The Department of Health and Human Services aims to encourage Americans to prepare now for pandemic flu. They are calling on leaders -- employers, civic and faith leaders, and health care providers -- to educate their communities, patients, employees and congregants about the importance of preparedness.

Ogilvy PR coordinated a day long Leadership Forum in Washington D.C. to gather prominent leaders from these four sectors to talk about the most effective strategies to engage their peers in the effort. But how could we leverage the event to generate awareness among leaders who would not be in the room?

The Digital Influence team analyzed online discussion about pandemic flu and discovered that, although the subject had slipped from the headlines, it was still being discussed within social media, including a high volume of chatter within a committed community that referred to themselves as "flublogia," who believed the government was telling citizens, "You're on your own." Therefore, in addition to engaging prominent leaders, we needed to demonstrate that the government was listening and willing to engage with citizens in a transparent conversation about what needed to be done to prepare.

For five weeks, Secretary Michael Leavitt, along with 13 leaders from the four target sectors, hosted the Pandemic Flu Leadership Blog. Each week was defined by a question to generate content leading up to the Forum and then, following the event, facilitate discussion about what came next. On the day of the Forum, the Digital Influence team live-blogged.

The Digital Influence team identified the most cogent voices within social media who could support the campaign's message of personal preparedness. The Leadership Blog and Forum were promoted to these influencers through strategic outreach.

The Pandemic Flu Leadership blog generated a wealth of conversation, substantial traffic and noteworthy media coverage (online and off). Sixty blog posts generated 1,700 comments. Keyword marketing and word of mouth brought traffic from 20,000 unique visitors and over 130,000 page views during the five weeks. While roughly 90% of the traffic came from within the U.S. (all 50 states plus D.C. and Puerto Rico), the site had visitors from 113 countries on six continents. More than 100 blogs posted about and linked to the Leadership Blog.

Credit Information
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Client: Department of Health and Human Services
Agency: 360 Degree Digital Influence Group, Ogilvy Public Relations
Budget: $75,000
Date of Campaign: 5/22/07-6/27/2007
Contact Name: Alison Byrne Fields
Case Study URL: http://blog.pandemicflu.gov