Finding a way to convince hesitant, symptomatic Victorians to get tested for coronavirus was a delicate act. Can’t be too scary or snotty. Also can’t be ignorable. ONLY A TEST CAN TELL bumped testing numbers back up into the 50K mark in its first week, playing an important role in containing the spread.
The Stay Well campaign has been the ongoing platform for all Department of Health prevention campaigns for well over two years. Everything from flu shots, covid shots, kids vaxxing and general health behaviours have fallen under this banner, keeping the comms feeling positive, empowering, and tonally in line with the Premier’s Office brand voice.
Throughout lockdowns 1-6, I led the the Victorian Government COVID-19 response for M&C Saatchi. That meant juggling the many stakeholders across Department of Health, Department of Premier & Cabinet, Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions, and of course, with the Premier’s Private Office (PPO). And that meant being on call to write messaging at school pick-up, approve ads in the supermarket carpark, or meet with stakeholders on Saturday night. As a behaviour change challenge, there’s never been anything bigger or tougher than working to persuade 6 million Victorians to change their behaviour. The ultimate results were that we saved lived, stopped the spread, and ruined the colour purple for all Victorians forevermore. Quite the lagacy.
