"A Touch of Flu" was captured on film, but created as an experience. This integrated campaign actually featured multiple eye-opening experiences.

One in a school, where we used UV light to show just how far, fast and easily germs can spread. Another in a shopping mall, where we created the world's largest petri dish to serve as a living "poster", demonstrating how germs on kids' hands can grow into something far more dangerous. All to make the invisible risk of flu dramatically visible, for all to see.

These weren't just successful activations. They were teachable moments.

Flu can be seriously debilitating. Not just for children but for local health services too. Vaccinating kids is proven to reduce hospital admissions by 85%. The effect even spreads to the adults around them, reducing their doctor visits by 63%.

Our brief was to target hard to reach parents and persuade them to get their child vaccinated against flu - despite a lack of urgency and hardening attitudes towards vaccination.

"A Touch of Flu" is a highly successful multi-channel, integrated campaign - led by experience and activation.

The idea is simple: people don't fear what they can't see. So we created experiments (supported by visceral social film and radio) to make the invisible flu a visible risk. How? At a primary school, we swabbed child-safe UV ink under their noses in different colors, and let kids be kids for the rest of the day - most forgetting it was even there. Then, we let blacklight do the detective work, revealing where the germs would have spread. Basically, everywhere. The social film spread just as quickly throughout the UK, reminding parents to get their kids vaccinated.

Then the world's largest petri, set at a shopping mall became a visual and viral display that brought germs to life (literally) to show that the reasons for vaccination are growing. And it worked.

The target audience was all parents of vaccine age children in the UK (where flu vaccines are free for all school age kids).

Research shows that people are more likely to fear risks they can see. Since the flu is invisible, it was "out of sight, out of mind" for many parents, lacking the urgency for vaccination or dismissing it as unnecessary.

Our approach was to make the risk of flu impossible to ignore. Our UV experiment and world's largest petri dish were created to dramatize the nature of germs and how broadly they spread - in a real, relatable, tangible way. Because the results were more dramatic than most parents (and even we) would have expected - the element of surprise led to impressive engagement and action. Simply put, the experiments worked.

"A Touch of Flu" was an immersive, integrated campaign that was implemented in the UK, with a focus on Manchester, where flu vaccination levels are some of the lowest in the nation. As an integrated campaign, there were several elements, but start to finish it was executed over a span of roughly 5 months.

The UV experiment was filmed and posted on targeted social media channels, boosting the contagious nature of the campaign. The world's largest petri dish was witnessed by thousands over the course of a week, at a busy Manchester shopping mall. A living out of home installation, also filmed and featured on the same social channels.

Radio wasn't just radio for "A Touch of Flu", it was an experience. Theater of the mind that painted powerful, disgusting pictures in people's minds to illustrate how it spreads. The whole of the campaign engaged half the UK.

The results of our campaign were striking. Proving that some things just have to be seen (or heard) to be believed.

Half the UK engaged with the campaign

33,300,150 impressions

2,074, 792 interactions

+53% forecast expectations

3,064,876 vaccines given

79,687 extra kids vaccinated

"A Touch of Flu" is an integrated, experience-led campaign for a large, well-established pharmaceutical company. The goal (and achievement) of this work was to successfully increase flu vaccination in the UK.

The Veeva code is GB-38758 for this work.

MHRA regulations, UK

All parents of vaccine age children in the UK (where flu vaccines are free for all school age kids).