A Global Public Health Campaign Like No Other

— Billy Colston, Co-Manager, The StartUp Suite

The race to create a COVID vaccine has been hotly contested and is arguably one of the speediest to get to market, with multiple players (and competitors) ready to serve a world on edge.  Never have we seen such collaboration and singular focus (particularly in the U.S.) to get vaccines approved and distributed to the public. 

While formulating and testing vaccines can usually take years to decades, the COVID vaccine was created in less than a year -- led by Pfizer and Moderna and closely followed by Johnson & Johnson. Today, five vaccines are frontrunners worldwide, but that number is likely to skyrocket as the U.S. is set to release the IP, resulting in increased production by other biotech companies.  

While the mere science behind the vaccine is a marvel in itself, the rollout and reaction to it has been phenomenal.  The BBC recently reported that the urgent public health need around the world prompted governments, NGOs and philanthropic organizations to back vaccine research, production and promotion (see WP article below) -- financially and otherwise.  And, the world waited with baited breath for the work to be done.  

What it did to marketing has been an anomaly.  For the first time, we heard about all the things NOT to do.  Not to eat out, not to go in crowded places, not to buy things.  Companies like Uber, Facebook, and more started adopting campaigns that emphasized staying home. Uber’s “Thank You For Not Riding” campaign was pushed out at the start of the pandemic in April 2020.  The companies that were especially justified in aggressive marketing were those that produced hand sanitizer, which made all our lives a little more COVID proof.    

But, now, after almost a year of lockdown, the biotech community reminded the public of what needed to be done.  Pfizer took the lead in spreading awareness and increasing vaccinations by working with BioNTech to create a series of short videos in a campaign called “Because of This.” The campaign highlights the benefits of vaccination, such as being able to be close, touch and show compassion through proximity.  These PSAs aired on Facebook, Instagram, local television, Twitter, and Youtube and is arguably the first time the biotech industry has taken a proactive public health stance.  It was approached with both urgency and understanding of the current circumstances.  Following suit were all the outlets that distributed vaccines, such as CVS, Right Aid and more.  To date almost 1.5 billion people worldwide have been vaccinated, including almost 50% of the U.S. population.

The pandemic caused by COVID has changed all of us in immeasurable ways, and this includes how companies communicate and market their cause.  This has been led, in large part, by The Ad Council - a non-profit organization leading public service announcements (PSAs). The biotech community has especially embraced a combination of storytelling, demonstration and collaboration to encourage the public to take action - whether that’s getting the COVID vaccine or any other related preventive activity.  It has now set the bar for research and treatment of other conditions in a timely manner, and how to inform, engage and lead the public effectively.  

Read a recent Washington Post article on promoting the COVID vaccine and a New York Times article on how the vaccine came to life.