Development of the Tobacco Tactics logo: From thumb prints to press

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to describe the development and evaluation of the image-based Veterans Affairs (VA) Tobacco Tactics program logo and campaign character using principles of social marketing. METHODS: Four cross-sectional surveys with open- and closed-ended questions were used to gather participant demographic information, smoking behavior, and feedback on the development and evaluation of the Tobacco Tactics program logo and campaign character. The first 3 surveys were conducted with 229 veterans, visitors, and staff to obtain feedback for the final logo and character choice. The fourth survey was conducted with 47 inpatient veteran smokers to evaluate the Tobacco Tactics manual which was illustrated with the logo and campaign character. Descriptive statistics and bivariate analyses comparing demographic characteristics and tobacco use variables to opinions about the pictures for each round of testing were computed. RESULTS: After three rounds of testing to modify the logo and character choices based on participant feedback and survey data, the bulldog logo was chosen to represent the VA Tobacco Tactics program as it was viewed as strong and tough by the majority of participants. About 80% of the participants rated the manual highly on items such as logo, color, and pictures/illustrations. Almost 90% said they would recommend the manual to someone trying to quit smoking. CONCLUSION: Social marketing techniques that include consumer feedback to develop appealing tobacco cessation campaigns can increase consumer engagement and enhance the development of compelling tobacco cessation campaigns to compete with the influential marketing of tobacco companies.