NHS Health Scotland HPV Campaign

BACKGROUND
Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women worlwide. In the UK around 1,000 women die every year from cervical cancer. Cervical cancer is caused by Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and from 1 September 2008, all girls in Scotland aged 12 – 17 years will be offered a vaccine to protect them from the two main HPV types that cause cervical cancer.

OBJECTIVES
The most important objective for the communication was to announce the immunisation programme to the girls and their parents so that they felt informed and reassured that they had enough information to discuss and sign the necessary consent for the immunisation when the letter was sent home from school. Developmental research had also highlighted the importance of giving the specifics of the programme in promoting understanding and containing anxieties around mass immunisation programmes.

STRATEGY
The creative task at a rational level was to announce the vaccination programme, detailing who would be eligible, when they would get it, where they would get it, what protection it would give and then to signpost where more information could be found if desired. But the campaign needed to guide people through the announcement – not just in a rational way but in how they should feel. The advertising needed to provide emotional cues. In filming girls from all over Scotland who would be getting the vaccination the adverts sought to male the girls and the parents feel part of a generation who could join the fight against cervical cancer.

The campaign appeared across a wide range of media including TV, Radio, Cinema, Press, Outdoor and Online.

RESULTS

The campaign launched at the beginning of August 2008 and the initial results are extremely good.

• Spontaneous advertising recall 82%, this rose to an almost universal level of 95% prompted awareness
  
  
• 95% of respondents could recall the specific information about the eligibility for the vaccine
  
  
• Knowledge of HPV rose from 17% to 70% post campaign and two thirds of them identified HPV as the main cause of cervical cancer
  
  
• There were 60,000 visits to the homepage with the online advertising delivering 60% of those
  
  
• The half banner achieved a CTR of 0.43% - four times the industry standard
  
  
• Uptake figure for the vaccination programme will be available in autumn 2009