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Media campaign for the Croatian Society of Hematology

About the client

The Croatian Society of Hematology of the Croatian Medical Association is a professional community of hematologists and other professionals who deal with diagnosing and treating people with various hematological diseases. The Society strives to encourage and educate the public about the importance of regular check-ups, timely diagnosis and the treatment of hematological diseases, among which is one of the deadliest diseases in the world – blood cancer. During the Coronavirus pandemic, the Society noticed that, because of the fear of getting infected with Covid, most people had ignored obvious symptoms of hematoma and came in for a check-up when it was too late.

Challenge

Expert hematologists across Croatia decided to make a media campaign to inform the public about the importance of timely check-ups, and to warn about the dangers of ignoring your own body’s cries for help. It was important that the targeted groups found the message that the deadliness of the improper treatment of malignant hematological diseases is higher than the deadliness of COVID-19. The reason for broadcasting to a wide audience is the fact that hematological diseases don’t target people from a certain demographic, but everyone is equally susceptible to the disease’s development. That’s why it was so important to create an optimal plan for the media content, so that on one hand it will reach the general public, while on the other hand satisfying the client’s goals.

The solution

Since the matter at hand dealt with a three month campaign on a national level, the most watched, read, and listened media channels were chosen, among some niche channels that cover health themes. With that move, doctors and members of the Croatian Society of Hematology from many of Croatia’s hospitals became professional interlocutors on television channels, radio stations and web portals.

Offering a factual approach to the development and prevention of severe forms of hematoma during the pandemic, the hematologists urged the public to get checked at their general practitioners, who would send them to further blood tests if needed, and that everyone recommended the same to their close ones. One of the more important aspects was to destigmatize the notion of long waiting lists, because with blood tests with a potential presence of the disease the waiting time is minimal, as a day’s difference can be the deciding factor between life and death.

There have been a total of 53 sponsored posts during the spring of 2021, resulting in three guest appearances on the highly popular show “Good morning, Croatia”, one press release and 17 posts on the 24sata news website, Telegram and Miss Zdrava (Miss Healthy). The sponsorship of radio shows enabled the locational observation of the work area of certain experts on 9 stations: HRT’s second channel, Radio Sljeme, Radio Zadar, Radio Osijek, Radio Slavonija, Radio Dalmacija, Radio Rijeka, Radio Ritam and Radio Istra. In partnership with Native Studio, the web portal Miss Zdrava has filmed and published a video on their Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=537940400684210

The expert interlocutors note that the public’s following response and interest in hematological examinations show that a strategically planned campaign can truly raise the public’s awareness. Already after the campaign’s first television appearance, there was an apparent rise in the calls to hematologists, as were doctor’s appointments after people noticed the symptoms that were shown on TV.

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