1. Choose You Over the Flu
Laura Scott, Executive Director, Families Fighting Flu
National Conference on Immunization and Health Coalitions
May 24, 2012

2. Who We Are
A nonprofit, volunteer-based advocacy organization dedicated to educating people about the severity of influenza and protecting the lives of children
Members include families whose children have suffered serious medical complications or died from influenza, as well as health care practitioners and advocates committed to flu prevention 
FFF is the only national nonprofit devoted solely to protecting public health through preventing influenza

3. To protect all children against influenza and save lives
Mission
To protect all children against influenza and save lives
Vision
That all families understand the seriousness of influenza and the importance of annual vaccination, and as a result all children get vaccinated every year so that no child dies from this vaccine-preventable disease.

4. How We Came Together

5. Original Goal of FFF
To urge the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to change the influenza vaccination recommendations to include ALL children 6 months through 18 years.

6. Timeline of Activities
2004: Families Fighting Flu was founded
2005: Became a 501(c)3 charity
2006: CDC expanded flu vaccination recommendations up to 59 months
2008: CDC expanded flu vaccination recommendations through18 years
2010: CDC voted for universal influenza vaccination recommendation

7. What Does Universal Recommendation Mean?
Everyone 6 months of age and older needs to get vaccinated against the flu every year!
That means babies, toddlers, school-aged kids, teenagers, adults, health care providers, etc.

8. Next Goal
Reduce the number of childhood hospitalizations and deaths caused by influenza each year by raising awareness of the risks of influenza and increasing annual vaccination rates.

9. How Does Influenza Impact Kids?
Anyone can get influenza, but rates of infection are highest among school-aged children
influenza season claimed the lives of 122 children, many of whom were previously healthy
During bad flu seasons, about 30 percent of school-aged children get sick.
Even though vaccinations help cut down on flu-related missed school days by 47 to 56 percent, not enough children are vaccinated annually. As a result, children sick with the flu miss about 38 million school days every year.

10. Why is Influenza Vaccination so Important?
Influenza is the leading cause of vaccine-preventable death in the U.S.
5-20% of Americans are infected with influenza annually
3,300 to 49,000 deaths each year, depending on the severity of the circulating viruses
Approximately 100 children die annually from influenza
200,000 hospitalizations every year, including more than 20,000 children
Even healthy people can get very sick from influenza, develop serious complications and infect others
Vaccination is safe; it is the most effective preventive health action with benefits for all populations

11. 2011 Influenza Vaccination Rates

12. Teenagers Are Unlikely to Receive Flu Vaccines. Why?
They feel invincible
They don’t care about flu (and don’t understand it)
Those who are affected by illness are sometimes perceived to have a weakened immune system or condition that puts the child at higher risk

13. Yet, one of their biggest fears is…
The fear of missing out!

14. Our Strategic Approach What Did We Do Differently?
Created an ownable PSA campaign that appeals to teens and parents
We stopped focusing on death and changed our messaging to focus on hospitalizations
Leveraged survivor story and underscored “fear of missing out” message to create broader appeal to teens and parents
Highlighted the importance of influenza vaccination among adolescents through personal testimonial from survivor, Luke Duvall and his family
Research shows that fear of influenza hospitalization trumps fear of death; perceived as more realistic for their child

15. Call-To-Action Core Message Supportive Messages
Get vaccinated for influenza every year
Supportive Messages
Heighten awareness
Make vaccination finding convenient – promote vaccination clinic locator
FFF as a resource for all things influenza
Debunk myths/provide facts
When flu actually peaks/not too late to get vaccinated

16. It’s Time to Make Them Care

17. TV Public Service Announcement
4,300+ airings of PSA to date
44 million audience reach
Airings 400% above celebrity PSA
Approximately 10% of airings in national or top 20 broadcast markets
IAC included in newsletter to vaccine stakeholders
Campaign presented to the NIVS
11,000+ views of multimedia news release (MNR)
Approximately 70% watched PSA in entirety and spent 3+ minutes on site
Release posted 170+ websites

19. Additional Visibility
21 interviews conducted
5 interviews with national outlets
52% of interviews were live
169 broadcast airings
33 airings in top 20 markets
Total audience reach: 35.8 million
Updated MNR included NIVW message from the Duvalls
Bolstered MNR views by an additional 9,000 (total 21,000)
Release posted 230 websites

20. Marketing Activities Microsite Google AdWords Facebook
Tripled the click-through rate from one year ago
73,000 click-throughs and 3,400,000 impressions during current flu season
Facebook
12,400+ clicked on Facebook ads
2,200 new ‘Likes’ of FFF Facebook page

21. Families Fighting Flu Resources
Find us online
“Like” us on
Follow us on

22. Contact Us
Laura Scott Executive Director Wilson Blvd., # Arlington, VA 22203

23. Thank You!