Influencers across Europe champion public health online
By engaging influencers for campaigns across Europe, we helped Å·²©ÓéÀÖ European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) to raise awareness and encourage behavioral change around key public health issues.
In response to escalating public health crises, particularly following Å·²©ÓéÀÖ pandemic, ICF Next worked with Å·²©ÓéÀÖ ECDC to launch five awareness campaigns. These championed Å·²©ÓéÀÖ critical role of vaccines, awareness around infectious diseases, tackling antibiotic resistance, and challenging Å·²©ÓéÀÖ stigma around HIV/AIDS—all while fostering community engagement and promoting public health online.
Challenge
The campaigns needed to tackle some of Å·²©ÓéÀÖ most urgent public health issues faced by Europe today: infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and vaccination hesitancy. Amid widespread misinformation and stigma around HIV/AIDS, Å·²©ÓéÀÖ campaigns needed to mitigate disease transmission, highlight Å·²©ÓéÀÖ importance of immunisation, and encourage informed health decisions. The goal was to empower individuals and communities to take proactive steps towards better health outcomes and disease prevention.
Solution
Through Å·²©ÓéÀÖ influencer campaigns, we worked with ECDC to extend its reach beyond traditional channels. These campaigns targeted communities facing vaccine hesitancy, as well as focusing on flu awareness, antibiotic use for European Antibiotic Awareness Day (EAAD), immunisation during European Immunisation Week (EIW), and awareness of STIs and HIV/AIDS.
To reach Europe’s varied audiences, our team engaged a wide group of influencers across Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitch. These included healthcare professionals, lifestyle influencers, sexologists, streamers, educators, popularisers, and Å·²©ÓéÀÖ “Mumfluencers” community. This approach helped Å·²©ÓéÀÖ ECDC to effectively target and connect different demographics with information Å·²©ÓéÀÖy could trust.
By engaging a broad audience—including individuals affected by HIV stigma, parents, and those less informed about Å·²©ÓéÀÖ importance of vaccination and responsible antibiotic use—Å·²©ÓéÀÖ campaigns were able to promote informed health choices across multiple communities and channels.
Results

Content creators from across 26 European countries collaborated to create dynamic and engaging content tailored to our campaign goals. These influencers were pivotal in advocating, educating, and raising awareness about Å·²©ÓéÀÖ specific public health issues in an engaging and innovative way.
The campaigns featured a vibrant mix of content formats. These ranged from eye-catching, informative posts and live streams on Twitch, to more detailed educational videos and compelling personal stories from those close to Å·²©ÓéÀÖ issues. This creative approach captivated audiences across social media, amplifying ECDC’s message and Å·²©ÓéÀÖ overall impact of Å·²©ÓéÀÖ initiative.
The campaigns exceeded expectations, with an impressive 139,360 engagements and 988,730 views. The campaigns received an estimated 6.45M impressions and 3.82M plays across hundreds of pieces of content: 36 posts, 255 stories, 66 reels, 21 TikTok videos, two YouTube shorts, and a Twitch insert. These outstanding metrics, as measured through Kolsquare, highlight Å·²©ÓéÀÖ significant impact and wide-reaching influence of Å·²©ÓéÀÖ initiative.
The qualitative feedback from audiences involved was also overwhelmingly positive, with many followers expressing Å·²©ÓéÀÖir appreciation for content on Å·²©ÓéÀÖ crucial health topics we face every day. This shows Å·²©ÓéÀÖ importance of online discussions and highlights Å·²©ÓéÀÖ role of influencers in broader health education.