Vaping is linked to severe health risks, including lung injuries, addiction, and negative impacts on cardiovascular health. Stressful and traumatic events and/or peer pressure can also affect an individual’s mental health and may be a contributor to why some young adults turn to vaping to cope with stress. Unfortunately, many young adults are unaware of these dangers. 

To address the rising concerns of vaping among these individuals, the LA County Department of Public Health asked Fraser Communications to develop a relatable and empowering campaign to inspire positive behavior change. Our strategy was to reach LA County residents aged 18-39 who use vape products. Based on our research, vaping use is significantly higher among Asian, mixed-race, White, and LBGTQ+ communities, so we focused our efforts on targeting these key audiences. 

Our creative approach centered around the needs, motivations, and challenges individuals face as they embark on or continue their quit journey which evolved into the campaign theme, “What’s Your Reason to Quit?”. We leveraged various digital channels and tactics to reach our target audience, with social media and out-of-home being the two primary vehicles we used to deliver the content we created. 

We developed authentic, engaging, and compelling videos featuring individuals who successfully quit vaping as well as out-of-home and placed-based media that can be seen around LA County. By sharing their unique stories, tips, and reasons for quitting, we aimed to foster a sense of community and shared experiences with their peers to help inspire and encourage others on their quitting journey. Check out the collection of Videos and YouTube Shorts.

For years, the tobacco industry has targeted individuals with cigarettes and tobacco product marketing, so it isn’t a surprise that people smoke cigarettes and other tobacco-related products at alarmingly high rates. Based on our research, tobacco use is especially higher with Black Americans, Latinos, Korean men, and the LBGTQ+ community, so we targeted our efforts to not only reach adults who smoke, but also focus our efforts on these key audiences. To help encourage Angelenos to quit smoking and seek free resources and coaching tips that are available from LAQuits.com, the LA County Department of Public Health asked Fraser to create a smoking cessation campaign. 

Our strategy was to celebrate the quitters and those who are continuously trying to quit smoking, while encouraging others to start their journeys toward quitting. The resulting campaign communicated to smokers an uplifting message that encouraged positive behavior change. We developed multiple messages paired with various eye-catching creative that celebrated smokers on their quitting journeys and motivated them to keep going and “never stop quitting smoking.”

As part of our integrated marketing and advertising efforts, we developed brightly colored, impactful outdoor creative that stands out on the street including large billboards, junior posters and other various out-of-home executions as well as radio, digital, social and advertising on coffee sleeves and coasters. Call volume and website traffic both increased and the overall campaign goals and impression goals exceeded those set forth at the onset of the project. In addition, this campaign was so well received, that is has now extended its legs into a similar effort to help motivate individuals to quit smoking menthols.

Given the success of our “Never Stop Quitting” campaign, we didn’t stop there. To support and ban the use of menthols, we leaned into research once again and learned that we needed to reach LA County smokers who prefer smoking menthol cigarettes, especially African Americans (men & women), Latino men, and LGBTQ+ communities, with messaging that will help encourage them to quit smoking menthols. 

We wanted to build upon the previous campaign and complement that effort, so we leveraged the same creative visual aesthetic and uplifting, positive tone, except with a different color palette, to develop the advertising and marketing materials. We focused our messaging points on motivating these individuals to quit smoking menthols, not just for themselves, but also for their families, friends and other loved ones. 

We leveraged a highly focused targeting approach to planning and buying the media to reach these individuals on digital platforms and social channels as well as placing media in outdoor locations where the campaign elements have a higher likelihood of being seen by our target audience. The campaign was another success for LA County and increased awareness of the harm menthols can cause and instigated a high volume of calls to the Quit line.  

Secondhand smoke is more dangerous than you might realize and unfortunately, many individuals are not aware of how it can travel through homes and apartments, thus affecting pregnant women, children, residents, and even pets. The impact can be detrimental and have serious health complications. To help raise awareness of the effects of secondhand smoke, especially for LA residents living in multi-unit housing, and inform these residents that here are steps they can take to protect their home from the dangers of secondhand smoke, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health & Fraser conducted research and developed a strategic creative campaign backed by a multi-faceted media plan. 

To reach the vast target audience, across multiple platforms, we created advertising and communication material in English, Spanish, Chinese, Armenian, Tagalog, and Korean. We focused our messaging strategies on two approaches, each focusing on the health effects of secondhand smoke among different age groups: one approach focused on the dangers of secondhand smoke among babies, while the other execution focused on how it may cause cancers to adults.

The campaign consisted of 30-second TV spots and digital videos, traditional and streaming radio spots, digital ads and social media posts, out-of-home executions, as well as print ads that were placed in several multi-cultural local newspapers. The goal of encouraging residents to take action in creating a smoke-free home and making sure that they and their loved ones are protected against the effects of secondhand smoke was achieved and evident by the increase in visits to LAQuits.com to obtain more information. This trend was continued throughout all flights that the campaign was in market.