Barnaby 2.0 offers hope for AstraZeneca’s Aussie PR issues
Founder and principal at The Drill, Gerry McCusker, looks at a possible way forward for a vaccine’s image makeover.
AstraZeneca’s (AZ) COVID vaccine has a huge amount of PR equity to capitalise upon: genius scientists, Dame Sarah Gilbert, speed-of-light development, easy storage, at-cost price and at-volume provision, and a commitment to ongoing cheap supply of an anti-virus solution with a 75%+ efficacy rate. But down under, no-one’s talking up that. For after sporadic safety issues, multiple brand attacks, an EU legal action plus a seemingly tame PR defence of its brand reputation (as well as many puzzling internal mis-steps), many Australians are now eyeing the AZ vaccine with cynical suspicion.
Without exploring the full A-to-Z of AZ’s woes, AstraZeneca clearly needs to overcome its negative PR problems in Australia. And flamboyant Aussie politician Barnaby Joyce could be an inspirational, albeit unlikely, hero for the AZ team.
