TPW Design Consultants won the tender to produce a public health campaign for Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council with the aim of raising awareness among young people of the harmful effects of shisha smoking – a habit that has been growing quickly in the North West of England.
Crucial to the brief was the need to be effective – this meant not only the gathering of statistics, audience demographics and so on, but face to face meetings with the youngsters the campaign would be targeting. Meetings were set up with Pleckgate High School, Blackburn Youth Zone and One Voice, allowing us to glean important information regarding habits and attitudes straight from the source.
This in-depth research then allowed us to tailor the campaign to the target audience. Early meetings revealed some interesting information: most of them had already smoked shisha, and the younger ones aspired to trying it. Following in-depth analysis of the data gathered, we concluded that the views of 14 to 18 year olds were so entrenched that targeting them would be ineffective. Rather, it seemed targeting the 11 to 14 age range – a time when minds are less fixed – in an effort to inform youngsters of the dangers before they consider trying Shisha would be more effective.
The client was keen to use a social media driven digital approach (partly based on the fact that young people are so technology and social media savvy), which was very much the conclusion we’d reached too. So, with everything taken into consideration, our solution was to design a short film to be shown in schools and uploaded to social media sites. We would then oversee and direct the film’s production which would be shot by a young film maker, further maximising communication in a way that is relevant to young people. The piece was shot in the local area, starring local people, adding to the audience connection.
The final cut of the film was officially unveiled at the Blackburn Youth Zone, with Mark Murray and Sam Norris from TPW Design Consultants, Councillor Mohammed Khan (Blackburn with Darwen Council’s executive member for Health and Adult Social Care) and Aeman Ali Afzal from This is TAE. Watch the film below, or click here to read more.