to call the Quitline.

STRATEGY:

TUPAC had previously advertised on broadcast TV but decided it wasn’t effective enough in reaching young men. But the organization wanted to stick to TV: Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that television is the most effective medium for reaching smokers.1

Effectv proposed an extensive campaign that would be rooted in cable and employ spokespeople to appeal to the young male demographic. After TUPAC agreed to this approach, Effectv got to work and secured an NFL player and a UFC fighter as TUPAC’s spokespeople, filmed 15- and 30-second spots with each spokesperson, and ran the ads on cable.

SUCCESS:

The Quitline call volume increased substantially, with men accounting for nearly 50% of callers. TUPAC expressed high satisfaction with the results. The client followed up to report, “Our numbers to the Quitline… are the highest they have been over the previous four years! You guys ROCK!”

1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Health Communications in Tobacco Prevention and Control,” 2019.