1. Social media in a crisis
SUSAN BAILEY Head of Communications, ABMU

2. Agenda 1. Measles background 2. Campaign strategy
3. Social media reach
4. Outcomes

3. Background Major measles outbreak: 1,170+
1990s media campaign/rogue research
95% MMR 2-dose needed for ‘herd immunity’
But in 2012 our MMR rate was just 83%
3 measles cases in November 2012
By February 2013 – jumped to 190

4. Campaign objectives
Help end measles outbreak through urgent uptake of MMR jabs
Increase MMR coverage closer to 95% herd immunity levels

5. Strategy – three strands
1) Traditional press/media
2) Social Media
Encourage journalists to MMR drop in clinics
Provide interview opportunities – clinical staff and families
Promote role model families
‘Normalise’ vaccination behaviour through images/TV filming
Platform for ‘real time debate’
Offer safety reassurance
Support informed decisions
Link to information and updates
Publicise drop-in clinics
Directly reach teenagers (lost MMR generation)

6. Strategy – three strands
3) Engaging schools and parents
40+ individual school web pages on ABMU website
Information and personalised messages
Links to pages embedded in texts sent to parents
All three strands of strategy interlinked
Press
Schools
Social Media

7. Social media - Facebook
‘Likes’ 1,300
Facebook posts
109
Post shares
4,000+
540,000 total reach
Post comments
1,000+
Teen ‘reach’ via £40 advert
13,000+

8. Social media – Twitter/web
Schools’ pages, 9,000 hits
ABMU measles
Web page 16,000+ hits
35 schools text
systems
Web visits–
25,000+
Twitter:
85 Tweets, 500 re-tweets
Debates on
SWEP news
website

9. Social media – highlights
‘Real time’ Facebook debates - up to 11pm
Facebook post about first MMR clinic went viral – 133,000 views - first indication of how busy we would be
Feedback from parents modified campaign on the go
Correct inaccuracies
Parents talking to parents

10. Images

11. Feedback
Positive feedback
Head
teachers
Parents
Doctors
LEAs

12. Outcomes Over 30,000 non-routine MMR jabs given
University of Warwick modelling: potential measles cases decreased 20-fold and outbreak duration by 10 weeks
95.64% of youngsters had at least one MMR – first time milestone
89.1% had two MMR – over 4% increase

13. Questions? Happy to answer any questions
Picture: Parents queuing at first MMR clinic at Morriston Hospital, April 2013