Name of Intervention/ Program
TSET Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline: Hard To Remember :30 Radio
Background and Situation Analysis
Each year, 7,500 Oklahomans die from a smoking-related illness, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Additionally, smoking costs Oklahoma $1.62 billion in related healthcare costs each year. The Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline (OTH) offers free nonjudgmental services to help Oklahomans quit tobacco: cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, e-cigarettes, vapes, cigars, hookahs and pipe tobacco. Helpline services include text and email support, phone and web coaching, patches, gum, lozenges. Since 2003, OTH has received more than 590,000 registrations from Oklahomans. OTH uses traditional and non-traditional media to educate and encourage tobacco users to make a quit attempt.
Priority Audiences(s)
The Helpline’s primary audience 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 (smokeless) and smokeless tobacco users.
Behavioral Objectives
Helpline Benefits is the flagship campaign for OTH, educating the public on the free tobacco cessation resources and support offered by the Helpline. The “Hard To Remember” message ran under this flagship campaign. An objective for the Helpline Benefits campaign is to generate a 20% increase in Helpline registrations while in flight in FY24. It is important to note that radio is just one tactic in our marketing efforts.
Description of Strategy/Intervention
Animatics and messaging for the “Hard to Remember” campaign were pre-tested before production. These spots were surveyed to 509 people that fit the target audience. Qualitative results from this survey were uncovered including insights on technicality of the spots clarity, as well as insight for the messaging itself. Examples: “This message was clear and very easy to understand.” “It is sympathetic to smokers by stating the reasons why it is hard to quit smoking but they are there to help on this. I think this is helpful.” “It’s empathetic and gives an inviting message to get help to quit smoking.” “I like that it addressed real life things that are relatable instead of just throwing numbers and statistics at me.” The “Hard To Remember” creative highlights common scenarios that can trigger tobacco users and encourages them to contact and use Helpline resources to combat cravings. The message empathizes with people who know they should quit using tobacco but struggle to remember the reasons why. The messages speak to the inner conflict of knowing the healthy choice but battling against the addictiveness of nicotine. The “Hard To Remember” radio spot was also tagged with a promotional line which informed the audience of the Helpline’s Limited Time Offer of additional free nicotine replacement therapy.
Implementation
The OTH media plan utilizes research data from Nielsen, as well as, qualitative research from Scarborough and Resonate. The campaign ran across various media channels: TV, cable, radio, social and digital. A radio ranker was used to select particular markets based on the top stations for the OTH target audience. That information is cross-referenced with the list of stations that over index with information like having children in the home, household income and education level. The top performing stations are chosen based on those that align with the target audience. A combination of morning and afternoon drive spots mixed in with some daytime rotators across each station were purchased for the “Hard To Remember” radio buys. The buy also strived for meeting weekly GRP and frequency goals for each schedule.
Evaluation Methods and Results
The Helpline’s “Hard To Remember” campaign was successful across our traditional media radio channels. Traditional radio is key to the campaigns success because this messaging is educational, invitational and meant to evoke action. The below objective was achieved. Objective/Goal – Generate a 20% increase in Helpline registrations while in flight Actual – 26% increase in Helpline registrations while in flight with the campaign Overall, the Helpline’s “Hard To Remember” campaign harnessed success across radio media channels. Based on reports from our third-party vendor, RVO, this campaign is pacing well towards our overall Helpline registrant goal..
Entry Letter: Z