In a though-provoking presentation from three leading lights of UK Government communications, attendees at the AMEC Virtual Global Summit on Measurement learn about the unprecedented communications activities focused on Covid-19.

 

The communications aims should be well known to us all by now. To stop the spread of the virus, to save lives and protect the NHS while at the same time supporting businesses and the economy.

 

How the UK Government worked to achieve these aims was to launch the largest paid-for campaign in history. A campaign that used announcements combined with digital and social media, plus partnerships with the public and private sector to change public behaviour, provide support to businesses and sustain trust and longer-term compliance.

 

Alex Aiken, Executive Director of Government Communication, Prime Minister’s Office and Cabinet Office Communications, UK Government, says that the aim has been to “nudge and occasionally shove people to the right conclusion to protect themselves and their loved ones and wider society”.

 

While Alex admits that they didn’t get everything right, the campaign has gained near 100% awareness and reported levels of action of around 80%. He adds that it was the training, the professional development and the benefit of conferences like AMEC’s that have helped him and his team to make the right decisions.

Catherine Hunt, Head of Insight and Evaluation, Prime Minister’s Office and Cabinet Office Communications, UK Government, echoes Alex’s views, adding that this huge undertaking involved around 20 major and 60 minor communications campaigns. The measurement and evaluation has been equally huge in scope.

 

The evaluation programme was set up at speed to measure the impact of activity and provide results quickly enough to inform emerging priorities while still delivering value for the taxpayer. It required new approaches to setting KPIs, gathering data and demonstrating impact and ROI.

 

Core was a public survey with YouGov, alongside a communications tracker developed with Kantar. BMG Research was also involved in tracking health insights. Qualitative and quantitative research were employed to understand what was happening, drawing on digital data and rapid response unit analysis of stories emerging on social media, allowing the UK Government to see how false narratives were emerging.

 

“Once we had enough data we could build models to understand how communications affected behaviour and then we could move towards a return on investment payback,” explains Catherine. “We’re still learning – it’s been an incredible adventure, one that we would never have chosen, but an incredibly opportunity.”

 

Finally, Matthew Walmsley, Deputy Director Insight, Evaluation and Behavioural Science, UK Government Communication Service, Prime Minister’s Office and Cabinet Office Communications, UK Government, gives his own viewpoint on the lessons learnt so far from this life-changing campaign.

 

“We took an end-to-end approach that informed early decision-making on strategy and policy. If policy is well tested, then communicating it is much easier, it’s chance of being understood will be better, and therefore more likely to be accepted and acted upon.”