"We Can Do This" HHS COVID-19 Public Education Campaign

To combat mistrust and encourage Americans to get the coronavirus vaccine, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs (ASPA) engaged a team of nine culturally diverse agencies led by prime contractor Fors Marsh to create and run the “We Can Do This Campaign." Alongside the other agencies, Reingold helped create digital ads and placements. The campaign began in 2020 and ran until July 2023.

The campaign built upon efforts to inspire hope through a collective, science-based effort in slowing the spread of COVID-19. Throughout the next three years, the campaign evolved as the times and public health needs of the nation changed. With this, new campaign objectives arose, including encouraging Americans to receive the booster shot and celebrating Americans for their public health efforts during the pandemic.

The campaign strategy was built on educational materials that embodied the most current and accurate validated knowledge of the public health community. The campaign delivered information in a way that resonated culturally, locally, and personally with target audiences through their preferred channels and the influencer voices they trust.

Under the guidance of Fors Marsh, Reingold tailored messaging to populations that are most vulnerable to contracting COVID-19. As vaccines and boosters were made available to different populations (first older adults and those with preexisting health conditions and then increasingly younger audiences), the campaign’s strategy also involved delivering targeted digital assets aimed at audiences in different stages of life with different motivators.

The campaign’s run from 2020 to July 2023 saw immense success. It delivered more than 97 billion impressions across paid and earned media channels and launched 103 influencer actions which resulted in 3.6 billion impressions.