Do we need a new national vaccination ad campaign to boost vaccine uptake? | 7.30

Summary

Australia has a longstanding history of successful community ad campaigns, yet its COVID-19 vaccination efforts have faced criticism for being lackluster. Experts suggest a need for a reimagined, engaging campaign that includes humor, cultural insights, and celebrities to encourage vaccine uptake. Associate Professor Margie Denshon discusses the challenges of hesitancy, emphasizing personalized communication about vaccine risks. Professor Julie Liske notes the importance of reinforcing messages and using advertisements that emphasize the benefits of vaccination. In contrast to a fear-based approach, some U.S. states offer fun incentives like free doughnuts and lotteries. Revamping Australia's campaign structure could be pivotal in achieving higher vaccination rates.

Highlights

• Current COVID-19 ad campaigns in Australia aren't resonating with the public, necessitating a fresh approach. 🚀
• Including humor and cultural insights in ads, like New Zealand does, could strike the right chord with Australians. 😂
• Celebrities and relatable personalities are essential to normalize and promote vaccination behavior. 🎤
• Messages about the benefits of vaccination should be emphasized over fear-inducing tactics. 💪
• Incentives like free lollipops, as trivial as they seem, can make a difference in people's willingness to vaccinate. 🍭

Key Takeaways

• Australia has a robust history of effective public health campaigns, but its COVID-19 efforts need a creative boost. 🇦🇺
• Humor and celebrity endorsements could greatly enhance the appeal and effectiveness of vaccine promotion. 🎭
• Personalized communication strategies are crucial to addressing vaccine hesitancy and misinformation. 💬
• Incentives, as seen in some U.S. states, could play a significant role in encouraging vaccination uptake. 🎁
• Current ad strategies should shift from fear-based messages to highlighting personal gains from vaccination. 📈

Overview

Australia's past success in community health campaigns is well-documented, but the current efforts to promote COVID-19 vaccination are seen as insufficient. Critics label them as uninspired, failing to adapt to changing public sentiment and concerns about vaccination safety.

Innovative ideas from other countries, such as using humor and local cultural references, are suggested as methods to reinvigorate Australia's campaign. Celebrities can play a critical role here, making the behavior of getting vaccinated seem more normal and desirable.

In addition, experts stress the importance of a gain-framed approach in advertising, which emphasizes the personal and community benefits of getting vaccinated, over a fear-based narrative. Offering incentives is also discussed as a potential strategy to increase vaccine rates in Australia.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Australia's Ad Campaigns vs. COVID The chapter discusses Australia's successful history of community advertising campaigns designed to change public behavior, noting that these campaigns have generally been well-received and effective.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Challenges in Vaccine Rollout and Research Insights The chapter discusses the unforeseen challenges encountered in the vaccine rollout, with a preference noted for the Pfizer vaccine over AstraZeneca for adults under 50. Associate Professor Margie Denshon, an immunisation researcher, has released a detailed report on COVID vaccine hesitancy, which involved extensive qualitative research and dialogues with community leaders and faith groups.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Community Concerns and Communication Strategies The chapter discusses the importance of addressing community concerns regarding vaccination, particularly among indigenous populations. Leaders highlight the necessity to alleviate fears associated with vaccine risks, notably TTS syndrome. The dialogue emphasizes that many people evaluate risks based on personal eligibility and medical conditions. Effective communication and engagement are essential to guide individuals towards vaccination, ensuring they understand the benefits and risks in the context of their personal health. This requires strategic vaccine communication skills to facilitate informed decision-making and encourage the behavior of getting vaccinated.
• 01:30 - 02:00: Motivations and Global Strategies The chapter titled 'Motivations and Global Strategies' delves into the multifaceted factors influencing vaccination uptake. A significant focus is placed on how both social perceptions and emotional responses affect individuals' motivation to receive vaccines. The discourse involves insights from Professor Julie Liske, who chairs a specialized working group for the World Health Organization that examines behavioral and social drivers of vaccination. The analysis acknowledges the challenges posed by mixed messaging regarding vaccine eligibility and availability, as highlighted by various health officials, including the health minister.
• 02:00 - 02:30: Campaign Needs and Emotional Appeal The chapter discusses the importance of emotional appeal in public health campaigns, specifically relating to vaccination encouragement. While there isn't a major advertising campaign planned, the chapter suggests that a significant campaign could metaphorically represent 'freedom', highlighting a successful example like New Zealand, where the risk of contracting COVID-19 is low and yet public health efforts continue to encourage vaccination.
• 02:30 - 03:00: Humor and Celebrity Influence The chapter discusses the effectiveness of using humor and celebrity influence in advertising campaigns, especially in the context of encouraging vaccination. Jenny Mack, the creative director of Australia's Ogilvy Group, highlights that in countries like the US and UK, where there might be fear surrounding such topics, balancing the message with humor and celebrity presence can help normalize the behavior and increase the campaign's effectiveness.
• 03:00 - 03:30: Effective Communication and Gain Framing This chapter discusses the significance of effective communication in promoting vaccines, emphasizing the use of humor, celebrities, and relatable individuals to connect with people emotionally. The goal is to frame vaccination as a path to freedom, utilizing emotional appeals for greater impact.
• 03:30 - 04:00: Incentives and Research for Future Campaigns The chapter discusses the importance of aligning campaign and communication strategies with where the target audience is most likely to engage. It emphasizes the need for a consistent message, a clear call to action, and inspirational content to effectively motivate the audience. Furthermore, it highlights the significance of considering various styles of communication, suggesting that there isn't a one-size-fits-all approach to executing campaigns. The chapter encourages exploring multiple strategies to cater to different audience preferences and behaviors.

Do we need a new national vaccination ad campaign to boost vaccine uptake? | 7.30 Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 australia has a pretty good track record when it comes to community advertising campaigns aimed at changing behaviors nah i don't think i can quit i don't think i can operate but the covert campaigns have been criticized as pedestrian and not hitting the mark and adapting to changing attitudes to covert vaccination covert 19 vaccines continue to roll out to those most at risk i'm afraid to say that the present campaign just is not cutting it
• 00:30 - 01:00 mind you to be fair the vaccine rollout has had unforeseen challenges as well [Music] at the current time the use of the fisa vaccine is preferred over the astrazeneca vaccine in adults aged less than 50 years associate professor margie denshon is an immunisation researcher who has today released a comprehensive report on covered vaccine hesitancy we've been doing a lot of qualitative research listening to community leaders faith
• 01:00 - 01:30 leaders um indigenous people it's really clear to me that you know their concerns can be um allayed and again it's mostly around that tts syndrome but people want to interpret that risk in terms of their own personal eligibility and their own underlying medical conditions and that takes a conversation it takes engagement and really good vaccine communication skills if you think about a path to getting vaccinated which is the behavior itself
• 01:30 - 02:00 it's the action then you've got the way people think and feel about vaccination social influences and those both um influence people's motivations to vaccinate or not professor julie liske chairs the behavioral and social drivers of vaccination working group for the world health organization we've had all these different messages about which group can have the vaccine now whether there's enough supply the health minister has indicated that
• 02:00 - 02:30 there isn't a plan for a big advertising campaign right now and that it's enough to see people getting vaccinated nevertheless right now it's still important for those people who may be willing to have a vaccine to be encouraged and reminded through a big campaign because you know what this is it's the metaphorical daughter freedom countries like new zealand are really interesting because like here the risk of contracting covert 19 is
• 02:30 - 03:00 less likely so they've used things like humor and unique cultural insights to land their message jenny mack is creative director of one of australia's largest advertising agencies the ogilvy group when you're in a country like the us or the uk and there's there is a real fear factor it's certainly going to play into it and i think what they've done is is really smart by balancing it out with a touch of humour and again the use of celebrity to to really normalize that that behavior of getting the vaccination
• 03:00 - 03:30 i think is important vaccine vaccine vaccine vaccine i'm begging of you please don't hesitate we need to be using humor it needs to be light-hearted have celebrities relatable people and really tapping into the emotions so that emotion around this is our way to have you know freedom okay thanks elton we'll let you know oh well at this short notice you won't find anyone bigger i've just had a vaccine for kovid the scale of the campaign
• 03:30 - 04:00 is important the campaign and the communication strategy needs to show up where people are going to see it i think where we can to have a consistent message to have a very clear call to action and have something that's going to inspire and motivate people the other thing to think beyond the scale is the style of communication and what i mean by that is i don't think there's a single way to do it
• 04:00 - 04:30 i like some of those overseas campaigns they mostly have a gain frame of what you gain from being vaccinated rather than what you lose from not being vaccinated in other words the risk of coverage and that gain frame is probably quite helpful now because people have been saturated with fear messages most of the resources are framed against the prevention of severe disease but that isn't resonating with people in the community because there
• 04:30 - 05:00 isn't much disease at the moment so we need to really frame the benefits more broadly in america some states are offering inducements such as free doughnuts beer or even a lottery ticket in return for a jab here some doctors are offering a free lollipop sadly i never got one of those with my astra jab now there's even talk of vaccine passports to travel interstate i think we really do need to look for incentives as many incentives as we can it's clear there's plenty of research to guide an innovative effective australian
• 05:00 - 05:30 vaccine campaign which will need to balance what's in it for you and me with what's got us through the last year hi i'm lee sales thanks for watching this story if you'd like to watch more of 730s stories they are on the left of your screen and tap on the button below to subscribe and get the latest from abc news