As it begins rolling out a large-scale Covid-19 vaccination campaign, the Ad Council wants Americans to know it’s okay to have questions about the vaccines. And it wants to point to vetted, accurate answers to those questions.
The Ad Council is a non-profit organization that makes and distributes public service announcements, including such campaigns as ‘Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk’ and ‘Smokey Bear’, and has disseminated information in times of crisis, including the post September 11. and Hurricane Katrina.
Now the organization is stepping up what it believes is one of the greatest public education efforts in US history with the Covid Collaborative, a coalition of health, education and economics experts.
“I think it’s fair to say this is the biggest issue of our lives. And we really felt it required the most important public education effort we’ve ever made,” said Lisa Sherman, president and CEO of the Ad Council in an interview with CNBC. “We were beginning to have hope that there is a light at the end of the tunnel with these vaccines available, and the extraordinary and heroic efforts of the scientific community to make that happen. But at the same time, we were also very sorry aware that there are high levels of hesitation about vaccines, especially in color communities. ”
The organization begins an effort to educate the American public with factual information, working with top vaccine and public health experts to move people from “hesitant vaccines” to “vaccine confidence.”
The campaign’s reach will be broad, with dozens of brands, media companies and social platforms creating content and donating media to expand the message “It’s Up To You”. Those partners include Disney, Fox, Google and YouTube, Facebook, Spotify, Twitter and many more.
For example, Spotify will create audio PSAs and message points for podcast hosts to read about vaccine awareness and education. Disney will be running public service announcements on platforms such as ABC, ESPN and Hulu, while Twitter will develop a custom hashtag emoji to support the campaign and host a live Q&A with a medical expert.
The campaign directs people to a website, GetVaccineAnswers.org, where they can get answers to questions about the vaccines. Sherman said the site will be regularly updated with data and information. The site has been vetted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the FDA, and will be available in seven languages, she said.
The site’s landing page reads, “You have questions. That’s okay.” It continues, “It’s normal to be cautious when something new comes up. Wanting to know more is a good thing – it means you want to be informed. And being informed about COVID-19 vaccines is an important step in helping us. stop this pandemic. ”
Sherman said the group found, based on research, that those who are hesitant to take the vaccine might have questions such as whether there was a tradeoff between speed and effectiveness of the injections. She said the messages are meant to take an empathetic approach, and to make it clear that it’s okay to have questions and acknowledge any concerns. It also strives to be respectful and not scare people off by being forceful or judgmental.
“It’s rooted in this idea that people really have questions, which makes perfect sense. And we want to normalize the issue of hesitation, so we want to answer their questions,” Sherman said.
With so many different communities to reach, the organization partners with many different groups so people can hear from the individuals and groups they trust most. The Ad Council said it is partnering with more than 300 major brands, media companies, organizations, faith leaders, medical experts and other groups to reach a variety of audiences.
“What we understood was that we needed a great messaging platform and a coordinated approach, and that’s why we’re building such a grand coalition,” said Sherman. “But we also recognize that this cannot be a one-size-fits-all proposition, that we needed a multi-faceted campaign, several separate efforts to reach these different audiences, and we address them more specifically about the hesitation they have. ” Creative agency Pereira O’Dell pro bono developed the “It’s Up To You” creative platform, while the organization said other agencies are working to adapt and expand the message for different communities.
The campaign aimed to reach out to black and Hispanic communities, which the Ad Council says are particularly affected by the pandemic and have great hesitation. The Ad Council works with individuals and groups trusted in those communities, including faith-based leaders, physicians and pharmacists, and groups such as the NAACP, UnidosUS, Color of Change, and more.
Sherman said the organization provides those groups and individuals with information, research and creative resources. The group has even worked on sermons from the Scriptures for ministers to include in Sunday conversations with their congregation members.
“Those are the tools we equip all of our partners with so they can really do what they do best with those credible, trusted voices,” she said.
Sherman said the organization has raised more than $ 52 million in funding from private sector players, which will cover the “hard costs” of the effort, including manufacturing, research and tracking. But she estimates that the campaign will receive more than half a billion dollars in donated value, including media, time and talent. The vaccination campaign is expected to last 12 to 18 months.