New York: Use of Social and Digital Media to Rapidly Raise Parental Awareness of a New School Vaccine Requirement [2016 Bull’s-Eye Award Winner]

In 2015, New York State’s law changed to include a requirement for students entering grades 7 and 12 in NYS schools to be vaccinated against meningococcal disease.  The immunization program needed to rapidly raise awareness of the new requirement among parents of adolescents and did so by launching a high-reach, high-frequency multi-media campaign targeting women aged 35-54 years, with a secondary target of all adults aged 25-54 years. The purpose of the campaign was to: 1) raise awareness of the new school requirement; 2) encourage parents to schedule an appointment with their adolescent’s doctor to receive the meningococcal vaccine; and 3) encourage viewers to learn more about the meningococcal vaccine by visiting a parent-oriented website.  The media campaign was comprised of video, audio and banner ads; rich media interactive ads; sponsored Google results; Facebook posts; and a web page. The video campaign delivered an estimated 40 million views, the radio campaign was heard an estimated 12 million times, and the digital campaign delivered an estimated 72 million impressions.