ClientHM Gov / NHS
Services Through The Line, Production, Creative & Strategy
When the government introduced new Covid-19 ‘lockdown’ rules in January, our challenge was to get the country to follow them.
A segmentation study by Kantar identified three key risk groups: Believe the risk (60%), unsure of the risk (20%) and disbelieve the risk (20%). The data showed that those who believed the risk were far more likely to follow the rules, whereas those who didn’t believe the risk were far more likely to not follow the rules. We needed to make that risk real for those who were unsure or didn’t believe it.
So we called our approach ‘The Real Risk of Covid-19’. And to give it a sense of authenticity, we featured the people who had experienced the very worst of the pandemic – the patients and NHS staff on the frontline. They became the voice of a hard-hitting campaign, inviting people to “The Real Risk of Covid-19.”
We measured our results across three areas:
AWARENESS
‘Look them in the eyes’ was one of the most recognised points of the overall Covid-19 campaign, reaching a high of 87% for prompted recognition
(source: Kantar, 25.02.2021).
COMMUNICATION
The message take-away was clear: ‘Stay home’. And it had an effect on those who did not believe the risk, with 79% agreeing “the ads made me realise it’s vital to follow the guidelines.”
(source: Kantar, 25.02.2021).
BEHAVIOUR
‘Look them in the eyes’ was a critical part of the Covid-19 campaign, which is estimated to have prevented between 1.5 – 1.8 million infections between April – December 2020, saving between 22,629 – 27,658 lives
(source: HM Government).
