I Quit

Background.

An innovative, face-to-face campaign designed to engage smokers on a personal level, I Quit successfully enrolled young adults into the Quitxt program, a free, AI-powered smoking-cessation tool developed by UT Health San Antonio.

Challenge.

Quitxt, a free, AI-powered smoking-cessation program, uses SMS text messages and Facebook Messenger to help users quit smoking, save money, and live longer. Despite its cutting-edge technology and proven track record, Quitxt was largely unknown, especially among young smokers in South Texas. UT Health San Antonio turned to us to design a campaign that would build awareness and drive enrollment into Quitxt, bypassing the cost and inefficiency of traditional Facebook advertising.

The challenge was twofold: reaching skeptical audiences who had tried and failed to quit smoking before and creating meaningful, culturally appropriate interactions that resonated with smokers in urban and rural settings. Meeting smokers in their environments like outside bars and clubs where they were actively smoking. This required a warm, empathetic approach to minimize disruption and encourage openness. Additionally, the campaign needed to scale effectively, achieving a lower cost-per-enrollment than social media ads while extending the program’s reach into hard-to-access communities.

To address this, the I Quit campaign relied on a human-centered, multi-phased strategy that emphasized cultural and emotional resonance. We began by selecting and training diverse street teams who reflected the demographics and cultural nuances of the audiences they would meet. With the guidance of a cultural anthropologist and behavioral psychologist, we meticulously shaped the campaign’s messaging and tone to foster authentic, empathetic interactions. Street teams were trained to establish rapport within the average burn time of a cigarette, 4.5 minutes, and to guide smokers through a brief questionnaire gauging their readiness to quit. Smokers interested in enrolling were introduced to Quitxt via QR-coded business cards, enabling seamless, contactless sign-ups.

To ensure high-impact interactions, we used demographic data and Google Maps to strategically select venues and neighborhoods frequented by our target audience. Over nine weeks, from January to March 2020, street teams visited pre-selected venues across South Texas, engaging nearly 4,000 individuals in multicultural and multilingual communities. The campaign also adapted to the challenges of the pandemic by integrating safety measures, such as contactless materials and branded accessories for easy identification. Daily exit interviews helped refine our methods and improve venue selection for maximum impact.

In parallel, a targeted digital advertising campaign on social media platforms was launched to reach audiences who might not be accessible through face-to-face engagement. This allowed for a robust comparison of cost-efficiency, engagement rates, and overall enrollment between digital and experiential strategies.

Campaign.

The ‘I Quit’ campaign included a multi-phased approach designed to evolve and improve based on real-time measurements of interactions. The first phase was to scout the street teams who would be the face and the frontline of the campaign. This was a crucial phase of the entire rollout, as we specifically targeted multi-culturally diverse groups by matching our street teams to the demographic and culture of the young smokers at a certain venue.

Together with a cultural anthropologist and a behavioral psychologist, we shaped the message and carefully crafted the conversations we would have with our audiences. We meticulously honed the tone we would use at specific moments, what words were most appropriate and effective for the goals we had in mind. On the personal level, we ensured a genuine and authentic approach within each cultural segment.

With this knowledge, we crafted a range of ideal approaches that lasted no longer than five minutes (the average burn time of a cigarette), backed with a well-crafted questionnaire and measuring system to gauge a person’s interest in the service.

To be eligible for the Quitxt program, smokers had to be willing to quit in the next 14 days, and so we put the street teams through multiple rounds of training to identify and connect with eligible smokers. The teams also rehearsed multiple situations to respond empathetically and in a way that resonated with the journey of quitting. By superimposing municipal demographic data with Google Maps, we were able to select high-impact venues, bars, and clubs based on the target demographics that normally frequented the location. A key insight we uncovered was how our audiences weren’t necessarily from the neighborhoods in the vicinity of the bar or venue, but had traveled to these culturally specific locations that catered to their demographics.

Over nine weeks from January to March 2020, the street teams traveled to the pre-selected venues and approached young smokers with the questionnaire, educational materials, branded lanyards, and QR-coded business cards for contactless interaction (in response to the pandemic crisis). Reaching almost 4,000 individuals in multi-cultural and multilingual areas with an average interaction time of 4.5 minutes, the street teams established rapport with the smokers and measured their motivation and readiness to quit. If the person showed interest, the street teams explained the Quitxt program and its benefits and ultimately invited the smokers to join the AI-powered program via Facebook Messenger or SMS text.

At the end of each day, we conducted exit interviews with team members to assess and improve the quality of their interactions and venue choices.

Results.

• Effective Engagement: For every two hours of fieldwork, street teams enrolled three individuals into the Quitxt program, significantly lowering costs compared to social media ads.
• Cost Efficiency: The campaign reduced the cost per enrollment by 50%, achieving a gross cost per enrollment of $42.08 (net $98.90) and a gross cost per engagement of $3.77 (net $8.85).
• Program Reach: Nearly 4,000 smokers were engaged, creating a lasting association between UT Health San Antonio’s smoking-cessation efforts and a trusted, human-centered approach.
• Increased Success Rates: The campaign contributed to a 12% increase in users who successfully quit smoking through the Quitxt platform.

Additionally, the I Quit campaign’s emphasis on empathy and human connection was the focus of an academic study by Dr. A. Ramirez, Dr. P. Chalela, and Dr. A. McAlister, highlighting its innovative approach to behavior change and health promotion. The findings were accepted for publication in JMIR Formative Research (Date Submitted: February 18, 2021; Date Accepted: January 29, 2022), offering valuable insights into the comparative effectiveness of digital and experiential strategies.

By blending cultural insights, face-to-face outreach, and cutting-edge technology, the I Quit campaign not only helped smokers take their first steps toward quitting but also set a new standard for cost-effective, community-driven health interventions.

FIVE

The success of the ‘I Quit’ campaign depended on the quality and diligence of our street team selection process. We looked at age, gender, ethnicity, proficiency in Spanish, perspective about smoking, previous experience, and so on, building teams of appropriately diverse individuals and matching them with the right venue.

While team members were allowed to choose their clothing, we nevertheless outfitted the ‘I Quit’ teams with branded accessories to visually unify them. We also gave the team members lanyards featuring the program and university logos and displaying the member’s name in bold white (providing a crisp contrast to an orange gradient background).

In addition to selecting the right team members, it was essential to train them on our well-crafted methodology and question funnel, as well as how to efficiently deliver the AI tool to audiences in the field. Before hitting the streets, we created special QR cards (in English and Spanish) that allowed people to easily open the Quitxt program and enroll in the service.

ONE

Directing our feet on the pavement was a strategy based on three interwoven elements. First, we optimized our process for cultural matching, a key factor in establishing meaningful relationships quickly, and scaled this process with our venue selection to hit our conversion numbers.

The next element was the prioritization of street team training to create an evidence-based approach where we focused on bottom-funnel audiences, and finally, we vigorously reviewed and improved our methods to meet our cost-per-enrollment goals.

TWO

From a very human approach, combined with a drive to continuously review and improve, we leveraged a meticulously crafted campaign to increase loyalty among smokers and the Quitxt service, resulting in referred demand and, more specifically, a 12% increase in users that successfully quit smoking on the platform.

All this was completed with a 50% reduction in the cost for every user who enrolled, with a gross cost per engagement of $3.77 (net cost per engagement of $8.85) and a gross cost per enrollment of $42.08 (net cost per enrollment of $98.90).