The Situation
Public health communications efforts around tobacco cessation with pregnant women kept underperforming because every existing campaign assumed the problem -- and the call to action -- lived with the smoker alone.
Case study
When the Standard Approach Isn't Making Impact
The campaign only began to work when the strategy stopped targeting the smoker and instead targeted the social environment that kept undermining her.
What Everyone Else Was Missing
The clinical barrier was not information or intent. It was the people closest to the smoker who continued to normalize and reinforce the behavior around her, failing to support her intent to stop using nicotine products.
The Intervention
Hayloft's founder pivoted the target audience entirely, building a values-based campaign for partners, family members, and housemates rather than messaging pregnant smokers directly.
What Changed
The framework measurably outperformed prior campaigns because it finally targeted the right audience, not just the most obvious one.