Duel insights fuel smoking cessation campaign

A current effort by Nicoderm CN uses two different but complementary ways to get its message to resonate with smokers.

The first is the addressing the sense of guilt that many smokers who want to quit feel simply because they can't. Endured several failed attempts only deepens the shame. People are frequently harsh and disproportionately blame themselves for situations that are not all their own doing. As the compelling on-line banners point out, the brain has a mind of it's own. Realizing this and accepting it invites would-be quitters that it isn't all their doing, and that there's a formidable force to overcome with the right help. It's encouraging and one imagines a welcome perspective.























The second approach recognizes that we are all to some degree vain and care about our looks. By linking smoking to the effects it has on the beauty overall and the face in a variety of specific ways, it seeks to connect with the audience on an issue that they have strong interest and motivation for, rather than trying to persuade people to stop smoking using the rational appeal to health.

Stumbling upon treasure

One of the joys of being in account planning is venturing out to explore the lives of people we're trying to better understand. This temporary immersion goes by many names these days: ethnography if you're trained in anthropology. contextual inquiry if you come from the realm of human factors engineering (a term which has always sounded so cold and impersonal, which is quite in contrast to the work they do).

While interaction with the people being studies has its place, often the most rewarding discoveries come from pure observation: watching people use the space they inhabit and seeing things that they've accumulated over time.

Studying garage mechanic culture in the service bays of a well-known high street petroleum company, we came upon a a wonderful piece of this tapestry largely obscured by a variety of boxes, books and other stuff, but there nonetheless and well-worn with time. The poster was at eye-level and bore a simple phrase of timeless truth:















The business challenges that Ford has faced in recent years are well known, as are the mixed success in making the brand more appealing in the face of successful foreign competition. But there's a vein of gold in this simple statement that suggests a pride and a longevity in an age when so much mass production is devoid of human connection to the folks who build them, or service them.