2) Price

For the customer

On a No Smoking Day stall you are not directly selling a purchasable product.  But there is still a price attached to the ‘product’ for your ‘customers’. 

o       The placement of your stall will have a ‘price’ attached in terms of access and travel to and from the event.   

o       The times you are running the stall also has a price implication as people may not come to visit the stall if it will cost them a lot in terms of time and effort or lost income to visit the stall. 

o       Research what place and times are best to reach maximum numbers of people and make sure you are there at those times and that place. 

o       Another ‘price’ consideration for your ‘product’ is the ‘cost’ of the services and stop smoking advice you are offering to your customers. 

o       Visitors to your stall will need persuading that the ‘price’ they will ‘pay’ for stopping smoking with the services you are promoting will be ‘good value for money’.

o       Emphasise that the NHS services are FREE.  Make sure the services are accessible and friendly. 

o       Tell people that smokers using NRT and using an NHS stop smoking service are 4 times more likely to stop than smokers going it alone. 

o       Have a chart of the money that people will save in a year of not smoking to show the cost savings they will make. 

o       Have the No Smoking Day savings boxes to give away to reinforce this benefit. 

o       Some smokers argue that the cost of NRT is prohibitive, so have a costing worked out for how much any NRT will cost whether or not it is free or with prescription charges. 

o       Inform people of the immediate health benefits to their health of stopping smoking.  Be very upbeat and positive about all the personal gains from stopping smoking.

o       For many people stopping smoking feels too high a price to pay.  You need to provide the evidence of the benefits and savings in terms of health and wealth.   

For the funding authority or employer

o       If you are running a stall for No Smoking Day it is costing your employers time and money, so you also need to provide evidence that it is value for money. 

o       No Smoking Day website has lots of statistics showing how cost effective the campaign is nationally in helping smokers who want to quit. 

o       You also need to monitor your own event to enable you to evaluate the cost effectiveness of your local No Smoking Day stall. 

o       Prepare an event log in advance with columns for the information you want to gather.    Keep records of the number of visitors to the stall, the number of CO tests carried out and how many referrals to stop smoking services were made etc. 

o       You can also add value to your stall by using it as a high profile PR exercise for your service and your employing organisation.

o       In addition to the monitoring, make sure you have a camera and take pictures of your stall, staff talking to people and testing smokers. 

o       Use the photos for in-house newsletters and for sending off your entries for the No Smoking Day awards! 

o       Always inform the press so that you get media coverage for your event and for your stop smoking services. 

o       All publicity, before and after the event, will have a value which you can use together with other data to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of the stall. 

3) Place

Site

You can set up the best stall possible but if it is hidden away or you are in pouring with rain with no cover, then all your efforts may be wasted. 

o       Set up in a well positioned site to reach maximum numbers of your target groups   

o       Stalls can be in any busy place such as; workplaces, shopping centres, leisure centres, a market place, bingo hall, a festival, a community event, a Children’s Centre or Benefits Office etc.    

o       Choose a prominent position where people can see you and visit you without causing an obstruction.  You need to see and be seen.  

o       Try to set up in a central position so that you can be seen from all directions. 

o       In this case you need to set up and style your stall to be attractive and give your message from all angles.  Display boards need information on both sides and should be set apart from the table with models and information so as not to block the focal point of activity.

o       Prime sites in shopping centres can cost a fortune but they often allow charities and health organisations to run information stalls for free.  Ask for special deals.   Present the benefits for them in terms of publicity and PR.    

Weather

o       Weather in March can be very unpredictable.  No Smoking Day can be warm and sunny or cold, wet and windy.  Or any combination including snow! 

o       You may need alternative sites - an outdoor fine and dry site and an indoor wet and cold site. 

o       If you are to be outside, make sure you have cover or protection to put up in the case of rain and have space under the shelter to protect visitors to your stall. 

4) Promotions

You need to promote your stall in advance of the day to attract people to attend as well as getting across your message to the press.  If you manage it well you can get pre-publicity and coverage of the actual event in both story form and pictures. 

Publicising your stall in ways not using the media

o       Deliver and display posters and flyers for the event in shops, businesses and public places around the area of your stall a week or two before the event. 

o       Get a volunteer to dress up with a Big Cig costume or  wear a No Smoking Day cap and t-shirt to hand out flyers about the stall before the day.  

o       Have a Town Crier to dress up and announce the arrival of the ‘Great No Smoking Day Challenge stall’ the following week or day. 

Publicising the stall using the media

o       Publicity is the lifeblood of No Smoking Day and stalls are no exception.  There is a section on publicity in the No Smoking Day website so refer to that for general tips.  

o       Make sure you send a press release or a letter to the press a week or two before your stall alerting the public to the forthcoming event. 

o       To attract publicity you need to make it newsworthy and a ‘Great Challenge’.  Give the stall a memorable name and put in lots of local facts and figures.   

o       Tell them where you will be and emphasise any ‘new’ or interesting angles that will be offered on the stall such as ‘Challenge’ aspects and ideas such as Check your chest challenge or challenge chart or Challenge-o-meters.     

o       Remind people that this is the first No Smoking Day since the smokefree legislation came in (Scotland excepted).

o       Set up a photo call before the date to get the local press along.  Set up a mini stall in the place you will be setting up your stall and get volunteers to come for the photo call or have a trial run by attracting public to your stall for CO tests and advice.  Press photographers will ask permission of people photographed. 

o       Wear costumes, T-shirts, hats and have lots of interesting props that they can choose from or use in the background of the photo. 

o       Put a notice about the stall in local What’s On features or listings mags.  The deadline for these is often well in advance so don’t miss the date.

o       You can also write a letter to the editor about the stall the get pre-publicity about what will be on offer. 

o       Radio interviews are best the day before or the morning of the day of the event and will reach more potential visitors. 

o       If you are lucky, you can attract the local TV news to cover the event.  TV likes things to be visual and with lots of action to film. 

o       You could invite them at the start and set up a stunt or a photo opportunity for them to film. If they broadcast a piece on the morning or lunchtime news then you can expect people to turn up as a result of the news item.    

o       You can create more publicity opportunities if you invite the media to visit your stall during the day for interviews, photos and story angles.  Have a good show for the cameras!   Lots of things happening. 

o       It is a good idea to have ‘volunteer visitors’ from local shops or businesses ready to appear in case the stall is quiet when media arrive. 

o       You can also get post-event publicity when you evaluate the event and can tell the press about the success of the stall with service referrals and numbers attending.     

o       But make sure no-one can say they didn’t know it was happening! 

Resources for stalls

Media contacts and ideas

o       See the No Smoking Day website www.nosmokingday.org.uk for lists of local media and media coverage.

o       Log your event on the No Smoking Day website for the press to know what is happening in your area.

o       Ask for help from the Communications department of the PCT. 

Smoking Facts and Figures

o       The best website for fact sheets, information and statistics to use in press releases, handouts and displays is from ASH (Action on Smoking and Health).  www.ash.org.uk  The fact sheets are excellent summaries but you can also search for detailed reports and information. 

o       Use the links page to find websites on every aspect of tobacco control in the UKand around the world. 

Information and promotional resources for the stall

o       For No Smoking Day leaflets, posters, promotional items, banners and downloadable fact sheets in many languages see www.nosmokingday.org.uk

o       For other stop smoking and smoking education resources, Big Cig costumes,  giant red ashtray and stubbed cig, inflatable cigarettes, models, DVDs and promotional items visit the GASP website see www.gasp.org.uk  or phone 0117 955 0101 and ask for a free catalogue. 

Decorations for stalls

o       Red, white and black paint on hardboard or MDF board – go to any hardware or DIY outlet.

o       Red white and black material to put on table - go to fabric outlets and markets or department stores like John Lewis.

Red and white card

To make targets – go to art shops or Scrap Stores.

Red white and black clothing

o       If you don’t have a wardrobe full of clothes in red, white and black, try the local charity shops for themed clothing. 

o       While you are in the charity shops encourage them to get involved in No Smoking Day with a themed No Smoking Day window display and promotion. 

Archery or darts teams or other sporting challenges

o       Local libraries or Sports and Leisure departments of councils keep lists of local activity and sporting teams that you could involve. 

o       Use Google to search for local information.