We’re more than halfway through Stoptober so a quick update.
As mentioned previously, there appears to be an issue with ‘campaign recognition’.
Despite the fact that it is now in its ninth year and enjoys a substantial media budget, a surprising number of people think it’s about giving up alcohol - not smoking - for a month.
This was apparent in many of the Stoptober-related tweets that appeared on social media in the first week of the 2020 campaign.
I highlighted a handful but there were many more examples.
Now however I have come to the conclusion that Public Health England probably doesn’t care too much.
After all, whether by design or accident, Stoptober could be said to be achieving a double whammy, so what does it matter if the public is a little confused? In PHE’s eyes it’s still a ‘win’ for public health if people reduce their alcohol consumption, even for a month.
I have also noticed that as the month has progressed the initial flurry of Stoptober-related tweets by members of the public has become a trickle to the point where the overwhelming majority of tweets (almost all of them in fact) are generated by public bodies.
Most of them are from local councils, some are from publicly-funded smoking cessation services and NHS trusts, while the last 24 hours has seen a number of tweets by local fire brigades warning of the need to put out cigarettes safely (hashtag Stoptober).
Their support for Stoptober (and before that the aborted ‘Quit for Covid’ campaign) is an indication, I imagine, of what will happen when Public Health England is wound up in March 2021.
Many of the responsibilities PHE has for tackling non-communicable diseases will be handed over to local authorities, although we can’t rule out a new body taking its place.
One question that will need to be addressed is, who will have responsibility for Stoptober 2021?
Either way, the taxpayer will end up paying for a campaign whose exact purpose still confuses a considerable proportion of the British people.
Nevertheless, if PHE is happy with 70 per cent campaign recognition (after nine years and millions of pounds spent on advertising and other promotional work), who am I to question it?
Meanwhile I am still waiting for a response to my Freedom of Information request for a copy of the Stoptober 2019 evaluation report.
If recent years are a guide, it will be posted on the PHE website towards the end of this month, almost twelve months after the end of the campaign it evaluates.
Public consultation reports normally take three months to write and publish. The Stoptober evaluation is never more than a few pages so I can’t imagine why it takes so long to appear.
Meanwhile, if Twitter reflects public interest, what does it say about this million pound campaign that after 19 days so few people are tweeting about it?
Good luck with evaluating that.
H/T Geoff Vann for pointing out that the Stoptober 2019 Campaign Evaluation is now on the PHE website.
My FOI request for a copy of the report was submitted on September 22. The evaluation was published on October 7. Pity they couldn’t be bothered to tell me!