WRITTEN ON April 30th, 2009 BY kaye AND STORED IN Leaflet Distribution

Tags: government, Leaflet Distribution, swine flu

It’s not often that a leaflet distribution leads the national news, but that’s exactly what happened yesterday morning.

With the true scale or danger of the swine flu virus still unknown, the Department of Health has decided to prepare for the worst by distributing leaflets about the illness to every household in the UK.

A government spokeswoman said: “The leaflet will be sent out next week, cover the whole of the UK, and will contain information about this flu outbreak and preventative messages.”

I found this news interesting because it reminds us that, even in a digital age, there are occasions when only a leaflet drop will do.

So why has the government chosen to use a leaflet distribution to communicate its messages about swine flu? Why not another medium?

There are, I’d suggest, three main reasons.

Firstly, because a leaflet distribution is still the only guaranteed means of reaching everyone at the same time. Householders, by definition, will have a letterbox through which their leaflet can be posted, and no other marketing channel can boast such a degree of exposure to the mass market.

Secondly, the government knows that their leaflets will be read by the majority. The DMA has conducted research demomstrating that 84% of householders claim to at least look at the leaflets they receive. If you add in the topicality of swine flu and the public’s current thirst for more information on its symptoms and treatment, it’s highly likely that this leaflet will be seen by the vast majority.

Thirdly, I’m sure the government’s creative forces are currently working hard to ensure the leaflet looks as good as possible and contains as much relevant information as possible. And that’s the great thing about leaflets - when well done, they make a visual impact and present information that’s easily read and digested.

All in all, it’s easy I think to see why the government plumped for a leaflet drop here. Let’s just hope the information eventually proves to be unnecessary!