Hi, it's Ian - hope your 2024 is off to a good start!

Here's an interesting question: what if the best way to change someone’s behaviour is to encourage them to fail?

And what impact would that have on your marketing campaigns and messaging?

In Canada, the Ministry of Health decided to see if they could encourage people to quit smoking by telling smokers that they’ll probably fail to quit smoking...

New data from Ontario’s Tobacco Survey discovered that smokers average 30 attempts to quit before they succeed or stop trying.

Previous anti-smoking campaigns had successfully lowered the provincial number of smokers to about 10%.

But that still left Ontario with 2.1 million regular and occasional smokers, a number that had remained steady for several years.

So the Ministry wondered, “What if ‘failing’ is the answer?”

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Watch: Failure is an option [01:00]​

Further research revealed that the biggest barrier to quitting smoking was people's fear of failing.

So their next anti-smoking campaign, “FAIL, FAIL, FAIL,” changed the game in three ways:

1. It acknowledged that quitting smoking is a marathon, not a sprint, and reassured unsuccessful quitters that their struggle was not a “quick fix”
2. It encouraged smokers to fail, but also to keep trying by staying on the quitting journey
3. For the first time, it specifically targeted the 18-34 demographic, about 15% of regular and occasional smokers, with the shortest history of nicotine addiction and the highest percentage of quitting intentions

The element of surprise (“Failure is an option”) played a big part in the campaign. The failure statistics, which were arresting in and of themselves, acknowledged the challenges faced by smokers. So, instead of having a fear of failure push back their anti-smoking efforts, smokers were encouraged to reach out for support.

Results

81% of smokers 18-34 who saw the campaign said that the advertising made them think seriously about trying to quit smoking.

69% who saw any ads during the campaign period were significantly more likely to have deliberately sought out information on quitting compared to 38% who did not see any ads.

And 73% who saw any ads were also significantly more likely to have spoken to a health care provider about quitting compared to 55% to those who did not see any ads.

Takeaways

1. Most campaigns try to change behaviour by focusing on success, but embracing failure connects with people’s reality in a more compelling and effective fashion
2. Diminishing the effort it takes to achieve something (“You can do it”) reduces its value and makes failure more humiliating
3. Standing out with a strong, differentiated message that shocks or surprises people delivers real, tangible results

Thanks for reading, Faisal Siddiqui​ Founder __ Z: Book a call​ W: creativebusinesscompany.com​