Overall findings
This concept touched many participants on an emotional level; most thought it to be moving, effective, and an important message. The visual caught smokers’ attention and motivated them to read the text, however on the flip-top package some felt the visual was unclear. There was also some confusion about the message, mostly because of a perceived lack of cohesiveness between the text and visual.
Specific findings
Initial impressions:
Many participants said this concept grabbed their attention and pulled at their emotions.
“Just makes me think of the harmful effects of second-hand smoke. It makes me feel guilty.”
Ability to get attention and motivate reading:
This message was quite attention-grabbing for most, mainly because the picture resonated quite strongly.
« C’est sûr que si tu mets un bébé, t’es plus porté à réfléchir par contre. »
Understanding of the message and meaning:
Discussions demonstrated that participants felt there were two messages presented in this concept and this caused confusion for some: is the mother or the baby exposed to smoke or second-hand smoke? Most accepted the premise that an expecting mother exposed to second-hand smoke might be exposing her fetus to second-hand smoke, but said this concept did not easily get them to that information.
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“The message should to tell smokers to not smoke around pregnant women and it doesn’t.”
Quality and effectiveness of the text:
The text was the least effective part of this message, as there was a lot of confusion about the message presented.
« Moi, j’enlèverais “que la moyenne…”. C’est la traduction de l’anglais au français, et je grossirais le texte aussi. »
Relevance:
This message was most relevant to young women, and also made some others think about smoking around pregnant women.
« Moi, j’trouve que ça porte à réfléchir. »
Ability to inform and educate:
Those who understood the message about smoking around pregnant women said this was a new angle on an old theme they already knew about: second-hand smoke is known to be harmful, whether to a baby or anyone else.
“We all know this already.”
Credibility:
The idea was generally seen as credible, mainly because the notion of second-hand smoke being harmful is not a fact that is often disputed.
“It’s the same thing. If a small child was around, I would try and move my cigarette away but I wouldn’t quit because of others.”
Readability and visibility:
There were some comments about the visibility of the picture - not everyone found it evident the baby was sick and said the tubes should be clearer.
Moreover, it was difficult for some to see the visual in the flip-top format. The headline text was easy for everyone to see, although some felt that the amount of text in the subtext was a bit much and not as easy to read.
« Je n’aurais pas su que le bébé était malade… »
Cohesiveness of the headline and sub-text:
Although both the headline and subtext talked about second-hand smoke, many said the headline suggested the baby was exposed to second-hand smoke, while the text spoke about the mother being exposed to it. This was confusing to many.
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“Have the headline, text and picture talk about the same thing: Picture, headline, text are each telling a story but not necessarily telling the same story.”
Quality and effectiveness of the picture:
The image of a struggling baby was seen as very powerful and made the concept moving and noticeable. Many pointed out that the emotional factor of this concept was the fact that babies are complete innocent victims of poor choices made by those around them.
“I think it’s a great picture; it’s extreme but not too extreme. I think it would have an effect on people.”
Cohesiveness of picture and text:
Participants tended to say they noticed the picture right away and drew an immediate conclusion the message was about expecting mothers’ smoking.
However, the headline about second-hand smoke appeared unrelated to what they felt the picture was showing, which was that the baby’s mother herself smoked. Several said they then understood the headline to mean that someone – perhaps the mother – had been smoking around the newborn baby.
“I was surprised that it was for second hand smoke and not a comment about pregnant women smoking."
Ability to be memorable:
The picture may be memorable, but the text was not seen as one that would particularly stick in people’s minds. The main reason for this was that the message(s) were often confused, especially at first glance, and that it was not felt to be saying anything new.
« La photo est plus percutante que le texte. »
Flip-Top vs. Slide-and-Shell:
For the flip-top lay out in particular, some said they found it difficult to identify what the picture was about.
Suggestions:
• Especially among those who saw the flip top pack, a popular suggestion was to make the picture of the baby bigger or to make it clearer this baby is smaller or sick because of second-hand smoke.
This could be done by adding smoke to the picture as well.
• Others suggested changing the picture to a pregnant woman standing in second-hand smoke, as they felt this would fit better with the message in the sub-text.
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• Another suggestion was to make the subtext more about either the mother smoking or the baby being exposed to second-hand smoke.
Concept Classification:
Best concepts (overall) - needs only minor adjustments Good opportunity - needs some improvements
Needs major improvement
Least effective - needs complete rethink/rework