In September 2024, The West Virginia Department of Health, Bureau for Public Health, Office of Epidemiology and Prevention Services, Division of Immunizations Services reached out to us for our expertise on developing and implementing a Fall Respiratory Illness awareness campaign for the State. Messaging would focus on COVID-19, Flu and RSV during peak months of October, November and December.

The West Virginia Division of Immunizations attended an out-of-state U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) meeting and brought back the idea of a Fall respiratory “Breathe Easy” message. The challenge posed to the agency was to stay away from the typical vaccine messages for COVID-19, Flu and RSV vaccinations that focus on “get your shot” and to instead show the importance of getting vaccinated. The vaccine is not just for the individual but for everyone they interact with. Getting vaccinated not only helps you to “Breathe Easy” this Fall but everyone.

Another challenge we faced was the tight timeframe. The Manahan Group had a month to develop and implement the campaign. Including the production of a :30 TV; :15 TV; :30 radio and :15 radio spots to begin airing October 7.

We were able to achieve what no one believed to be possible – launch a campaign with television production and a new website for the Department of Health in less than 1 month. Teamwork both within TMG and with our partners at the Department of Health, Communications, and Commerce came together to ensure that the campaign launched without issue. Planning began with the end goal in mind – West Virginians need to be vaccinated against fall respiratory disease and in order to do so, we needed to educate them in a non-traditional way.

In its first week this multi-pronged approach generated over 4 million impressions and 1,400 clicks through to the website.