ClearWay Minnesota is conducting a marketing agency search. We are releasing a Request for Information (RFI) as a first step to identify a marketing agency to begin work in January 2018. We are seeking an agency or agencies with strong strategic capabilities to develop and implement a comprehensive marketing campaign in support of our Mission, Legacy Goals and Strategic Plan.

This is an open RFI and we are inviting any eligible agency to respond. The full details of the RFI can be found here. Responses are due by 4 p.m. on Friday, March 24, 2017.

Agencies with questions about the RFI or the process may contact Marietta Dreher, Director of Communications and Marketing, at mdreher@clearwaymn.org.

Full RFI

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) – added March 17, 2017

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) – added March 10, 2017

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) – added March 3, 2017

 

This past month saw the release of a new report on the harms caused by tobacco use in Minnesota. Compiled by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, Health Care Costs and Smoking in Minnesota: The Bottom Line estimates how many lives are lost to smoking-related disease in our state, and calculates excess medical expenses caused by smoking. The report provides the first new data on smoking’s costs to our state since 2010.

The report finds that annually, 6,312 Minnesota deaths are attributable to smoking, and that excess medical costs to treat smoking-related disease amount to $3.19 billion per year in the state.

Blue Cross leaders said that while smoking rates are declining, the costs of smoking remain too high. Vice President of Community Health and Health Equity Janelle Waldock pointed out that Minnesota’s adult smoking rate is at 14 percent, but noted that “many communities are at greater risk for premature death and disease, both through the direct impacts of smoking, as well as exposure to secondhand smoke.” In Minnesota, she said, smoking rates are particularly high among American Indians (59 percent) and Somalis (24 percent).

The Blue Cross report was released the same week as an annual “Report Card” from the American Lung Association assessing Minnesota’s commitment to reducing tobacco’s harm. While Minnesota received high marks in some categories, our overall grades were mixed. The state received As for the Freedom to Breathe Act and for our free QUITPLAN® Services, as well as a B for our tobacco taxes. But we also received two Fs: one for not having a Tobacco 21 law, and one for failing to fund tobacco prevention at CDC-recommended levels.

The Lung Association’s Report Card called on Minnesota to make the following four activities priorities for the future:

• Keeping tobacco prices high;
• Limiting access to menthol and other flavored tobacco products;
• Raising the age of sale for tobacco products to 21; and
• Securing funding for proven tobacco prevention strategies.

ClearWay Minnesota is working to achieve all four of these goals as part of Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation, a coalition of health organizations organizing to prevent youth smoking.

While Minnesota continues to make progress in reducing smoking, a new ad campaign reminds Minnesotans that we can and should do more to prevent kids from becoming addicted to tobacco. Today we are launching an ad campaign called Stop the Start that hopes to end smoking for good.

The modern tobacco industry’s use of social media, coupons, concert promotions and other tactics aimed at youth are explored in a new television ad, called “Cowboy Pop Star.” Another new spot, “Train,” highlights why tobacco companies work to attract new smokers, because more than half of all smokers die from smoking-related diseases. The new TV spots will air statewide along with other elements of the campaign, including a new website and print, radio, online and transit ads.

“The tobacco industry continues to aggressively market its products to ‘replacement smokers,’ to guarantee their profits,” said our CEO, David Willoughby. “Our hope is this campaign will spur Minnesotans to look closely at the tobacco industry’s tactics and support policies proven to prevent youth smoking. Nearly all smokers start by age 18, but if we can prevent teens and youth from starting, smoking stops.”

The new campaign directs viewers to a new website, www.stopthestartmn.org, which provides facts about tobacco industry marketing tactics, and highlights areas where progress has been made and resources for people who want to get involved.

“ClearWay Minnesota has a history of launching bold campaigns that generate emotion and discussion,” said Molly Hull, Director of Brand Development at Clarity Coverdale Fury, the Minneapolis advertising agency that created the campaign. “This campaign’s power is in the message that we can do more to prevent kids from becoming addicted. That sentiment really hits home for the majority of Minnesotans, especially those who have experienced the effects of smoking.”

You can view the new television spots below. To find out more about the campaign, visit www.stopthestartmn.org or ClearWay Minnesota’s Facebook page or YouTube channel.

 

Researchers from ClearWay Minnesota and the Minnesota Department of Health this week released an article in Minnesota Medicine concluding that raising the state’s tobacco age to 21 would have important health benefits. Their calculations suggest raising the age would prevent thousands of Minnesota kids from becoming smokers.

“Two states and more than 200 cities across the country have raised the tobacco age to 21,” said our Director of Research Programs, Dr. Raymond Boyle, who coauthored the study. “The data we lay out in this article provide compelling proof that such a policy would have an enormous health benefit in Minnesota.”

The article, “Raising the Minimum Legal Sale Age for Tobacco to 21,” was published in the January-February issue of Minnesota Medicine. It is the first of its kind to flesh out the specific statewide impact that raising the tobacco age would have on the smoking behavior of adolescents and young adults.

Specifically, if Minnesota raised the legal sale age to 21:

• 25 percent fewer 15-year-olds would start smoking by the time they turn 18; and
• 15 percent fewer 18-year-olds would start smoking by the time they turn 21.

This translates into 30,000 young people not becoming smokers over the next 15 years.

“Minnesota’s comprehensive approach to tobacco prevention and treatment – including strong policies – has contributed to significantly less smoking in recent years,” said Dr. Boyle. “But this research shows that raising the tobacco age to 21 would prevent future generations of young people from starting and help to end the burden of cigarette smoking.”