Zero has a new idea to help smokers stop their addiction

When a start-up company tries to solve a perceived problem in our modern lives – the delivery of mattresses or the cost of new glasses – this is usually only a matter of time before expanding to categories related products. This is the case for some of the younger brands that address men's health issues, such as hair loss and erectile dysfunction. Hims seems to be investing in women's personal care, and Ro, the company behind the Roman erectile dysfunction treatment brand, is embarking on a smoking cessation game with a new (non-sexist) program called Zero.

Like Roman, Zero is a telemedicine-based product: users get a personalized abandonment plan from a doctor via an online visit, and then the company sends them an "abandonment kit" $ 129 per month containing bupropion and nicotine treatment. gum. They are also encouraged to use the Zero app, which helps them track their progress in terms of cumulative days without smoking, as well as taking consecutive days off, and consulting their doctor at any time.

Zero launches at a time when the conversation about nicotine addiction – not necessarily cigarette consumption – is gaining momentum. Juul electronic cigarettes, which contain nicotine but not combustible tobacco, have gained popularity among high school students, to such an extent that the Food and Drug Administration has declared it to be a true epidemic in the mid-2000s. September. Although electronic cigarettes seem to be less harmful than conventional cigarettes, a report from national academies of science, engineering and medicine has shown that vaping makes teens more likely to start smoking in the long run. still unknown.

At the same time, traditional cigarettes continue to pose a threat to public health. Smoking is the "No 1 cause of preventable death in America," says the FDA, causing more than 480,000 deaths a year in the United States and nearly 6 million worldwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control. More than half of smokers have attempted to quit in the past year.

There are many apps designed to help people quit smoking, and if you sign in to Amazon, you'll have a choice of nicotine gums. It remains to be seen whether Zero will give better results than any of these methods, and in this way Zero is also testing the limits of the "disruptive" startup models. If there was an easy way to solve the addiction, someone probably would have already done so.

ro

Like many consumer brands, Zero sells convenience products

Even with existing options, people have trouble quitting. Zachariah Reitano, Ro's CEO and co-founder, says this is partly because nicotine applications, medications and patches or gums are sold on a piecemeal basis, prompting the patient to assemble his equipment.

"They go to the doctor and the doctor says," Well, here's an order, "says Reitano. "Then it takes maybe 45 minutes to the pharmacy, then you have to wait 45 minutes, then they have to find chewing gum, and then they have to download an app. There are so many steps where someone can, frankly, mess up or not have everything he needs.

Reitano compares Zero's resignation kit to giving smokers "a bottle of water and a backpack": they'll always have to do the hard work, but at least they'll have everything they need within easy reach. hand.

In this comparison, we understand that quitting is not easy. Pete Golibersuch, Ro's vice president of design, explains that when his team started working on the Zero brand – distinct from Roman's – their first prototypes were based on blue and white color schemes intended to evoke the great air. It fell flat; it was too suggestive of commercials for drugs that showed patients resting on the beach, as if their daily lives were suddenly being replaced by an eternal vacation in San Diego.

And that's the trick: start-up design is so often designed to bring simplicity and simplicity – buy our product, and all your problems will be solved! – but in order to convey real empathy to its users, Zero must recognize that, regardless of the continuity of its own product distribution, it is not easy or simple to stop smoking. It's not a fun and casual experience like ordering new shoes.

Courtesy of Ro

The resulting brand is elegant and attractive, but not particularly light. Golibersuch went for black and white to represent the before and after leaving. The anthracite gray package is crossed by a red line that immediately evokes a no smoking sign.

In his messages, Zero actively tries to avoid patronizing his users. As the team's smokers clearly indicate, they know they have to stop smoking.

"Smokers do not need to remember that it's bad for them. So when they want to leave, [we want to be] a kind of place without judgment, "says Reitano.

Investors are betting on helping smokers quit

To evoke the obvious, smoking is a big deal. Although the volume of cigarettes sold in the United States fell by 37% between 2001 and 2016, the increase in package prices boosted sector revenues by 32% to $ 93.4 billion in 2016, reports the Wall Street Journal. In 2017, the electronic cigarette market grew 40% to $ 1.16 billion, thanks to Juul's boom in sales.

On the other hand, investors in Silicon Valley clearly see the opportunity to help people quit. Ro recently raised $ 88 million, a round of financing led by FirstMark Capital, which also supports Airbnb and Pinterest.

But Reitano says Ro does not see other quit companies as a threat, be it nicotine applicators or gum manufacturers, patches, and lozenges.

"I would say our biggest competitors are like the Philip Morrises of the world," he says. "If someone else does a great job helping people quit, more power is given to them. When it comes to something as important as smoking, which is the leading cause of preventable death in the world, we are sort of rooted for everyone except for those who encourage people to smoke.