Influenza can be a serious illness. But if you are elderly, pregnant, or have an underlying health condition the risk of complications is much higher.

Our job is to motivate those people at the greatest risk of serious illness or complications from flu to get immunised early, before winter starts.

To do this, we have evolved a tailored campaign approach that helps ensure that the right messages get to the right audiences.

However, this year came with an extra twist – COVID-19. And as part of the Ministry of Health’s preparation for its potential impact, the 2020 Influenza Immunisation campaign was brought forward 2 weeks.

Demand for flu vaccine was anticipated to be high. But we needed to ensure those who needed it most got immunised first. So, in some very short timelines (just over a week!) we worked with IMAC to produce a 4-week social media campaign targeting:

• Parents

• Pregnant women

• People aged 65 and over

• People with certain underlying health conditions
  

And we supported this with active community management throughout the duration of the campaign.

Four days after the campaign launched, NZ went into Lockdown. 

As expected, interest in the flu vaccine was high. But Lockdown also created some unique challenges around vaccine availability, access to GPs and pharmacies, and many people were uncertain about safety of leaving their bubbles.   

It was a scary and frustrating time for many, however our community management team acted as a ‘virtual helpdesk’ for the campaign - responding to questions and comments and relaying relevant info on to IMAC. In addition, Account Service and the Creative Team were on standby throughout to react and adapt to the changing environment.

Most commenters were genuinely appreciative to hear their questions and concerns addressed, and we even helped a number of them find alternative vaccinators when they couldn’t get it from their GP.