When COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, state governments had to enact measures to protect their citizens and control the virus. When it became clear this wasn’t going away anytime soon, messaging campaigns became crucial to the success of any measures enacted.
When that type of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (literally, we hope) comes around, you jump at it. No matter how big and daunting the task.
We found ourselves in a position to affect the trajectory of the spread of the virus. Together, we developed effective, creative messaging for public health measures which had been met with bitter resentment by some and reluctant acceptance by others.
Any time the government tells Americans they have to wear a mask and can’t see their family and friends, it’s bound to be met with fierce opposition. Turns out, even a deadly global pandemic doesn’t change that. So, to create that buy in, you have to know who you are talking to. In crafting each campaign, we spoke to members of the communities we were targeting to gain a better insight into where the resistance was coming from and how we could best reach those people.
By the fall, measures that were supposed to last a month appeared to have no end in sight. However, testing and contacting tracing had the potential to reduce the spread of the virus and allow an easing of restrictions.
Getting people to willingly have a 6″ Q-tip stuck up their nose wasn’t going to be easy. By presenting two options, getting tested or continue being stuck at home, getting tested sounds far more appealing.
With the doors to countless businesses shuttered because of health restrictions, it was important to get control of the pandemic so they could re-open. However, there was still some resistance.
So, knowing your audience became the most important aspect of the “Get Tested” campaign. In order to get more buy in from the community, we focused on the businesses and framed getting tested as the key to unlocking the doors and re-opening our communities.
Every year, health departments push the flu shot to help prevent crowded hospitals. Because of that, the bandaid on the arm has become the “I voted sticker” for flu shots. In the middle of a pandemic with hospital capacity already stressed, protecting against the flu was even more important.
So, we took that familiar imagery and used it to remind New Mexicans that with a worse virus out there, it was more important than ever to get a flu shot.
(Turns out, staying home/wearing a mask when you’re out is also an effective way to essentially eliminate a flu season.)
Holidays are usually the time of year when the whole family comes together to share food, life updates, political views, and eye rolls. But, with the pandemic raging and case counts climbing higher than ever before, the holidays were certain to look different.
This video campaign brought together all of those great holiday moments and showed it was possible to make it all happen on a platform that even Grandma learned to use in 2020, Zoom.
With winter weather settling in and the pandemic reaching new heights, quarantine fatigue was a legitimate health issue that was wreaking havoc on mental health and the spread of the virus. That made this reminder that much more important.
This video focused on the history in New Mexico to
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