Hepatitis B – the underestimated dangerThe liver infection Hepatitis B is a disease that can have fatal late effects. Although approximately 500,000 people in Germany are chronically infected with the Hepatitis-B-virus (HBV), the disease is hardly known amongst Germans. In addition, it is underdiagnosed and thus undertreated. To raise awareness for the disease in the public and also amongst General Practitioners, inform about its transmission ways, risk groups and ways of detecting and thereby prevent the disease from spreading further, a 360° crossmedia awareness campaign was set up. The channels used included PR, advertising, online and direct communication. The strategy was to make Hepatitis B visible amongst the defined target groups by pointing out the unrecognized danger for HBV-infection in everyday life and address each individual at risk. Therefore, strong visuals, a strong claim (‘The virus is waiting where you don’t expect it’) and a call-to-action (‘Hepatitis B? It’s best to test!’) were created. Campaign kick-off was a press conference on 19th May 2009, World Hepatitis Day. The results include high media response in general as well as specialised media. Also, market research shows that the target groups have recognised the campaign, understood the messages and taken action.

An integrated 360° awareness campaign (including PR, advertising, online, direct communication) with a credible initiative as sender was created. As partners, the two most important players in the field of liver diseases were brought aboard: Deutsche Leberhilfe e.V. (patient organisation) and Deutsche Leberstiftung (scientific network). Initially, GPs were addressed in their key role as “first detector” of HBV and equipped with information to diagnose potential risk patients. Then the general public was addressed: The advertising focus (billboards, CLPs, cinema and radio spot) lay on 13 cities with an increased HBV prevalence. As migrants have a higher HBV-risk, the comedians “Erkan & Stefan” acted as testimonials – reaching migrants at eye-level without stigmatizing. To concentrate all information and services (brochures, leaflets, diagnosis tools, videos) on a central platform, the website www.HepB.de was set up. All activities were framed by all-embracing media relations with general and trade media (print, online, radio, TV).

Results T1-Screening- The public has noticed the campaign and knows the relevant messages - The campaign and its tools motivate more than 50% of GPs to talk about Hepatitis B - patients per quarter have increased significantly in doctors offices- Significantly more doctors tested patients- many more patients were diagnosed with chronic Hepatitis B in medical officesMedical campaign:- 44 print clippings, approx. 2.4m circulation (media relations) - 1.4m contacts (print advertising) with 87.9 % outreach- 19 online clippings, min. 6m visits - 5 % mailing response rate - 98 % coverage of GPs with direct communication (at least one contact per person) Public campaign- 99 print clippings, approx. 29.5m circulation (media relations)- 175m contacts (ad-campaign)- 133 online clippings, 14 blog entries, min. 125.7m visits- 30 radio features, 35 infomercials, 120 information spots (3m listeners/hour)- 10 TV features, min. 2.9m outreach