I had a doozy of a topic to facilitate at the IABC  #converge21 communications conference last night – ‘what has your government done well or badly in covid communications?’ 

Starting with ‘the good’ there was a crazy silence.

For the ‘bad’, there were plenty of examples.

It’s perhaps not so surprising when considering a worldwide, fast moving, frightening pandemic with a large impact. 

Some of the international participants were still living it. Political infighting and media manipulation seem universal. It can also be difficult to separate out the action of government from the communication of the action by communicators. 

When I was preparing, I was looking for non-Australian examples. This link collects a number of international marketing and public health campaigns, not all government. 

Some interesting examples – from an American-based ‘You’re freaking us out, wear a mask’ to Finland using teddy bears to demonstrate social distancing on buses before donating them, to Thailand’s ‘Dear Crisis’, resilience building campaign. 

Thanks to the participants at my virtual table for contributing to the discussion ?