Overview
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Vaccine Confidence Project teamed up with YouTube and other health partners to reach people with credible information about the COVID-19 vaccine in accessible and culturally relevant ways. Our co-created content focused on providing the public with reliable information about the vaccine – including how it was developed and tested, what they can expect when they get the vaccine, and how every person plays a part in the public’s health – ensuring that information is delivered through diverse voices who bring unique perspectives and experiences.
Community Unity
In 2021, the Vaccine Confidence Project teamed up with YouTube and Klick Health to create ‘Community Unity‘, a unique video series to help combat vaccine misinformation.
Traditionally, combatting vaccine misinformation has seen experts address questions about vaccines. ‘Community Unity’ modernised this approach by strategically answering the latest, most popular Google Search questions about COVID-19 vaccines using ‘Gen-Z-speak’, fun animation, pop culture references, and relatable characters to resonate with young adults and adolescents.
Public health messages often have a familiar style: an expert talking head earnestly discussing the facts. That style can be effective for some audiences, but to reach a wider audience in a compelling and authentic way, we took a different approach with ‘Community Unity’. By using conversational narrative, a distinct visual style, and humour, we’re trying to engage young people in a global discussion about vaccines that will help equip them with the information they need to keep themselves and their communities safe.
The 12 video series features the episodes What Is Community Immunity?, Do COVID-19 Vaccines Affect Fertility?, COVID-19 Vaccines vs Variants, Let’s Get Vaxxed, Baby, and Pregnancy and COVID Vaccines, and rolled out through December 2021.
“The Vaccine Confidence Project has been at the frontlines tackling misinformation and vaccine hesitancy for years, and they have been an essential resource for healthcare organisations all over the world in supporting the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.This video series from VCP brings together the best of their scientific expertise with the best digital communication strategies from Klick Health to meet young people where they are, in the language that is most engaging and accessible to them. It’s smart public health tactics, brought to YouTube’s scale.”
Dr Garth Graham, Director and Global Head of Healthcare and Public Health Partnerships, YouTube
Methodology
The video topics were generated by using tools available on Google to pinpoint the most popular COVID-19 vaccine searches by country and language in May 2021, with an update in August 2021. The Coronavirus Search Trends microsite was used to review the past year’s data and pull out key insights by nation from Google. Google Trends and YouTube Search were also used to further explore specific questions in native languages using Google translate. Key languages searched included English (UK and American), Spanish, French, German, Italian, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, Korean, Japanese, Portuguese, and Brazilian Portuguese.
Topics were reviewed in real-time as conditions of the pandemic changed. For instance, concerns about COVID variants, fertility, and long COVID gained traction as the project developed, so videos addressing those topics were added to the 12-episode series
Team Halo
Previously, the VCP and YouTube partnered with Team Halo physicians to answer questions they’ve been asked about COVID-19 vaccines. Team Halo is a group of more than 100 healthcare professionals and scientists from around the world, who volunteer their time to make TikTok and other social media videos addressing concerns about COVID vaccines. It was established as part of the United Nations Verified initiative in partnership with Purpose and the Vaccine Confidence Project at the University of London’s School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and aims to address vaccine hesitancy and counter misinformation online with science-backed, shareable videos about COVID-19.
Get Back to What You Love
Finally, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the VCP and Youtube also worked together to launch Get Back To What You Love – a public service announcement series to encourage people to get informed about the COVID-19 vaccine and also remind us of all that we have to look forward to in a post-pandemic world. The campaign was launched in several countries globally, and was designed to coincide with the local vaccine availability timelines.
Impact
Community Unity
The Community Unity video series received coverage in the Evening Standard, PR Week and The Medical News (AUS), along with outlets in Italy, France, South Africa, Kenya, The Philippines, Canada, and the U.S. The media outreach campaign generated 26 million press impressions.
The Vaccine Confidence Project YouTube channel saw a +38% increase in subscribers as the videos were rolled out. In the first month of the campaign, the average daily viewers of the YouTube channel increased from 50 to more than 2,000 per day. As a zero-spend campaign, the following results were generated solely by organic engagement and earned media exposure.
Team Halo
Team Halo videos have had more than 300 million views on TikTok alone. Team Halo guides have approximately 14 million followers across all social media platforms.
Data from Facebook and Opinium, a research firm, found that exposure to Team Halo content increased vaccination intent by 12 percentage points.
Get Back to What You Love
YouTube’s U.S. campaign with the Vaccine Confidence Project reached 61% of 18-34 year olds online in the U.S., and of those in that group who recalled seeing the campaign, there was a 17% increase in the likelihood that they would consider getting one of the COVID-19 vaccines when they became eligible.
