The Challenge
Arkansas has one of the nation’s lowest full-vaccination rates for Covid-19. Allowing that trend to continue was unacceptable to NYC-based financial services veteran Ted Huffman and his wife, Cheryl Huffman. As founders of The GreenShoots Foundation, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to uplifting people across the social fabric of America, they came to D6 to create an integrated campaign urging Arkansans to “Please Consider Vaccination.”
THE APPROACH
DEFINITION 6 created an integrated campaign around two pillars the Huffmans identified: tradition and culture. More deeply defined as family, community, faith, and work, the agency carried these themes throughout all aspects of the campaign.
The idea was brought to life entirely in-house, with D6 producing and distributing deliverables across TV, radio, OOH, digital, and social media. “Ted and Cheryl had a beautiful vision for an apolitical PSA,” says D6 VP/Creative Director Noah Lerner, who worked closely with the Huffmans to conceive the campaign. “Using the father’s journey as a metaphor, they had a very specific portrait of this character and who he represents, which was the perfect vehicle to get their pro-vaccination message across in an emotional, visual, and narratively driven way.”
“Bringing this campaign to life was a truly integrated effort that tapped into our core competencies as an agency – creative, production, distribution, publicity, social strategy, and digital – plus the opportunity to do that for a higher purpose made it all the more gratifying,” concludes D6 President Jason Rockman. “Early findings from our analytics team show this campaign is making an impact on vaccination rates in Arkansas and beyond, as media outlets across state lines are now airing the campaign. None of this would have been possible without the tenacious vision and charity of Ted and Cheryl [Huffman]. We thank them for entrusting us to shepherd such a vitally important campaign.”
Our hero’s transformation is a journey, one that captures the same journey many of us are on. The father’s struggle with the decision to vaccinate is real. By welcoming people to experience his journey, hopefully, they find comfort in their own path to get vaccinated.
The campaign launched in November 2021 and achieved widespread visibility across TV, radio, and billboards, with data revealing significant upticks in vaccination rates in Arkansas communities that received the heaviest PSA play.
In the three months following the release of the campaign, Pulaski County, which contains Little Rock, Arkansas’ capital and largest city, saw an increase of +9% over similar markets without access to the messaging.
Rural communities, where vaccine resistance was strongest, experienced vaccination rate improvements within five weeks of the introduction of the campaign. While rural counties where the campaign didn’t run saw vaccine rates decrease over that same time period.
“We are deeply humbled by the response to this campaign,” remarks Ted Huffman. “To see how the message continues to resonate makes our initial hopes for this campaign all the more remarkable and gratifying.”
The campaign also spread organically into small and mid-sized markets outside of Arkansas, generating more than 103,000 donated broadcasts in Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma, Montana, Maryland, Wisconsin, Idaho, West Virginia, Ohio, South Carolina, Alaska, Michigan, Wyoming, Illinois, Tennessee, Utah, and Kentucky.
“The spread of this campaign is the traditional media equivalent of going viral,” adds Rich Quigley, SVP, Group Director, PR Services at DEFINITION 6, the agency that spearheaded the campaign. “All the credit goes to Ted and Cheryl Huffman, whose strong vision and personal connection to the people of Arkansas was the key to crafting a sincere message that is now resonating in communities across America.”
