Maryland Department of Health:
You’re Stronger Than Tobacco

Helping smokers prove they’re stronger than tobacco.

In Maryland, more than 700,000 adults and teens use tobacco. To help those who want to quit, the Maryland Department of Health provides the Maryland Tobacco Quitline. It’s a free service and the cornerstone resource in the state’s tobacco cessation initiative.

It’s the cornerstone, because it works. When tobacco users call the Quitline, they receive confidential, one-on-one counseling from highly trained quit coaches. These phone sessions make it seven times more likely they’ll become successful quitters.

To drive even more people to call the Quitline, the state called on GKV.

Job one was to create an affirming campaign theme that would frame all of Maryland’s tobacco cessation initiatives: “You’re stronger than tobacco.”

Job two was to make the Quitline phones ring.

Showcasing the coaching that inspires quitting.

Tobacco Quitline coaches are very skilled at listening, understanding, educating, encouraging, and convincing tobacco users that they have the inner strength to quit and live tobacco free.

We believed that showcasing the quit coaches’ support was the key. How? We let smokers and vapers eavesdrop on simulated Quitline calls to get a taste of the expert coaching that’s just a phone call away.

Due to privacy considerations, we could not use recordings of actual Quitline sessions. So, we scripted dialogue and recorded actors to faithfully recreate the kinds of challenges tobacco users face and the life-changing help that Quitline coaches provide.

Spreading the strength statewide.

To reach Maryland tobacco users throughout the state, we placed our :30 and :15 videos on linear and connected TV, social media, and the Maryland Department of Health website. We filled out the campaign with radio commercials, digital ads, static and animated social posts, and collateral.