DHSC. Getting a quit smoking message into every pack.

What would it really take to put a quit message inside every cigarette pack? As part of its health mission, the UK government set out to place positive, quit-themed messages inside packs of cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco, a change it estimated could help around 30,000 people quit for good in the first two years. Following Canada, the intention was to move the cigarette market to a 'shell and slide' pack with the message printed inside.

Before any of that could become law, the DHSC needed to understand what it would really mean for the UK market, so they brought us in. We already knew the sector in depth, having implemented the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) for the European Commission, when plain packaging first came in, though this time the work was UK-only and had to sit within the existing TPD rules.

We started with the industry, engaging manufacturers that between them cover more than 99% of the UK market. From the packs they supplied and the interviews that followed, the barriers were clear, since almost every cigarette sold in the UK is a flip-top pack made on lines built for that one format. Moving to shell and slide would mean new UK-only production lines and expanded factories, up to four years and a multi-million-pound investment per manufacturer.

Against that, we looked at the alternatives. For cigarettes, the options ranged from a loose card in the existing pack to printing onto surfaces it already has, and for hand-rolling tobacco pouches, where the message was always going to be printed, the task was working out where it could sit and stay visible. The DHSC took the feedback on board and worked with us to reach a route more acceptable to the industry, while still delivering the visibility they wanted – a card added to the cigarette pack and print applied directly to the pouch, deliverable in months rather than years and at a fraction of the cost.

The messages had already been drafted and tested by the University of Stirling and shown to be effective, so rather than start over, our role was to refine and sharpen them, reworking the set into one clean, consistent illustration style, tightening the copy so each benefit stands out, carrying the right government branding and building the templates and guidance the industry needs to apply them to any pack.