2 people view campaign social media stories on their mobile phones.

The mission.

Encouraging adherence to COVID-19 guidance. With COVID-19 cases on the rise, Public Health Berkshire asked us to conduct research with four key groups to understand the extent to which people were following, or not following, key COVID-19 guidance, why they followed or not followed instructions and how communications to encourage adherence could be improved. The insight from this research was used to develop a campaign to encourage understanding and change behaviour.

A collection of campaign social posts featuring messages urging people to be cautious during the pandemic.

The research.

We discovered that family was a key motivator for all residents, and 'family' and 'self' largely underpinned attitudes towards COVID-19. Our research found that residents 'feel' they have a good understanding of current guidelines and they didn't feel the need to be told further, and what they needed was encouragement rather than information. Additionally, residents felt that they are/were following guidelines to the best of their ability and that it is 'other' people, not them, who aren’t/weren't following key guidance.

The creative.

Four creative concepts

Using our insights and behavioural theory, we developed four initial concepts. Two of these concepts used the ‘affect’ principle and tapped into the insight that people wanted to be given hope for the future and to be encouraged to follow guidance rather than being told what to do. The remaining two concepts used the ‘ego’ principle and tapped into the insight that people felt they were appropriately following guidance and that other people needed to be told. After testing these concepts with key audiences, we found one concept to be a clear frontrunner. 

A campaign branded poster on the side of a bus shelter in the evening.
A social media carousel featuring a campaign message urging people to keep a small social bubble.

The campaign.

Don’t be ‘The One’

Following the audience testing, we further developed the ‘The One’ concept for the final campaign creative. The campaign recognises that people know the rules and calls out those who are not following these in common situations, e.g. leaning over someone in a supermarket or not covering their nose with a mask. Not only do these relatable situations encourage conversation by those who have experienced them, but it also encourages people to think more carefully about their behaviour when in these situations, so that they avoid being ‘The One’.

4 key audience groups
2,000+ survey participants
4 initial concepts
1 creative campaign