Although 70% of smokers say that they want to stop smoking only 40% try to quit - less than half with support from the NHS. Research was commissioned to understand the attitudes and barriers, uncovering two key insights: many smokers want to stop smoking but are daunted as it makes them feel angry and tense, putting strain on themselves and their families. Quitting is perceived as aspirational, showing strength of character, but NHS support is perceived by some to be for desperate people.

To encourage more quitters to use NHS support, position that support as a more appealing option than going it alone, and grow the prospect pool.

The Quit Kit was created, to make quitting feel less daunting by packaging NHS expertise in a tangible and appealing way, with contents addressing the needs of first-time and cold-turkey quitters. To quickly build awareness, and to make it easy to get a Quick Kit, DRTV formed the background of the strategy, and to make it feel like a product launch, NHS partnered with ASDA do give salience at point of sale, and PR to generate substantial coverage of the new product.

Requests for NHS support increased by 500%, with users making 288,000 quit attempts, 40% being people who'd never previously considered NHS support. This equated to an increase in market share of 43%, cost efficiency increased by 370%, with CPR decreasing from £53 to £19. In only three months the campaign generated an estimated three-year cost saving to the NHS of £51 million. 480,000 Quit Kits were distributed in three months. Three-year ROMI was 7.47:1.

- Integrating campaigns makes them more effective. - People really respond to well-designed pieces of direct mail.