Moving the needle: Havas Life tackles COVID vaccine issues

As the Philippines ramps up its vaccination program against COVID 19, the country continues to face several key issues ranging from vaccine hesitancy to the emergence of new COVID variants. In an effort to help move from vaccine hesitancy to vaccine confidence and encourage private companies to take part in advocating vaccination among Filipinos, Havas Life recently hosted “VacciNation: Vaccines for a Healthier Nation.”

The online conversation, part of Havas’ The New Life webinar series, featured Professor Emeritus of University of the Philippines College of Medicine’s Dr. Lulu Bravo, Havas Health & You Global Chief Medical Officer Dr. Suketu Patel, and consumer healthcare expert Dave McCaughan. They each discussed the role of health care professionals in building vaccine resilience in the Philippines and the narrative around vaccination positivity. 

Vaccines as a public health issue

Dr. Lulu Bravo, a leading pediatrician and staunch advocate of vaccination in the country, underlined the importance of discussing vaccines as a public health concern. 

“When you vaccinate an individual, you should emphasize that it is not just the person you are protecting from getting sick. You are preventing the community, their family, their loved ones from being infected.” Dr. Bravo, who leads and co-founded the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination, also reminded Filipinos to not neglect protecting children from vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, dengue, and polio. 

She encouraged the health care sector to take the lead in the issue by building alliances and advocacy as a united voice. “We need to build resilient and sustainable immunization systems and follow-up with programs that can withstand major shocks and maintain high vaccine uptake. We need experts who would respond with empathy, equity, equality, timeliness, honesty, and confidence.”  

“Vaccination is what will drive the end of this pandemic. The goal is to get as many people around the world to be vaccinated as quickly as possible,” said Dr. Suketu Patel who discussed the groundbreaking role of immunology in significantly increasing life expectancy around the world. Dr. Patel said that all vaccines are effective against the emerging COVID-19 variants, which are also more transmissible. 

Creating positive vaccine conversations

All three experts agreed on the importance of framing narratives in order to encourage vaccine confidence, such as positive conversations about vaccines and talking about positive vaccination experiences that focus on facts. “We must understand people’s motivations and frame conversations in ways that matter to them,” stressed Dr. Bravo. “A lot of the factors that lead people to questioning vaccines have nothing to do with the science. We need help to spread correct information. A strong health care recommendation is a powerful predictor of vaccination.”

David McCoughan, of consultancy firm Bibliosexual, shared how analyzing online content can help the health sector and governments better understand people’s sentiments about vaccines. “When it comes to vaccine positivity, we should move from threatening language to encouraging stories. In Southeast Asia for example, we have been seeing a lot of future-proofing trends online. In the Philippines, more people have been looking up online resources such as setting up online businesses and acquiring online certificate courses. We can take advantage of this proactive behavior and create conversations about the COVID vaccine around these topics showing people how to future-proof their lives.” 

Havas Media Ortega’s recent prosumer report on Health and Hygiene also underscored that when it comes to vaccines, doctors are still the primary influencers. The report also showed that 85% of prosumers are willing to get vaccinated despite initial setbacks and 64% are willing to tolerate mild to moderate side effects in exchange for effectiveness. 

About Havas Life

Havas Life is in the business of Life Improvement. Combining strategic insights with medical and scientific expertise for many specialized health and wellness, we create best-in-class work and services. We provide an integrated approach to communication from medical and technical know-how to patient comms, from internal communications to trade.

Metro Manila Billboards Transform into Messages of Strength for Superhero Frontliners

Leading media and creative agency Havas Ortega transformed digital billboards all over Metro Manila otherwise idled by the lockdown into empowering messages of strength for Filipino frontliners. Turning billboards once filled with ads into digital comic books featuring frontliners as superheroes, the agency’s “Frontline Heroes” is a tribute to the Filipinos who brave the dangers of the outside world so the rest of the country can survive inside their homes.

Jos Ortega, CEO of Havas Ortega explained, “Every day our frontliners answer the call of duty, risking their health to take on extraordinary burdens brought about by these extraordinary times. But with the rest of the country in quarantine, they may feel left behind and alone outside. Frontline Heroes is our way of directly expressing our message of strength to the frontliners, cheering them on as they go to work and lifting their spirits as they go home.”

Characters from Frontline Heroes like Commander Doctor (doctors), Power Packners (cashier and supermarket baggers), Kidlat Rider (delivery drivers), Incredible Guard (security guards), Super Nurse (nurses) and Truth Twins (journalists and cameramen) are now being displayed along Metro Manila’s main thoroughfares, raising the morale of our already tired and weary COVID-19 fighters in Alabang, Makati, Mandaluyong, Marikina, Pasig, and Quezon City.
“Hopefully, the empty roads become less a reminder of isolation, more a source of energy and inspiration,” Ortega added.

Havas Ortega urges the public to join the campaign by using #TuloyAngLaban online and tagging frontliners in their personal messages of encouragement and gratitude. Through this, Frontline Heroes can reach frontliners all over the country.

“With the physical, emotional, and mental strength required to do what they do, our frontliners are not just heroes, they are superheroes. But they need our help to keep them going! #TuloyAngLaban is the reaffirmation of support needed to renew our Frontline Heroes’ strength as they continue to fight a long and tiring battle against the pandemic,” emphasized Griffey de Guzman, Associate Creative Director of Havas Creatives.

Frontline Heroes also include Johnny Tor (janitors), Pharma Sis (pharmacists), Kalye Ranger (uniformed personnel), Kusina Titan (restaurant workers), COVID Hunter (lab technicians), Virus Blasters (disinfect crew), Pera Sentinel (bank clerks), Boom Bero (firefighters), and Metro Manong (garbage collectors).

This campaign was developed by Havas Ortega in partnership with billboard companies HDI Admix, Inc., United Neon Advertising, Inc., Summit Outdoor Media, Luneta Advertising, Inc., Full Linkage (FULITECH) Philippines, Inc., the Out Of Home Advertising Association Of the Philippines (OHAAP) and the Outdoor Media Advocacy Group (OMAG).

Follow the Frontline Heroes story on Havas Ortega’s Facebook Page. Join the campaign by using #TuloyAngLaban and #FrontlineHeroesPH on social media.

About Havas Ortega Group

A fully integrated media & communications group that is committed to create a meaningful difference for brands, businesses, and people. Established in 2012, Havas Ortega provides the most comprehensive marketing services and offerings across media, creative, digital, PR and healthcare & wellness disciplines. A village model housed under one roof, while boasting a unique and unparalleled entertainment offering through its partnership with Vivendi. (www.havasortega.com).

From Billboard to Boat to Bronze: Havas Media Ortega gets an accolade at the 2019 Spikes Asia Festival of Creativity

Havas Media Ortega bags a Bronze Award at the 2019 Spikes Asia Festival of Creativity in the Media Category (Ambient Media: Large Scale), for its innovative crisis response to typhoons and floods entitled “Project S.A.V.E”.
The agency pioneered this initiative with Valenzuela City, one of the most flood-prone cities in Manila the capital of the Philippines, with the vision of turning underutilized resources into life-saving devices. This project developed and designed the materials with advice from volunteer first responders, local government officials, and national disaster coordinators.

Project S.A.V.E, which stands for Signage & Adspace Versatile for Emergencies, aims to equip cities with emergency equipment come floods, earthquakes, and other calamities through innovative use of outdoor marketing materials. Billboards, banners, and waiting sheds are turned into detachable disaster-ready boats, life rafts, spineboards, and other disaster response tools using outdoor ad materials from past campaigns, which would otherwise have been thrown away. The idea takes advantage of the easy visibility of outdoor ads. Quick to spot and accessible to the public, residents can quickly remember that these tools are at their disposal should they be needed.

“This year, our battle cry with the Havas Group is to create a meaningful difference to brands, businesses and the lives of the people we work with. We’re honored to have been recognized by Spikes Asia as we continue to help the community in an inventive way that they’re open to,” says Hermie de Leon, Managing Partner of Havas Ortega and CEO of Havas Media Group.

Rommell Garcia, Business Director of Havas Creative who led this project, also shares, "We hope that Project S.A.V.E will inspire the industry and get the momentum going in coming up with ideas that can make a meaningful difference in Filipino lives."
“We are grateful that our long experience with floods has taught us that more access to stretchers, emergency tents, and life rafts preserves lives. We’re grateful that this need was able to be executed creatively and was able to gain recognition in the ASEAN region. We do hope that this can set a new benchmark for the community to respond to crisis swiftly – anytime and anywhere” asserts City Mayor Rex Gatchalian of Valenzuela City.

The long play to Project S.A.V.E is being able to deploy these structures in other towns and municipalities that share the same predicament as Valenzuela.

ABOUT SPIKES ASIA AWARDS

The Spikes Asia Awards is the benchmark by which the region’s creativity is measured. For the past 32 years, since its inception as the Asian Advertising Awards in 1986, it has set the standard for creativity and effectiveness for Asia Pacific’s creative communications industry. The Awards are continually honed and redefined to ensure they reflect current trends in creative communications.

Havas Group Reimagines PR Group with Launch of Red Havas

As creative and media agencies face a near-daily redefinition of their identities and scopes of work in the modern media landscape, public relations agencies in particular are being completely reconstructed. How can PR companies adopt at the pace of today’s lighting-speed multimedia landscape?

Havas Group, with its shared Merged Media strategy, announced that it has rebranded a number of its award-winning PR and social agencies including its Manila office under a new name, Red Havas. Through Merged Media, the micro-network reimagines the way it does PR and drives its agencies to new heights by blending traditional and digital publishing, content, social media, and data in a way that defines the future of PR as a category.

Red Havas’ office in Manila, Philippines is part of leading fully-integrated media and creative agency, Havas Ortega (HVO). Under the tutelage of Business Director Charisse Vilchez, Havas PR Manila will now be Red Havas Philippines, along with other Asia Pacific-based Red Agency networks in Australia, Singapore and Havas PR North America with offices in New York City, New England, Phoenix and Pittsburgh. In addition, Red Havas has rebranded its Havas PR offices in Vietnam and Jakarta, Manchester, Edinburgh and opened a new office in London. The new brand has expansion plans to Japan and South America within 18-24 months.

“Havas Ortega welcomes the rebranding of our PR team to Red Havas. The current team is more than ready to take on the challenge and bring PR to the next level. Red Havas Philippines, together with its passionate and incredible REDsters, will help create our clients’ brand stories through Merged Media,” said HVO Chief Executive Officer Jos Ortega. “I am confident that with Char’s experience working in two strong online brands OLX and Agoda and her training at Red Havas in Australia, we will be able to live up to our ambition of owning Merged Media in the local scene.”

The rebranding coincides with global-led investments into data, content and bespoke insight tools, which will include listening and predictive analytics platforms that will layer in a foretelling media capability not seen before within the industry.

“The guiding light of PR has always been to integrate brands or organizations stories into the daily conversations of the media ecosystem,” said James Wright, global chairman of the Havas PR Collective and global CEO of Red Havas. “PR is one of the most powerful tools that brands can use to connect to audiences, but it’s essential that it integrates seamlessly across content types and sources and operates at the pace, and in the ways, of today’s consumer. With content, social and predictive data at the core, we’ve built a model that merges all of the various media sources and essentially redefines the PR capability entirely.”

Commenting on the global rebranding, Yannick Bollore, CEO and chairman of Havas Group, said: “Red Havas is a new, transformational and unmatched micro agency network that will help redefine PR and its value to clients. Along with the power of Havas Group and the world-class entertainment capabilities we have within Vivendi, the proposition of merged media becomes very interesting. We have big ambitions to develop and invest in this further.”

Red Havas is part of the Havas PR Global Collective, the PR and communications arm of the Havas Group that comprises approximately 40 agencies around the world and more than 1,300 employees. At this stage, there are no plans to rebrand other Havas-owned PR agencies.

About Red Havas

Red Havas is part of the Global Havas PR Global Collective and has offices in Australia (Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney), Philippines (Manila), Singapore, United Kingdom (London and Manchester) and the United States (Pittsburgh, Phoenix, New England and New York City).

For further information, please visit: www.redhavas.com.

About Havas Group

Havas is one of the world’s largest global communications groups. Founded in 1835 in Paris, the Group employs 20,000 people in more than 100 countries. Havas Group is committed to being the world’s best company at creating meaningful differences between people and brands through creativity, media and innovation. Based on a client-centric model across media and creative, Havas Group is the most integrated company in its sector. They operate with three business units (creative, media and healthcare & wellness) within the  Havas Villages all over the world where teams share the same premises, ensuring agility and a seamless experience for clients. #makingbrandsmeaningful

Further information about Havas Group is available on the company’s website: havasgroup.com