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Increasing access to effective anti-tobacco media campaigns

Research updates

Issue 2, December 2009

Effective mass media campaigns are a key part of any tobacco control strategy because they can help prevent young people from starting to smoke, encourage smokers to stop, or not to smoke around non-smokers, and change the social context of tobacco use 1 .

Background

Many experts also believe that mass media campaigns are critical because they can create population-wide changes in knowledge about tobacco, attitudes toward tobacco use, and behaviour change amongst users and non-users alike ¹ .

In recent years, the practice of sharing and adapting anti-tobacco mass media campaigns has increased both in Australia and internationally. Depending on the level of tobacco control activities in a country, cultural similarities and message dissemination, effective campaign television commercials can be adapted at various levels such as changing some of the visuals and voiceovers, to reproduction of the concept in its entirety or with new creative. Adapting existing campaign commercials is cost effective, time efficient and can be implemented with more confidence if the commercial has been effective in its original market.

Purpose

To demonstrate, using examples, successful adaptations of anti-tobacco television commercials in Australia and internationally and key learnings in relation to successful adaptations.

Method

Campaign commercials can be effectively adapted at different levels depending on the tobacco control environment in the region that they would be aired in. Adaptations of the television commercial of the campaign range from high-level adaptation such as using the campaign concept and reproducing the commercial to better represent the population it is targeting, to low-level adaptations where only the end-frame of the commercial is changed to represent local sponsors.

Campaign television commercials can be adapted at a low-level by:

• changing the voiceover to suit local accents
• translating the script into the local language
• changing/ adding to the script to suit local tobacco cessation issues and smoking rates
• Amending the end frame

A television commercial can be adapted at a moderate-level by:

• reducing the television commercial length to suit media strategies
• adding/ deleting or replacing visual elements of the campaign to address local issues, saving costs on talent
• replacing music in the television commercial to suit local tastes or reduce costs on music rights

A television commercial can be adapted at a high-level by:

• using the campaign concept and reshooting the entire commercial.

Some practical examples of different levels of adaptation are presented:

Low-level adaptation

The Sponge campaign television commercial was adapted for use in China by the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau. The television commercial was re-voiced in Chinese and the script at the end was changed to address the Chinese custom of gifting cigarettes.

Moderate-level adaptation

The Stairway to Emphysema campaign was effectively adapted by the New York State Department of Health. The television commercial was shortened from 45-seconds down to 30-seconds in order to adapt the campaign to suit the media planning strategy.

High-level adaptation

The Cancer Institute NSW adapted the Excuses campaign originally produced by the California Department of Health Services. The adaptation of the television commercial involved the complete reshoot of the commercial by only using the creative concept. This high-level of adaptation was carried out with an aim to customise the advertisement to suit local talent, accents and local terms of reference. It also enabled the Institute to address tobacco control issues in New South Wales such as excuses that smokers made to stop smoking.

Results

The examples provided demonstrate the different levels adaptation of anti-tobacco television commercials. A key area of focus when adapting a commercial at any level is to ensure that key messages and objectives of the adapted commercial reflect those of the original campaign.

The Cancer Institute NSW owns intellectual property rights to several anti-tobacco campaigns that have gained popularity, nationally and internationally. These campaigns have been licensed to interested organisations for broadcast, print, educational or research purposes. Several of these licensed campaigns have been adapted at different levels with prior consent from the Institute. The Sponge campaign has universal appeal and has been licensed to various states in Australia and globally.

The key learnings to ensure that a campaign's television material is adapted successfully include:

• Conducting pre-testing with the target audience before adaptation. This ensures that the campaign concept and messages have the desired impact on the target audience. This step also addresses areas of the commercial material that may require adaptation.
• Consideration of budgets available to determine level of adaptation. Budget availability would determine if the entire television commercial can be re-shot locally or if only some parts of the commercial would need to be changed, such as the end frame or voiceover.
• Addressing licensing issues that protect campaign talent, copyrights and creative integrity. Organisations looking to license and adapt campaigns would need to consider costs relating to talent, music and license fees. These costs would also have an impact on the levels of adaptation possible and sometimes may result in the organisation having to abandon use of the campaign due to very high costs involved.
• Retaining the key messages and objectives of the adapted campaign is a key factor to a successful campaign. The distortion of the key messages of the original campaign's television commercial may result in the adapted campaign not having the same impact that it had in its country of origin.

Conclusion

Campaign commercials that have been successfully launched in their country of origin can be effectively adapted in other countries to address common issues in tobacco control. This strategy is an economical way to ensure the impact of effective anti-smoking campaign commercials are made not just in Australia but across the globe. It is also an opportunity for developing countries to access and use proven campaign commercials to reduce smoking rates in their country.

References

1. Feltracco A, Gutierrez K, Campaign Development Toolkit: An International Guide for Planning and Implementing Stop Smoking Campaigns. Brantford, ON. Global Dialogue for Effective Stop Smoking Campaigns 2007