Northwest Georgia Public Health Pumps Up Georgia Tobacco Quit Line

Northwest Georgia Public Health's Health Services Program Manager, Lisa Greeby, smiles at the ironic juxtaposition of tobacco advertising and the Georgia Tobacco Quit Line promotion on the Gas Station TV pump screen at a Floyd County Walmart. "When you're going head-to-toe with the tobacco industry on a comparatively infinitesimal budget, it's crucial every penny is spent wisely and cost-effectively," says Greeby.  "We get that with GSTV."

The health promotion folks at Northwest Georgia Public Health are first in Georgia, and among the first nationwide, to use at-the-gas-pump television to deliver public health messaging. “We’re working with Gas Station TV (GSTV), the largest national away-from-home television network, to deliver 30-second spots promoting the Georgia Tobacco Quit Line to a captive audience at a natural pause point in their day when they can’t channel surf or skip past the message with a DVR,” explains Health Services Program Manager Lisa Greeby.

“We have people’s undivided attention; there’s no multi-tasking, just pumping” Greeby says. “Using GSTV, we’re able to reach viewers at the pump in nine of our ten counties with one-to-one public health messaging. The four-week buy will deliver about a quarter-of-a-million impressions at nine northwest Georgia Walmart multi-pump, multi-screen gas stations.”

Greeby says at-the-pump television is an effective, targeted media buy. GSTV delivers Nielsen Media Research-verified information on viewership, demographics, dwell time, network size and recall. “When you’re going head-to-toe with the tobacco industry on a comparatively infinitesimal budget, it’s crucial every penny is spent wisely and cost-effectively,” says Greeby. “We get that with GSTV.”

Public health research studies show northwest Georgia’s per capita tobacco-use rates for adults and youth are considerably higher than the state average. Not surprisingly, lung cancer rates in Georgia’s northwest quadrant also surpass the state average. “Public Health works hard to prevent people, especially children, from ever starting to smoke,” Greeby says, but we also work hard to help people quit.”

Northwest Georgia Public Health’s Georgia Tobacco Quit Line awareness campaign is being executed in conjunction with the Georgia State Department of Public Health’s Tobacco Use Prevention Program. “Together, we have launched an aggressive, ten-county marketing campaign using most of the traditional tools -- radio, newspaper, cable, billboards, school yearbooks, our Web site -- in addition to GSTV’s innovative at-the-gas-pump television advertising,” Greeby says. “This spring, we’ll be partnering with the Rome Braves on a variety of promotions publicizing the Georgia Tobacco Quit Line.”
 
-Story by Logan Boss, PIO Northwest Georgia Health District, District 1-1

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