When the vaccine rollout began in late 2020, Westco Communications put itself at the forefront of tackling vaccine hesitancy for public sector organisations. As Executive Creative Director, I was charged with producing quick-turnaround campaigns based on the fast-changing advice around testing and vaccination eligibility. In the year that followed, my team and I produced numerous digital and social media campaigns that were targeted and programmatically delivered to hard to reach audiences.
We shared the work we were doing in the weekly GCS Covid briefing, and each week more councils wanted to be involved. We ended up producing campaigns that were used by more than 30 councils and several NHS CCGs (clinical commissioning groups), throughout the country.
Unlike the dictatorial messages coming from central Government, our campaigns used humour, empathy and behaviour change theory to instigate change. All our content was video-based to encourage interaction. Below are some of the campaign materials we created.
The Truth in 10 Seconds
This creative route was the most successful of the campaign, and ran throughout the pandemic, with new executions being added as the public’s attention shifted to new concerns. We also created ads for particular groups with specific concerns. They were delivered without council branding and they were designed to look like some of the misinformation messaging that was being spread on social media.
The ads were design to look lo-fi using ‘scrap’ art. This made them quick to produce but more importantly, made them look more like the misinformation ads we were trying counter. When a viewer first saw the campaign, they would be unaware if the ad was pro or anti-vaccine. The ’10 second’ mnemonic also let them know how little time they would need to invest to learn the truth, which was a very powerful motivator to watching.
We ended up producing 60 different executions, each one tackling a different hesitancy issue.
Selection of some of the 'Truth in 10 seconds’ campaign animations we created
Booster game pastiche
We created a number of executions which appeared to be online games. In the short animations, a hero character is seen being ‘boosted’ within the game. The ads encourage young people to get the vaccine booster, and use the endline ‘Covid is not a game’. These were used on Facebook and Instagram.
Tattoos
For the older members of the target audiences I wanted to do something a little edgier. We took the little plaster that was often put over the vaccination needle mark and strategically placed it on a tattoo.
The end slide contained a call to action relating to the concept, such as ‘Hit Covid between the eyes’,‘Don’t expose yourself to Covid’, and ‘Protect the ones you love’. Animated versions were produced as Stories and for Snapchat.
Getting Back To Life
This campaign juxtaposed images of people doing fun things with life in lockdown. The message was if we all get the vaccine, we can all beck back to our lives sooner.
Everything Covid Website
During the summer of 2021, we realised that although there was a lot of material aimed at encouraging young people to take the vaccine, they were not engaging with the official online channels such council websites, government platforms or even the NHS websites. So we created our own platform that would speak to young people on their terms. we called it EverythingCovid.info.
It was designed to appeal to the 16-21 age group, and was created using neutral colours and fonts that could be used by any council or CCG.
The content on the site was video-based and we worked with influencers from TikTok to get the message across. We also filmed vox pops from young people, and expert advice from young medical professionals. Eight separate councils and two NHS CCGs, signed up to be part of this initiative.
More than 30 councils signed up and run some or all of our campaigns. These included Brent, Essex, Hackney, Haringey, Havering, Hertfordshire, Hounslow, Luton, Milton Keynes, Reading, Richmond, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Merton, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, Nottingham, Greater Manchester, Bedfordshire and others.
Our engagement levels on social media were incredibly high. Click through rates ranged from 2.5% - 7.6%, against the Government's own campaign that averaged a 1.1% click through.
The campaigns have had over 34m impressions since January 2021, the largest being Facebook with over 10m impressions, and a click through rate of 3.53%.
Our engagement levels on social media were incredibly high. Click through rates ranged from 2.5% - 7.6%, against the Government's own campaign that averaged a 1.1% click through.
The campaigns have had over 34m impressions since January 2021, the largest being Facebook with over 10m impressions, and a click through rate of 3.53%.
Case Study Film