For encouraging millions of Filipinos to play an active role in protecting themselves and the whole community against COVID-19, the Department of Health received the Silver Award for Excellence in Launch/Re-Launch Marketing for its information campaign B.I.D.A. Solusyon sa COVID-19 at the Marketing Excellence Awards.
B.I.D.A., in the vernacular, stands for: Bawal walang mask, I-sanitize ang mga kamay, Dumistansya ng isang metro, and Alamin ang totoong impormasyon (Always wear a mask, wash your hands, stay one meter apart, and always get real information.)
With support from the United States Agency for International Development, the DOH worked with the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Program to come up with a communication campaign to deliver an important life-saving message: that every Filipino is part of the solution to win the fight against the pandemic.
GeiserMaclang Marketing Communications Inc. helped the DOH amplify the B.I.D.A. Solusyon campaign and turned it into a movement through various partnerships with the private sector.
Beverly Ho, Director of the DOH-Health Promotions Bureau, said: “The B.I.D.A Solusyon sa COVID-19 campaign successfully reached millions of households across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. This was made possible by the joint effort of the DOH, USAID and GeiserMaclang. Together, we were able to help the country at a very crucial point in our history by increasing public awareness towards preventive measures in our on-going battle against COVID-19.”
Amor Maclang, GeiserMaclang co-founder, added: “Nation-building is at the heart of every partnership we develop at GeiserMaclang. This campaign highlighted the inherent Filipino trait of bayanihan, a time-honored practice of rallying the local community to assist a fellow Filipino in need. By speaking to the very heart of the everyday Filipino, we helped them play an important role in this struggle by showing them the very hero inside each and every one of us.”
From safety protocols to fighting the spread of misinformation on social media, the DOH, USAID, and GeiserMaclang collaborated with the country’s private sector to ensure that the B.I.D.A. Solusyon information campaign reached every corner of the archipelago.
Entitled “How the COVID-19 Crisis Made Heroes Out of Every Filipino,” the information campaign was launched virtually together with the Department of Interior and Local Government and the Philippine Information Agency, among other program partners on July 24, 2020.
Following its launch, a number of businesses adopted the campaign for their own internal initiatives, with some developing their own mini-campaigns that were inspired by B.I.D.A.
GeiserMaclang monitored the campaign’s success through various key metrics. The B.I.D.A. Solusyon campaign garnered significant media mileage that resulted in 10 partnership sub-campaigns, 545 TV commercials, and 849 radio commercials. In addition, the campaign attracted 32 private enterprise partners, 22 local government partnerships, and over 2,000 volunteers.
Now in its 10th year, the Marketing Excellence Awards are designed to celebrate, recognize and reward outstanding marketing campaigns.
“This recognition is a testament to the importance of strategic and effective communication during a global public health crisis. We share this award with the rest of the Filipino people who joined our call for collective action to achieve protection for the community against COVID-19,” Dr. Ho said.
