In a world increasingly aware of the vital importance of immunizations, initiatives that advance vaccine literacy and accessibility are more important than ever. That’s what NDSU’s Center for Immunization Research and Education (CIRE) is all about. This groundbreaking initiative leverages the power of research and education to promote the benefits of immunization, improving vaccine rates and combatting disease.

When CIRE received a grant to boost its mission, they sought a creative partner capable of delivering engaging, accurate, and compelling health messaging to create awareness and increase vaccination rates. That’s where we came in! We created four unique videos that could be instrumental in disseminating key messaging about COVID immunizations with a slightly different message. CIRE’s research was showing that a lot of campaigns at the time were based in guilt and fear, and they were looking to create a campaign of positivity and a ‘thank you’ to the community. Rather than saying ‘you should do this’, it’s a ‘thank you for helping us return to normal’. Additionally, our target audience were folks who were untrusting of ‘high authority’ or ‘celebrity’ folks. So we decided to use normal, everyday people – a nurse, a teacher, and a preacher – everyday people that wanted to get back to normal and the audience could relate to.

A fun additional technical fact – this was the first project where our team used the EyeDirect mirroring system to achieve the look of a direct-to-camera address while still allowing the subject to look at our interviewer. This added to the emotional impact of the films by giving the impression that the interviewee was speaking directly to the viewer.

The resulting videos became a part of CIRE’s ongoing efforts, providing a visual medium through which their message could be effectively communicated.