Glaxosmithkline - THRIVE
In the Moment

The Goal

Thrive exists to help smokers manage their cravings at key moments when and where they can’t smoke. Although well-established, the brand is a distant number two in a category dominated by a competitor with a massive 51% share. To make matters worse, consumer consideration of smoking cessation solutions, and therefore our competitor’s substantial advertising efforts, are tightly focused on two key “quit seasons” – New Year’s (Jan/Feb) and Holidays (Nov/Dec).
The brand needed to increase brand relevance and consideration of Thrive, and break through the overwhelming competitive clutter, by connecting with smokers in a way its competitors hadn’t.

The Insight

The brand’s strategy was based the insight that smokers are highly social but often experience FOMO (fear of missing out) due to their habit. They are regularly in need of a “social rescue”, rapid relief to overcome cravings in social situations and so they can stay in the moment with friends and family. The brand needed to reach smokers in-the-moment, when cravings strike, to maximize message relevance and impact.

Employing a “mass hyper-contextual” strategy, Thrive concentrated on reaching a broad in-market audience via flexible media and advanced targeting tactics, to deliver messaging in very specific and personal situations. This allowed it to connect with smokers on an emotional level, reinforcing the brand positioning that Thrive understands them and is there to help them manage their cravings. This stands in contrast to the category players, that promote hard-hitting “quit” messaging, which smokers find judgmental and condescending.

The Plan

To build relevance and consideration among smokers, the agency needed to demonstrate how Thrive could help them stay in-the-moment, and not miss out on time with friends/family by stepping outside for a smoke. In partnership with Cluep, Canada’s leading mobile targeting technology provider, the team developed a first-of-its-kind campaign that used social media triggers and mobile geo-location to provide real-time, intent-based targeting using their artificial intelligence systems. This enabled the brand to reach smokers when and where the Thrive message would be most relevant to them . . . in “socially critical” situations with their friends and family.

Leveraging Cluep’s proprietary technologies, the brand delivered messaging to smokers via a three-pronged approach:
1. By analyzing social media posts across the three major Canadian networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), the team targeted consumers engaged in conversations involving managing/reducing/quitting smoking, taking a cigarette break, needing a smoke, and discussions including competitive brands.
2. By analyzing consumers’ visitation patterns to real-world locations, it geo-targeted venues where people are traditionally inclined to smoke, such as bars, nightclubs, concerts and sports arenas.
3. In a first-to-market execution, the team used image recognition technology to target people via their photos uploaded to social media, reaching consumers posting pictures of themselves smoking or holding a cigarette, as well as pictures showing social situations often associated with smoking, such as at a bar, a group dinner, or with a drink in hand.

Finally, once targeted within these hyper-relevant contexts, the agency messaged smokers via full screen interstitials to ensure impact.

The Results

Taking advantage of new technologies, this data-driven campaign was successful in delivering highly relevant messaging, helping smokers manage their habit in socially critical situations. Leveraging Cluep’s proprietary targeting technology was not only a category first, but the brand’s use of their social photo targeting was a first-to-market execution. Reaching smokers via their social conversations, photos, and real-world hangouts, allowed Thrive to effectively build relevance and consideration for the brand through hyper-contextual placements. Engagement metrics exceeded all expectations, delivering 27 times higher than benchmarks. The brand’s strategy drove consideration among the target, delivering CTR’s 18 times higher than industry norms, and driving over 220,00 clicks to Thrive website.