Each year, 7,500 Oklahomans die from smoking-related illnesses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smoking also costs the state $1.88 billion annually in health care expenses.
The Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline (OTH), funded by the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) through the Master Settlement Agreement, has supported more than 600,000 registrations since 2003. Using traditional and non-traditional media, OTH educates and motivates tobacco users to quit.
TSET’s mission is to improve health outcomes, well-being and economic opportunity for Oklahomans by reducing tobacco use and obesity. One key tobacco outcome goal is to lower adult smoking prevalence from 19.1% to 13.4% by July 2025. A crucial OTH objective contributing to this is reaching 23,000 total registrations by June 2025.
To help achieve this, OTH launched the Limited-Time Offer (LTO) campaign, expanding its usual two weeks of free nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) to eight weeks. The campaign’s call to action invited Oklahomans to register for the Helpline and claim the enhanced NRT offer—providing additional free tools and resources to quit tobacco.
The primary measure of success was the number of Oklahomans directed to the Helpline for support, tracked through registrations. The campaign goal was clear: increase the average number of registrants by 20% during the LTO flights.
Ultimately, this objective supports TSET’s larger mission and tobacco reduction targets, helping to lower smoking rates statewide and improve the health and future of Oklahomans.
The Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline (OTH) developed the Limited Time Offer (LTO) campaign which is based off the flagship campaign for OTH, educating the public on the free tobacco cessation resources and support offered through the Helpline. As mentioned above, the LTO campaign promoted eight weeks of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) rather than the year-round offer of two weeks. The call to action for the LTO campaign encourages our audience to sign up for the Helpline and the LTO offer.
To illustrate OTH’s support, we approached the message through a stop-motion concept, allowing audiences to visually experience the real support they receive upon signing up. Inspired by audience insights, the campaign used a stop-motion narrative featuring cardboard as the primary creative element, symbolizing the tangible help Oklahomans receive when they connect with the Helpline. This handcrafted approach transformed the act of quitting tobacco into a journey of care and support.
This creative was designed to evoke empathy, highlighting OTH’s free resources in a way that made the quitting process feel both accessible and encouraging. By showcasing tangible support, we reinforced the idea that no one has to quit alone.
The primary audience of the campaign is Oklahomans between the ages of 25-64 years old who use tobacco. Tobacco use is highest among those with less education and lower incomes. Secondary audiences include health care providers, employers wanting to create a healthier workplace, those trying to help loved ones quit tobacco and tobacco users trying to stay tobacco free. In addition to broad messaging for the entire target audience, specific messaging is also created for priority populations, including SoonerCare (Oklahoma Medicaid), Native Americans, pregnant women, males and smokeless tobacco users.
OTH successfully created a campaign utilizing the following paid tactics that were determined to carry the LTO campaign message - statewide, in addition to organic social, earned media, website and other owned media, PR, and partnership efforts:
TV/Cable/Radio
Print
Out-Of-Home
Social Video
Demand Gen
Website Click Ads
The main objective to: “Increase the average number of Helpline registrants by 20% during the Limited-Time Offer campaign flights,” and preliminary results show we exceeded this goal by 68%. (The average number of registrations during the Limited-Time Offer campaign was 780 - compared to 464 in the months when the campaign was not live.)
While the Helpline was live with the Limited-Time Offer, the team has found success in adding registrants to the Helpline. This work increases the number of people working to quit tobacco, making our state healthier and hitting our overall objective of reducing smoking prevalence in Oklahoma.
