The marketing strategy Australia’s vaccine campaign needs right now
Dr Ofer Mintz, senior lecturer of marketing at The University of Technology, Sydney looks at how marketing’s four P’s apply to Australia’s vaccine rollout.
To prevent further loss of lives, lockdowns, and allow the country to move beyond the pandemic, the Federal Government recently announced 70-80% of Australia’s population needs to get vaccinated. However, Australia has too many of our vulnerable population (i.e. those at most risk to suffer a fatality if infected by COVID-19) currently not taking the vaccine. Further, Australia has too high a vaccine hesitancy and procrastination rate to achieve herd immunity even if we had sufficient supply.
To further complicate matters, the majority of the vaccination efforts are targeting the mass market – those most likely to get vaccinated – instead of focusing on patient-centric communications tailored to each individual that address the concerns that have led to vaccine hesitancy and procrastination.
Thus, the stakes should be clear. The health of the population and billions of dollars in the economy necessitate the government to launch a proactive, well-funded patient-centric marketing campaign with two objectives: (1) to encourage our most vulnerable populations to get vaccinated ASAP; and (2) to build on the enthusiasm and momentum from those currently vaccinated to reduce overall vaccination hesitancy and procrastination.
