As NHS Liverpool realised, encouraging chlamydia testing among under-25s is not only a pressing public health issue, but an especially tricky problem from a campaigning perspective. We’re used to helping clients answer the tough behaviour change questions, and getting young people (mostly lads) to look after their sexual health is certainly up there. But we love a challenge.
Our insight told us that we needed to engage this audience in a way that they would recognise and appreciate. So we created the Eesy Peesy campaign, and its reinvention of the traditional story of Jack and Jill as a bawdy chlamydia-themed nursery rhyme.
The bold graphic style and risqué rhymes effortlessly capture the ease, importance and mechanics of chlamydia testing.
We created a range of print and digital campaign materials, and organised branded ‘hit squads’ who conducted outreach activity in bars, pubs and clubs. The locations were carefully chosen to grab the attention of the primary target demographic of young men aged 20-24, and the hit squads were carefully briefed on using the right tone of voice to engage them. The campaign was highly effective, with 54% of the chlamydia tests conducted during the four-week pilot being from this traditionally hard-to-reach target audience.