Flu Safe

A viral campaign to beat flu... Flu is a killer and, with no planned budgets from the central NHS to raise awareness of how to prevent its spread, core pods across the country have been developing their own campaigns. We were asked by NHS ONEL to create a campaign to raise awareness of the flu jab in four key audiences – over-65s, people with long-term conditions, pregnant women and healthcare professionals.

This project would cover the whole of London and across a range of age, race and social demographics, so the messages need to be high impact, easy to understand and instantly memorable. That’s why we developed the ‘Flu Safe’ brand, complete with the ‘red dot’ of awareness. And it was very well received, with figures for flu vaccine uptake much improved on last year’s statistics for the same period.

DEVELOPING AN UNFORGETTABLE BRAND...

A central part of the London-wide Flu Safe campaign was the need for an instantly recognisable and high impact brand. Every GP across London was given a special ‘pack’ of resources, fully branded, to enable a widespread and consistent launch across the city. The posters and badges in the pack helped provide a ‘journey’ for patients, which was supported by additional external, ambient collateral. At the centre of the Flu Safe brand is the ‘red dot’. This acted as the main focal point for all the campaign activity, along with a host of images of relevant ‘real people’ to help directly relate the campaign to individuals from the main groups – particularly older people, people with long-term conditions and pregnant women. We also developed a tone of voice for the messages – friendly and approachable, but also professional and trustworthy – as well as a full set of brand guidelines to support all aspects of how to use the brand in real life.

SPREADING THE WORD WITH POSTERS AND ADVERTS...

Having a solid brand in place gives the firm foundations necessary for success, but the campaign also needs to catch the eye with high impact posters and adverts. We developed a full suite of adverts and posters to use in a variety of situations – and to attract certain audiences – throughout the whole London-wide campaign. We worked with the NHS team to identify suitable imagery, using real people to help patients relate to the message and encourage them to get the jab.

MAKING THE BRAND REAL WITH BADGES...

The high impact visual nature of this London-wide campaign is only part of the story. The method of spreading the message is vital too. To tie in with the ‘red dot’ on the posters and adverts, we also developed the idea of badges. These red dots will help to spread the word about Flu Safe – and the jabs – in a viral way. People will receive the badges at their GP when they get their jab, passing on awareness and understanding about the campaign and the jabs in general. This tangible side to the marketing adds an extra dimension and helps to take it to the next level.

AS SEEN ON TV...

From launch, the 'Flu Safe' campaign received extensive media coverage - which gave the message added momentum and helped it reach an even wider audience. A major part of this PR awareness was the campaign being featured on BBC London News on three separate occasions. These special reports focused on the campaign and its central focus of who should have the jab and where they could get it. The high impact nature of the campaign lent itself perfectly for the news reports, with the vital messages coming through, loud and clear.