The Covid lockdowns were over, but winter bugs were still a threat to New Zealand’s health system in 2023, requiring careful messaging to a fatigued public.
Winter is a period of significant illness – most of which can be prevented, according to Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora, the national health body tasked with managing the annual surge of sickness.
“People spend more time together inside, sharing viruses and germs more readily, leading to an increase in respiratory and other illnesses. People often turn up to emergency departments or acute care for treatment, further spreading viruses and impacting a health system already under pressure,” says the service.
Health NZ had the challenge of talking to a post-Covid population – an audience who were fed up with being told what to do, but still needed persuasion and information on what to do when sick.
“We knew there was still a guilt associated with a cough or high temperature – a hangover from the Covid days. However culturally we had an embedded ‘suck it up’ attitude, and would soldier on when sick. Anything short of this was often seen as weak and non-committed when, in fact, the opposite is true.”
An added complication was that the health sector was undergoing the biggest public sector organisational restructure in recent times, merging 20 district health boards (DHBs) into one organisation, and standing up 70-80 localities to deliver the new health system strategy: Pae Ora.
Health NZ developed five goals to help manage health system demand during winter:
- Inform the public how to prepare for, stay well and get healthcare over winter.
- Persuade the public to stay home if they are sick.
- Raise awareness and usage of Healthline as a healthcare option over winter.
- Raise awareness of the pharmacy minor health conditions initiative over winter.
- Engage Māori, Pacific Peopleand tangata whaikaha (disabled people).
The campaign reached 2.2 million people across Aotearoa, with high rates of awareness among Health NZ’s priority audiences.
Across the country, the campaign reached 61% of the public overall, 78% of Māori, 84% of Pacific people and 66% of disabled people.
The messages appeared to get through, with data suggesting the campaign had a significant effect on Kiwis’ health behaviour during winter.
Health NZ estimates that between 1.1 million and 1.2 million of the 1.8 million to 1.9 million Kiwis who stayed home sick over winter 2023 did so because of the campaign.
It further estimates 136,000 to 145,000 of the 160,000 to 170,000 who phoned Healthline were motivated to call the service because they had seen the campaign.
Judges’ comments
“Another solid campaign that dealt with challenging audiences and combating the stoic nature of people, overcame post-Covid fatigue and the disruption of massive organisational changes.”
This was first published in the 2024 September-October NZ Marketing Magazine issue. Subscribe here.
