The WHO Saw Few Used Its COVID Videos, So It Switched to Scientists Explaining in Five Minutes
The short series drew 400 million views, and showed how checking what audiences actually do can reshape strategy.
Embracing Marketing Mistakes · EP 127: Professor Jim Macnamara Says Most Of The PR Industry Is Still Measuring The Wrong ThingEach month during the pandemic, Jim Macnamara, a professor who led global evaluation for the World Health Organization, reviewed as many as eight sets of data. They included media analysis, website statistics from Google Analytics, surveys, and studies of reputation and trust. On a monthly basis, the team checked the website statistics to see which pages and videos were being used.
One finding stood out. The WHO's detailed technical videos about COVID drew few viewers. The team also found that certain brochures and videos did not work.
When the team looked into why, people said they did not understand what an mRNA vaccine is, compared with a traditional one. An mRNA vaccine gives cells temporary instructions to make a harmless piece of the virus, so the immune system can learn to recognize it.
So the WHO tried something shorter and simpler. It created Science in 5, short videos in which scientists explained one question in plain language in under five minutes. Posted on the website, the videos drew 400 million views in a very short time.
The shift reflected a habit Macnamara admires in advertising agencies, which test several versions of an advertisement and drop the failing version while keeping the one that works.
Scale made the job hard, with many countries and many languages. After Donald Trump criticized the WHO, the team felt its reputation had dropped. Edelman, a company that runs trust surveys, agreed to include the WHO in its surveys in 2021 and 2022. That question was part of two years of surveys, and Macnamara said trust increased over the three year period he was there.
He had started with technical videos that drew few viewers. He ended with short videos that drew 400 million views.
Questions people ask
How is an mRNA vaccine different from a traditional vaccine?
A traditional vaccine often introduces a weakened or inactivated virus, or a piece of it, to train the immune system. An mRNA vaccine instead gives cells temporary instructions to make a harmless piece of the virus, usually the spike protein, and the immune system then learns to recognize it. The instructions break down quickly and never enter the part of the cell that holds DNA.
Do 400 million views mean 400 million people understood the science?
No. A view count shows that a video was started, not that it was finished or understood. Researchers usually pair viewing figures with watch time, surveys, and questions that test recall or intent. In this case, audience confusion was explored through research, and trust was tracked through separate surveys.