Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards - 2024

Campaign: Shingles Season
Agency/Firm: Tank Worldwide
Client: GSK Vaccines (Shingrix)

It’s always shingles season. That was the marketing message from GSK Vaccines last year when it was trying to raise awareness around getting vaccinated with a campaign aptly called “Shingles Season.”

The print and out-of-home campaign in Canada was focused on key areas where patients are present, such as doctors’ offices and waiting rooms. It was spearheaded by the agency Tank Worldwide. The challenge for GSK was to reach people who might not understand the risk of shingles, a viral infection that could emerge in people who have already had chicken pox. People are familiar with getting annual flu vaccines, and now COVID-19 shots, to coincide with flu season, but shingles is a year-round threat. The “Shingles Season” campaign was launched last year ahead of flu season to reach people already receiving their yearly vaccines.

The print ads featured a prominent display of a person’s back, highlighting the area where shingles rashes typically emerge. That part of the back demonstrated the symptoms and there was a calendar superimposed over it, denoting that prevention is available year-round.

The campaign, for the vaccine called Shingrix, generated 79 million impressions and drove 133,000 people to visit the website for the vaccine, according to GSK’s award submission. People intending to get the vaccine reached 72% following the campaign, and two in five people who saw the ads said it boosted their interest in getting the vaccine, according to GSK.