Kleenex's Flu Prediction Tool

Kleenex recently announced that it will launch a flu prediction tool called "Achoo".  Achoo is a proprietary forecasting model (based on data from the CDC) that will predict where "germs will strike".  This tool is interesting from a digital marketing perspective as it a) has tie-ins with traditional media via "Kleenex Checkpoints" (OOH promotion) and a new TV campaign, b) it is free, useful content that will likely increase the SEO ranking of Kleenex.com since reputable sites will likely link to this tool, and c) the tool takes in zip codes (user-entered) and thus can create some hypotheses regarding the performance of the tool and sales of Kleenex in that given zip code.

"Achoo" is a great example of free content/offerings that companies can create to increase their SEO rankings.  According to the article, the tool is supposed to be 90% accurate and differentiates itself from others in that it is predictive vs. Google's Flu Trends (among others) which shows where the germs are already prevalent.  As flu season picks up, I would expect more media outlets to cover this tool (and link to it) along with prominent blogs linking to it.  I would also expect there to be a good deal of social buzz surrounding this tool (especially in the parenting community). 


Source: http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2013/09/17/Kleenex-Achoo-Flu-Prediction-091713.aspx