More than three years have gone by since the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak a global pandemic. Since then, vaccines have been developed and we’ve learned a lot more about the virus and what we can do to mitigate its spread. In many parts of the world, life has returned to a semblance of normality. But with governments lifting mandates for preventive measures, the risk of COVID still looms large over the world. |  |
As pandemic fatigue continues to impact all aspects of the COVID-19 response, WHO sees the need to continue communicating to people and vulnerable groups the risks of COVID-19. To understand better the sentiments of communities in various parts of the world, the Risk Communications and Community Engagement (RCCE) team recently completed a three-phased process to identify, develop and test creative ideas for the next phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Below is a brief overview of each of the three stages and the results:
Stage 1: Ideation of Creative Themes
Using data and evidence as a backdrop, in May 2022, the HQ RCCE team hosted an Ideation Workshop with more than 35 WHO COVID-19 technical experts and global RCCE professionals. The main goal of the Ideation Workshop was to spark innovative ideas for COVID-19 public health and safety measures interventions by leveraging a diverse variety of perspectives. The workshop explored messaging related to COVID-19 public health and safety measures and vaccines, long COVID-19 and other topics, resulting in a broad pool of concepts and ideas.
Stage 2: Development of Creative Themes and Concepts
Working with M Booth, a creative communication agency, the RCCE team narrowed down the list of broad COVID concepts to four creative concepts that were tested on a global scale. Each of the concepts leveraged different images, key messages and ideas to positively engage vulnerable groups and the general public to continue practicing public health and safety measures.
Below are the four ideas that were tested:
Stage 3: Testing of Creative Concepts
Testing of the four creative concepts was undertaken in December 2022 by research testing agency, Stickybeak, to understand at a country level which of the four concepts is most motivating for people to take action. The survey asked which concepts participants found most motivating, both visually and linguistically, in terms of adherence to public health and safety measures.
Survey audiences were recruited via Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok. The survey targeted a ‘lite’ nationally representative group of 200 per country, across 30 countries (five in each of WHO’s six regions). Respondents were split more or less evenly across gender (male/female) and age groups (18-34/35-54/55+ years old) although in some countries in the African region, a higher percentage of the younger population was recruited because of the demographics.
Below are some of the key findings from the testing:
As a foundation, preventive measures are still seen as important across all countries surveyed (On a five-point scale, 87% of survey respondents gave preventive measures a rating of 4 or 5, with 5 being the most important).
All four concepts performed well across the countries tested, with many countries having a close top 2-3 concepts to select from.
The ‘Because’ concept globally appears consistently strong across overall concepts, key messages and images.
Preference for specific concepts differed by country, which indicate a tailored communication approach by country may be more effective.
Image is a strong driver of concept preference. The concept with the image of the child resonated most strongly. It appears imagery with people, where there is good eye contact and connection would be a good creative space to attract attention and provide an emotional response.
Similar to the findings on the concepts , there were 2-3 messages that resonated more strongly per country. There is more variation within each region regarding messaging compared to the overall concept, specifically in the European and Southeast Asian regions.
Overall, ‘hope’ remains a resonant theme, and emotionally powerful images serve to reinforce the connection between public health and safety measures and our shared humanity. The survey results highlight the importance of creating an emotionally intelligent connection between technical guidance and RCCE interventions. These concepts can be rolled out regionally and globally and adapted as necessary to regional and country contexts.