The Executive Office, Northern Ireland’s local government, asked us to help deliver a campaign to challenge complacency and dismissive attitudes around coronavirus. Once we heard Rhonda Tait's story, it was obvious that all of NI needed to hear it too.
The Challenge
Several months into the coronavirus pandemic, a sense of complacency and ignorance around the virus had crept into some sections of the NI population. The Executive Office needed our help to address that.
Our Approach
We needed a hard-hitting message to get through to some sections of our society that had been resistant and dismissive of public health warnings. That's when we heard about Rhonda Tait.
Rhonda lost her mother to COVID-19. It devastated the whole family. And her heart-breaking story stopped all of us in our tracks. It was more compelling and impactful than any advert any agency could create. So we knew we had to step back and let Rhonda speak for herself. We recorded a very moving interview with Rhonda and ran versions of it across TV and social.
Results
The response to the campaign was huge across all demographics. Around 79% of people surveyed agreed the campaign would persuade them to do more to protect themselves and others from the virus.
