Category 7 - Crisis Management Series - GKV / Maryland Department of Health, GoVAX, Maryland

GoVAX, Maryland: a campaign that educated, engaged and activated Marylanders to get vaccinated as part of the public health crisis communications plan to help slow the spread of COVID-19 in the face of the worst global pandemic in over a century.

PLANNING

GKV worked closely with MDH and the Governor’s office; 24 local health departments; and Maryland’s hospitals, physicians and pediatricians to educate Marylanders about the importance of receiving the vaccine as soon as they were eligible. Special emphasis was placed on reaching communities that had been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and/or had higher levels of vaccine hesitancy.

The campaign’s success was tied directly to the branded rallying cry created by GKV. The slogan was simple, visually memorable and adaptable. Within weeks, GoVAX was omnipresent across the state. GoVAX messaging encouraged all Marylanders to protect themselves, their families and their communities by getting vaccinated when they became eligible.

Qualitative and quantitative research at periodic intervals before and during the campaign shaped the tone, content and distribution of messaging. For example, initial hesitancy from Hispanic/Latino Marylanders led to the use of a renowned Latina immunology specialist from Johns Hopkins Medicine, neighborhood-based PSAs featuring Latino families and business owners, a Latina pediatrician in television ads in both Spanish and English, and the use of a sound truck broadcasting COVID vaccination and prevention messaging in Spanish in targeted zip codes. Pinpoint mapping directed media funds to neighborhoods based on vaccination rates.

INSIGHTS & ANALYSIS

1. Marylanders were more likely to get vaccinated if messaging was delivered in a positive (nonthreatening or unscary tone)
2. Messaging was best delivered on multiple platforms, reinforced on a dedicated website and presented by the popular governor in televised press conferences
3. A majority reported that advice from their personal physician was critical to their vaccine decision process
4. Physician spokespersons that cohorts could relate to based on age, gender and race/ethnicity resonated best
5. Latino/Hispanic audiences responded to messaging delivered by government authorities
6. Marylanders understood terms like immunocompromised, endemic, and bivalent. Materials could use exact terminology
7. Many thought the pandemic was overly necessitating ongoing reminders
8. Heat mapping indicated concentrated areas where vaccine uptake was low
9. Some were not fully vaccinated even though they intended to because “they hadn’t gotten around to it yet”

EXECUTION

The two-year GoVAX campaign, which was introduced by Governor Larry Hogan at a statewide press conference in January 2021, incorporated testimonials by more than 150 “trusted leaders” from across Maryland who served as GoVAX Ambassadors. GoVAX Ambassadors included physicians, first responders, faith and community leaders, sports figures, research scientists, health officers, elected officials and others. Click here to see the GoVAX Ambassadors.

The campaign also featured many unique tactics and creative executions designed to reach specific and, in some cases, hard-to-reach audiences, such as:

• PSAs using “real” Maryland families talking to other families and “real” Maryland kids talking to other kids to demonstrate, on a personal and relatable level, why and how getting vaccinated protects them
• PSAs developed to speak to the disabilities community, including the developmental and intellectual disabilities audience; example here
• Street teams deployed to barber shops, hair salons, grocery stores, state parks and other community gathering places
• Digital ads served to parents checking their kids’ sports and activities schedules
• Cash register receipts at selected retailers adjacent to pharmacies
• Video content geared to parents shown in waiting rooms of pediatric practices
• Video content presented at movie theaters statewide after residents resumed in-person attendance
• Content developed and delivered directly to providers and physicians’ groups for their use to ensure the use of accurate and consistent information when communicating with patients

Over the course of two years, GKV, in partnership with the Maryland Department of Health, created close to 1,200 ads and creative assets, including:

• 158 TV ads
• 98 radio ads
• 90 out-of-home ads
• 769 digital and social ads
• 72 brochures/flyers
• Comprehensive website (updated daily) with multiple campaign landing pages

EVALUATION

• Using the materials listed above, MDH served 1.5 billion impressions across both traditional and digital mediums. These efforts contributed to more than 11 million sessions to the covidlink website.
• Maryland’s vaccination rate far exceeded the national average in every age and demographic category, with 78.6% of eligible Marylanders getting fully vaccinated, the sixth most vaccinated state in the country.
• MDH was contacted by the National Governors Association and asked to present about the GoVAX campaign to its membership, stating it was “one of the most effective campaigns in the country.”
• MDH and the Governor’s Office was contacted by the state of Delaware requesting to use the GoVAX “Real Kids” campaign to help motivate parents to vaccinate their children.
• 16% more parents vaccinated their children in Maryland (62%) than the national average (46%), according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
• Vaccine hesitancy decreased by 6% in the first four months of the campaign.
• Nearly 3/4 of Maryland residents surveyed reported being aware of the GoVax campaign within the first year of the campaign.
• Participants in focus groups conducted by GKV reported receiving COVID-related news from three primary sources — Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, the covidLINK website and GoVAX television commercials.
• Focus groups and survey participants consistently ranked the Maryland Department of Health, which disseminated information through the GoVAX campaign, as one of their most trusted sources of information, after their own physicians and family friends and relatives.

ASSETS

See below for a sampling of campaign creative including TV PSAs, radio, social media, digital display, outdoor, print, collateral and grassroots outreach.

Campaign Sizzle Reel