Brands from Woolworths and Nine to Hawk's Brewery are getting behind Australia's vaccination efforts. We illustrate 12 examples of their campaign approaches
Brands advocating vaccinations for all are working to present themselves as good citizens with a leadership role in the community that enables them to give consumers, and often their staff, advice on what we ought to do. Here’s a sample of the ways a dozen brands are approaching this controversial topic.
Viewers of the Nine Network will have seen the reality of patients struggling against Covid in St Vincent’s Hospital, in Darlinghurst, Sydney.
The recent public service announcement, which also promotes Nine’s news service, shows footage filmed and photographed by The Sydney Morning Herald’s Kate Geraghty with patients whose consent was organised by the NSW Department of Health. It begins with a close-up of a man breathing heavily with the help of oxygen mask as NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian’s, voice comes over the top - a mixed edit of press announcements:
Credit: Nine Network / Health Department “What we haven’t seen before is the contagiousness of this variant. Every time you do the wrong thing, you risk bringing the virus home to those you love the most,” Berejiklian says, as the image switches to another patient awake in the dark, alone and surrounded by masses of medical equipment.
The confronting images paint the message that Covid is dangerous and, that by comparison, a vaccination is a mere inconvenience. Newsreader, Peter Overton, takes over from Berejiklian, promising the Nine Network will “bring all the information to help you during covid crisis”.
Dating app, Tinder, has launched an in-app promotion advocating vaccines and inviting members to show their vaccine status and support on their Tinder profiles.
The pro-vaccination message is highly relevant for users of an app that’s all about socialising with strangers. The initiative aims to encourage Gen Z members to get vaccinated as ongoing lockdowns impact the country and would-be daters look forward to actually meeting their matches offline.
“Vaccinations are a popular talking point on Tinder,” said Tinder senior director, APAC communications, Papri Dev. “Mentions of vaccine in member bios in Australia increased by 220 per cent comparing July 2021 to January 2021. Our intent is to make dating safer for everyone, everywhere, and Tinder vaccine stickers will make it easy and fun to share your vaxxing vibe.”
Credit: Tinder Stickers such as ‘Vaccinated’, ‘Vaxing soon’ and ‘Immunity together’ are available.
An in-app centre also links to the Federal Government's Health website, so Tinder members can book themselves in to the nearest vaccination centre or get other information.
‘Vax Up Australia’ and the theme of ‘together we are stronger’ portrays characters from several AAMI advertising campaigns proudly showing their vaxxed arms to encourage Australians to do the same. The cast includes current campaign hero, Kevin, the AAMI Queens of Broken Hill as well as former couple favourite, Rhonda and Ketut.
The message is reinforced by an offer of free roadside assistance nationally for first responders, hospital staff and Covid healthcare workers until the end of the year.
Credit: Suncorp “We strongly support the need for a rapid, efficient, safe, and effective vaccination strategy for Australia. It’s also why we’ve launched our own call to arms campaign encouraging Australians to take action, as getting vaccinated is our ticket to a more ‘normal’ existence and getting back to doing what we love,” said Suncorp CMO/EGM brand and marketing, Mim Haysom.
AAMI brand and marketing manager, Toby Gill, said the brand wanted to “deliver this important message in a positive, uplifting way. An optimistic call to arms to convey the hope for the future that being vaccinated brings.”
The Northern Territory Government has announced incentives for its summer tourism campaign, the NT Summer Sale, with savings available to fully vaccinated Aussies.
Tourism NT aims to be the first Australian tourism body to offer a vaccine travel incentive, to position the NT as the premier Covid-safe travel destination. The $5 million summer campaign will entice Australian holiday-makers with deals and savings - including discounts of up to $1,000 for vaccinated holiday visitors from areas not classified as hotspots.
Partnering with Australian travel retailers, including Helloworld, and Holidays of Australia, the campaign offers savings are based on a set discount of $200 for every $1000 spent on a Northern Territory booking. The NT Summer Sale, which runs from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022, will give holiday -makers the chance to immerse themselves in the Territory’s attractions.
Leading with the tagline ‘Getting back outdoors, it’s worth a shot’, oOh!media has joined the list of brands encouraging Australians across the country to get their COVID-19 vaccinations as soon as possible so they can get back outdoors - and be an audience for outdoor advertisers.
Running nationally across classic and digital outdoor signage, the campaign uses Australian Government data to update the public on the States’ vaccination numbers in a way that showcases out-of-home advertising feature such as dynamic creative tailored to local suburbs.
oOh!media CEO, Cathy O’Connor, said the company wanted to do something to support governments’ vaccination strategies and help life return to some kind of normality.
“As the leading out-of-home company in Australia, we have a vested interest in getting Australians back outdoors as soon as we can, so we wanted to use the power of our network, which reaches millions of people each week across metro and regional Australia, to show support and encourage everyone to get the shot,” she said.
Credit: oOh!media “We believe the more people see the number of others getting vaccinated, the more likely they are to do the same thing themselves – and that’s good for all of us.”
The location-based and data-led OOH campaign was designed and implemented by oOh!’s in-house creative team.
Anyone missing that holiday or flying feeling could relate to Virgin Australia’s campaign around its VA-X & WIN competition.
Two Virgin passengers fail when trying to recreate the joys of travel at home using household furniture. They try an exercise treadmill as an airport travelator, a recliner chair to similate the in-flight experience, but the wannabe passengers find they can’t replace the real flying feeling.
Credit: Virgin Australia The VA-X & Win comp is open to a fully vaccinated Australians who are 18 years and older, including Virgin employees, until 31 December 2021. Entry at Virgin’s website can lead to hundreds of prizes valued at more than $150,000 plus a major prize that will make one traveller a Velocity Frequent Flyer Points ‘millionaire’,
Virgin Australia partnered with The Precinct to create the two 15-second TVCs, which are running on Virgin Australia social media channels before being aired on the Seven Network during the broadcast of the AFL Grand Final on 25 September. Virgin Australia Group CMO, Libby Minogue, said the airline was reminding Australians of the joy of travel, in a bid to encourage Australians to roll up their sleeves.
“This campaign is quirky and fun, and it taps into how our passengers are feeling,” she said. “It will motivate more people to roll up their sleeve and get the jab so we can be reunited with the freedoms we had in our pre-Covid lives."
The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) has commandeered 13 of Victoria’s most recognisable footy faces to call Victorians to get their vaccination so they can get back to the MCG and #BePartOfTheTeam.
Famous names across current and former Aussie Rules (AFL) players, media personalities, commentators, umpires and fans are involved in the campaign, which was conceived and delivered by the Melbourne Cricket Club, manager of the MCG.
Richmond tragic, Mick Molloy, is joined in the campaign by media personality, Rebecca Maddern, Melbourne AFL Women’s captain, Daisy Pearce, leading TV presenter, Shelley Ware, AFL Women’s all-time leading goal kicker, Darcy Vescio, and the famous Collingwood cheer squad.
“This pandemic isn’t something we want to see again,” Molloy says in the video. “Your one action out there, could help us see 100,000 people back in here [at the MCG]. So come on Victoria!”
“For the last 18 months, too often the Ground has been left empty,” said Melbourne Cricket Club CEO, Stuart Fox. “It is symbolic of the struggle all Victorians and particularly those in Melbourne have felt. But there is one way to get back to doing what everyone loves – and that is to get vaccinated.”
Fox said the MCG had a responsibility to encourage everyone to get vaccinated in line with the health advice that major events in Victoria will not happen until the State reaches vaccination targets.
Since March, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) has not been hosting its usual business events. Rather, it’s been home to one of Melbourne’s largest vaccination hubs, where more than 156,000 Victorians have been vaccinated.
MCEC chief executive, Peter King, is proud of the venue’s new role. “We need to be vaccinated so we can safely move around our regions, interstate and eventually oversea and to assist in a faster recovery of our business events industry,” he said.
“We’ve also worked tremendously hard to ensure we are positioned to recover as quickly as possible. Through new products such as our virtual and hybrid events solutions and our VenueSafe Plan, we’re ensuring our customers can hold events in a controlled, safe environment that reflects the new world we find ourselves in.”
Over at Business Australia, the message is simple and direct: Thousands of businesses are closed due to Covid, and with them have gone thousands of jobs. The only way to help is to get vaccinated.
The organisation's advertising campaign features a dramatic rendition of Irving Berlin’s 1946 tune, There’s No Business Like Show Business, to the backdrop of empty businesses from a various industries. Its aim is to highlight the devastating effect the pandemic and lockdowns have had on businesses and jobs.
The video featured 20 businesses - or at least their ‘CLOSED’ signs and empty seats - such as major tourism and event operators, a local hairdresser, tavern and gym. Businesses such as Bridge Climb, which has lost over $1 million in the past three months of the Sydney lockdown, has been forced to lay off staff. Many have gone to different industries, perhaps to never return.
Credit: Business Australia Business Australia GM of content and acquisition, Genevieve Brock, said thousands of small and medium-sized businesses have permanently closed their doors across the country in the last 18 months.
“The goal of this campaign is to remind Australians how important getting vaccinated is,” said Brock. “The focus is not only on the impact that rolling lockdowns are having on business owners, but also the downstream impact on the economy and employment.”
The campaign was released in early September through audio and visual channels, initially focusing on NSW, with a national rollout slated for later this month.
Creative was developed by The Works, part of Capgemini, and also airs on Spotify and YouTube. The Works creative director, Nathan Bilton, said: “The campaign created at pace and during lockdown and Sydney protests, is in equal parts catchy and confronting.”
Comparison site, Finder, is giving $5 toward a Bitcoin purchase for vaccinated Australians in a distinctly cutting-edge technology take on encouraging vaccinations. If every Australian adult is vaccinated and uses the Finder app to redeem the reward, the site could find itself giving away nearly $100 million.
Vaccinated members can receive $5 loaded into their Finder Wallet through the free Finder app. With 15 million vaccinations administered thus far, there should be at least 7.5 million Australians who can already make their claim for their reward.
“Vaccination is our path out of lockdowns,” said Finder founder, Fred Schebesta. “So we want to do everything we can to support Australians to roll up their sleeves and get back to normal.
To date, more than 307,000 Australians have downloaded the Finder app. It is now the only app in Australia to enable users to automatically compare products, track their spending, check their credit score and buy and sell cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ethereum.
“The pandemic has given Australians a rare opportunity to consider where their money is going and look for new ways to make money,” Schebesta said. “Stock markets and economies around the world have turned and property markets have skyrocketed. More people are turning to crypto as it becomes more widely used and accessible, which is likely to pump up the value.”
The Marrickville, Sydney-based beer-maker, Hawke’s Brewing, is offering full slabs of its favourite Hawke's Lager to the first 250 Sydneysiders who prove they've been vaccinated.
Credit: Hawke's Brewing “If Bob [Hawke] was still with us and calling the shots, we'd be well on the way [ to full vaccination]," said Hawke's Brewing co-founder, David Gibson. "We should have been breaking vaccination records months ago. But apparently, it wasn't a race and now half the country has been impacted by lockdown again.”
Contenders for the reward of a slab need to be of legal drinking age, be vaccinated and simply post a selfie showing their freshly jabbed arm to Instagram, tag Hawke's in the post, and do it quickly to be in the first 250.
The way the ‘Aussie battler’ spirit comes to the fore in times of crisis is at the heart of Woolworths’ vaccination campaign, in which the retailer pays tribute to its staff’s team spirit in working in difficult circumstances to keep supermarkets open and as safe as possible. The creative focuses on thanking team members for keeping their sleeves rolled up now to get vaccinated. The message is that Woolworths’ people are leading other Australians by example.
Credit: Woolworths Woolworths Group CEO, Brad Banducci, wrote at the end of July that it was clear “accelerating the rate of vaccination in Australia is key to protecting our communities and loved ones and the easing of restrictions”.
“This is why we are advocating for all our teams to be vaccinated as soon as possible – and remain committed to playing our part in supporting vaccination efforts across the broader community wherever we can,” he said.
Woolworths is also providing all full and part-time employees with up to eight hours’ paid leave to receive their vaccination.
The campaign launched in September will run across TV, online video, social and selected print channels.
You can also follow CMO on Twitter: @CMOAustralia, take part in the CMO conversation on LinkedIn: CMO ANZ, follow our regular updates via CMO Australia's Linkedin company page
In the third and final episode of our 3-part CMO50 video series exploring modern marketing and why it’s become a matter of trust, we’re delighted to be joined by Telstra’s former CMO and now digital services and sales executive, Jeremy Nicholas, and Adobe VP Marketing Asia-Pacific and Japan, Duncan Egan.
Flash back to the classic film, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Television-obsessed Mike insists on becoming the first person to be ‘sent by Wonkavision’, dematerialising on one end, pixel by pixel, and materialising in another space. His cinematic dreams are realised thanks to rash decisions as he is shrunken down to fit the digital universe, followed by a trip to the taffy puller to return to normal size.
Why is it there is no shortage of leadership development materials, yet outstanding leadership is so rare? Despite having access to so many leadership principles, tools, systems and processes, why is it so hard to develop and improve as a leader?
As a nation united by sport, brands are beginning to learn money alone won’t talk without aligned values and action. If recent events with major leagues and their players have shown us anything, it’s the next generation of athletes are standing by what they believe in – and they won’t let their values be superseded by money.
