The Scottish Government

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ISBN 0 7559 2804 0 (Web only publication)
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Campaign overview

• The Scottish Executive has been running an advertising campaign to promote uptake of the influenza ('flu') vaccination for a number of years. In 2003, the campaign was extended to include the promotion of the pneumococcal vaccination. The key target audiences of the campaign are those aged 65+ and those 'at risk' ¹.
• The campaign was designed to support the Scottish Executive's commitment to ensuring that 70% of those aged 65 or over and 60% of those under 65 and in an 'at risk' group are given the flu vaccination.
• The second phase of the campaign ran from late September until early December 2004 and includes two elements: paid for publicity which includes advertising and public relations ( PR) activity, and direct mailing to eligible individuals
• Three waves of quantitative research have been conducted to evaluate the advertising element:
• Wave 1: Pre-campaign benchmarking research was conducted in August 2003 and sought to measure awareness of the pneumococcal virus prior to advertising.
• Wave 2: Post-campaign research in December 2003 sought to evaluate awareness and understanding of the first flu and pneumococcal advertising campaign among the general.
• Wave 3: This latest wave of post-campaign research, conducted in January 2005, used the same aims to evaluate the 2004 campaign.
• The TNS System Three ² Scottish Opinion Survey was used as the vehicle for data collection for all three waves.

Highlights

• Overall, three quarters of respondents said they had seen an advert on TV or in the press or had heard a radio advert when prompted.
• TV remains the dominant source of advertising recalled, with 84% claiming to have seen the advertising they recalled on TV (compared to 80% in 2003).
• Prompted recall of TV advertising among target audiences remained at a high level (70% and 72% among those aged 65+ and those 'at risk' respectively) despite a slight decline in awareness among the general public.
• Similarly, while prompted recall of the press advert amongst the general public was 41%, the recall was considerably higher among the target audiences (53% and 49% among those aged 65+ and those 'at risk' respectively).
• Thirty three percent claimed to be aware of the term "pneumococcal" at this latest wave, compared with 50% at the Wave 2 (2003) post campaign evaluation and 21% at the Wave 1 (2003) pre campaign baseline. Despite the recent decrease, it is worth noting that the figures continue to be significantly higher than before campaign activity on pneumococcal.
• Overall, there seems to have been a decrease in advertising awareness. It should be noted, however, that unlike the 2003 campaign, the adverts were only shown on Channel 4 and 5, not on ITV. Therefore, this may have affected the advertising awareness at this latest stage.

Implications for campaign 2005 / 06

• It is important to acknowledge that the current uptake figure of flu vaccination in those aged 65 years and over (as recorded by Health Protection Scotland ( HPS) who collate monthly returns from GP practices) is 71.7%. This exceeds the 70% target figure.
• Informed by the findings from this wave of post-campaign research and anecdotal evidence of campaign, it became clear that the existing Hannah Gordon creative that has been running since 2001 has begun to have less of an impact. As a result, a renewed creative is to be produced for future campaigns.
• The new creative route will utilise Dr Chris Steele, the resident doctor in ITV's "This Morning" programme. The messages 'Contact your GP for your free flu vaccination' and 'Don't let the bug bite' have retained high recognition therefore will not be changed.
• Pre-testing indicated that Dr Steele is a popular choice with high recognition. As a professional doctor, he adds credibility in delivering the message.
• The campaign for 2005 / 06 will launch on Friday 7 ^th October 2005, utilising TV as the core media, with local press available for contingency planning. Unlike Wave 3, the campaign is planned to be aired on ITV which reaches a greater audience.

1. Defined in this research as those who have diabetes, asthma, chronic heart or chest complaints, chronic kidney disease, lowered immunity due to disease or treatment such as steroid medication or cancer treatment, or any other serious medical condition
2. Wave 1 and 2 came under NFO Worldgroup, but has since been renamed TNS System Three.