Phase 1: Hands, Face, Space
Challenge
At the beginning of the pandemic, there was a lot of advice emerging as to how people should behave causing confusion and inertia. We had to educate the public on the dangers of the coronavirus and the action they needed to take to stay safe.
Insight
Whether you’re a millennial getting a job and getting married, or Gen X with a family, as you grow older you acquire responsibilities. And responsibility is the enemy of independence, the enemy of freedom.
Innovation
Strategically, we focused on the core actions that would have the most effect; and we needed something simple & memorable.
The human brain can only take on board of 3-4 messages at one time. We worked to find a memorable mnemonic that could stick in people’s heads and act as a trigger to the correct behaviours. ‘Hands. Face. Space’ tested the best. This also leveraged the ‘Rhyme as Reason’ cognitive bias.
Progress
Recognition hit 88% within a week and claimed behaviours following, with strong agreement to the actions:
- 77%
- 'wash hands'
- 87%
- 'wear a face covering'
- 76%
- 'keep distance'
Share
Covid-19 Phase One: Hands, Face, Space
Never was being a force for good more important than when Covid-19 hit in March 2020. We were appointed by the UK Government to develop and deliver an ongoing series of multi-channel public-information communications in an unprecedented climate.
