Influenza communication campaign - Essay Example

 Influenza communication campaign Introduction The modern society does not have the required experience to deal with the outbreaks of various hazards. For example, when the influenza pandemic strikes, there is rise in the public reliance on government systems, employers, health agencies, media and the community for information about the pandemic. The biggest challenge that health agencies and the government face is the sustaining of alertness and awareness among the public over the particular period that the pandemic is in session. The response to this challenge and others that are posed by the management of risks emanating from unfamiliar health hazards calls for the recognition that the process of promoting this sustenance not only involves ensuring that the information gotten is right but also making sure that the mode of communication of this information is one that incorporates and accommodates diversities that are present in the community’s needs, expectations and characteristics (Ratzan 2012 p. 21). This is why various communication campaigns have been formulated to act as a platform through which the public can be educated about the dangers of pandemics and the methods of coping with them. The campaign that I am to describe took pace in West Virginia several months ago. I was personally actively involved in the campaign and I was able to learn a lot about effective communication. This was a vaccination campaign conducted in West Virginia, a state in United States of America. It was composed of audiences and audience segments. The audiences shared some similarities as well as differences and the campaign team conducted several studies to understand the nature of the audience. The most effective way to segment is by use of psychographic and cultural variables. The audiences targeted by the campaign were told that they were not going to be passive who just receive the messages but an active audience able to participate. The team also planned to understand incentives that motivated the audience to participate in the program. It also went ahead to find out the challenges that prevented people who were willing not to participate. There were specific audiences targeted by this campaign which included; parents who had children less than 18 years and younger because they have the power to convince their children to participate. The parents have the responsibility of ensuring that that all their children up to the age of 18 years are protected through vaccination. Others included adults who are healthy who have not yet been infected with the flu and so by vaccinating them, ensures that they are protected. Adults suffering from chronic health conditions such as HIV/AIDS, diabetes, cancer and other diseases are also a target group. A person lives with such diseases for lifetime is a vulnerable group given that their immunity is very low and so the body cannot protect itself from an infection. Expectant women especially those in their late pregnancies that above four months are at risk for their immunity is also low. Those people who live with people at risk such as the health care workers or home caregivers given that they live with those who are already affected by the disease and so are more exposed than any other group outside (Ratzan 2012 p. 37). People from minority groups for instance, African Americans who are less privileged in terms of resource allocation and health care services. These are the people groups who are normally neglected and when there is an outbreak of a disease, it takes a long time for them to access health care service centres. The message was to inform people that there is an outbreak of the vaccine in their community and this helped to raise awareness among the community members of a disease, which was not common in the area, and they became alert and cautious enough and got prepared to take precautionary measures. Another thing was to let the public know that there was enough vaccine for all community members that are free of charge. There is also need to reassure members of the public that the vaccines proposed by the campaign team can effectively work. Another important message to deliver is that flu is able to cause serious illness or death and so there is need for one to protect him or herself. Evidence that being vaccinated will protect others from the flu is another factor that need to be conveyed and that it is safe to use the vaccine. Therefore at the end of the day the message that need to ring in people’s minds is that all [people requires to be vaccinated yearly, the flu vaccine can protect one from being infected with the flu and protect those living with that person. The healthy people are also at risk of developing the flu and it is able to serious stage. Being vaccinated each season is the only way that one can be protected against the value. The campaign team used the systems approach to deliver the message to the targeted clientele. This approach encompasses mass media and activities where the whole community is involved, analyses, and addresses the work done by the social structural determinants and more importantly it breaks the common tactics of communication and engages in marketing through marketing the product, price and place. Messaging plan helped ensure that the audience and the peers are all involved as well as everybody who influences the campaign in one way or the other. The completely print advertisement materials including brochures, flyers posters, as well as magazines were made available for anyone to download. Another wonderful strategy was making translations of these materials in multiple languages to ensure that every language can be reached. Another type of media used that proved effective for this campaign include use of local radio and Television stations with use of comics funny clips to attract wider audience while at the same time conveying the intended message. Social media was also pert of the plan, which included; twitter updates on the program page, regularly updating the facebook page, posting videos advocating for vaccination in the YouTube. Website updates for those who use internet services and continued sending of messages reminding people of the need to be vaccinated was another critical channel. There was an extensive use of audience tailored electronic, Graphic web buttons, widgets, and other social median tools to ensure that there is an attractive interface. All the channels worked together in harmony to ensure that there is advocacy of vaccination. When a TV or radio station for example announced or found something of concern to deliver to the audience, it always passed the same message to the team working on the social media to update the same on their pages. To be able to come up with a conclusive campaign, the management of the campaign needed to come up with a host of themes which the campaign would form the main focus of the campaign. Some of the major themes that the management of the campaign formulated included; importance of vaccination to pregnant women; the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, flu vaccine availability; vaccination timing; the disease activity and viruses of influenza and finally general information about vaccine. Through these themes, the campaign hoped to narrow down the areas of concentration and thus ensure that the entire process was conclusive and comprehensive. The method of advertising is a very significant factor when it comes to a communication campaign like the one in question. The method used determines the success of the campaign. In other words, it can make or break the campaign. In this particular influenza vaccine campaign, the management decided to adopt the AIDA and the DRIP advertising models. The AIDA model is based on four major aspects. These are interest; attention; desire and action. The attention aspect is mainly concerned with getting noticed. To do this the campaign erected various signs across different locations to attract the attention of the public. The other aspects were also well catered for. For example, there was the printing of t-shirts that were freely distributed to the public to gain their interest. These t-shirts had informatory messages printed on both the back and the front. There was also the use of photos to further promote the campaign. The DRIP model is based on four major aspects. These are; differentiation; remindance; persuasion and information. In the differentiation part the campaign aimed to differentiate itself from similar campaign that had been conducted in the pat and had not bee successful (Schultz 23 p. 57) .To do this, new strategies had to be adopted, for example as stated above, there was t-shirts printing and erection of sign boards and posters. The reminding part involved telling the target audience what the campaign what the campaign really entailed and who was conducting it. This was achieved through constant communication with the audience through the various verbal and non-verbal channels of communication. Some of the photos, posters and signs that were used in the campaign are sown in the captions below. Another mode of communication that was found to be very effective was the use of rhetoric. This is the use of artful language to persuade the audience. This is committed towards finding out the aspects of a campaign that will be accepted or rejected by the public. By using rhetoric, the management of the campaign was able to figure out the aspects of the campaign that were favorable to the audience and those that the audience had absolutely no interest about. For example, it was found out that the public did not really care for long talks about influenza and its vaccine but were only interested in knowing how the vaccine would benefit them. This information acquired was very helpful indeed and ensured that the campaign only concentrated on the areas that the public was interested about. Although the campaign was significantly successful, I do believe that there are a couple of areas that should be improved on to attract more audience. One of these aspects is the actual involvement of the target audience in the planning process of the campaign. People are generally more attracted to things or events in which they feel that they can also contribute something. Events where everything is laid out on the table generally do not interest or attract people. Another aspect that I feel should be improved is the communication models adopted. Social media is the main form of communication in the world today and I feel that the communication should have focused more on the social media and not so much on the other communication channels. Promoting the campaigns ideologies through the social media would definitely help to attract more people to the campaign especially the youth who are nowadays obsessed with platforms like Facebook and Twitter. In conclusion, my personal view of the campaign is that it was indeed very successful. The campaign was able to pass the intended message to the target audience, which was essentially the importance of influenza vaccination. Most of the campaigns that have been conducted in this area have not necessarily garnered public interest and this has been one of the factors that have led to their failure. It was therefore refreshing to witness an exception of this scenario and actually participate in such a successful communication campaign. References Ratzan, S. C. (2012). Influenza: Effective health communication. Washington, D.C: Taylor & Francis. Schultz, D. E. (2011). Strategic brand communication campaigns. Lincolnwood, Ill: NTC Business Books. Backer, T. E., Rogers, E. M., & Sopory, P. (2012). Designing health communication campaigns: What works? Newbury Park, California: Sage.2012 Influenza immunization campaign (2011): Campaign strategies & promotional activities kit for community health centers. Virginia: Dept. Read More