Vaccination Strategy By Māori, For Māori Is Successful.

Whānau Ora launches ‘Fight for your Whakapapa’ vaccination campaign across Te Ika-a-Maui,the North Island. A campaign that is testament to their kaupapa Māori ‘by Māori for Māori’ approach.

Launched in September, Fight For Your Whakapapa served as a call to arms across Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland; an expansive initiative urging Māori to get vaccinated in the face of a growing outbreak. The initial goal of 65,000 vaccinations through Te Whānau o Waipareira was smashed only weeks into the campaign, with over 112,000 shots already given across the wider Tāmaki Makaurau region.

Since the rollout of Fight For Your Whakapapa in Tāmaki Makaurau, vaccination uptake has increased in stunning fashion, doubling expected targets whilst only halfway into the campaign and culminating in the second highest total of shots given on the October 16th’s Super Saturday initiative. This overwhelmingly positive response led to the vast expansion of the Fight For Your Whakapapa campaign, taking it to communities far and wide across Te Ika-a-Maui. Whānau Ora has once again collaborated with New Zealand-owned ad agency Motion Sickness to create the North Island campaign.

The emphatic success of the campaign also serves as a resounding testament to the success of their by Māori,for Māori approach to public healthcare.

“We fought for our whakapapa in the New Zealand wars, We fought for our whakapapa in the world wars and now we fight for our whakapapa in 2021, United under the band of Whānau ora , our platoons and companies that make up our Whānau Ora Battalion are now on the front line together taking covid front on.” - John Tamihere

With an extensive network of Whānau Ora partners spanning Te Ika-a-Maui, Whānau Ora has an in-depth capacity, capability and experience to provide whānau centric solutions and assistance when it comes to getting vaccinated. This deeply ingrained level of trust with whānau provides a strong human element to the vaccination push.

“Working with our leadership on the ground - it is their voice, their stories, their faith and belief in their communities that see our people rise up to the call to action to vaccinate. Fight for your whakapapa enables our Whānau Ora communities to own it and co-design something that is truly reflective of their communities, their people, Their voice. We are proud to build a platform that all brands and organisations can plug into - Kātene Durie-Doherty

The lack of resonance coming from the government’s messaging campaign informed the grounded and innovative approach of the expanded campaign; that looked to focus on local Māori leadership, and highlight their reasons for getting vaccinated.

Merepeka Raukawa-Tait: “Whānau Ora serve the most vulnerable communities and this means moving with speed, so to scale up defending our whānau and increasing vaccinations in our communities. It’s a race against time and a response we cannot do alone. This campaign reflects not only the communities Whanau Ora serves but the foundations Whānau Ora builds on; Only we have our own our solutions, Only we can bring our own solutions.

Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ke2_qJO8M8

In addition to the Te Ika-a-Maui rollout of billboards, street posters, and strategically targeted digital and social messaging, whānau are now able to correspond with the Whānau Ora team in real time, via fightforyourwhakapapa.co.nz - and be directed towards their nearest vaccination centers using live interactive maps.

When the campaign first launched in Tāmaki Makaurau, the use of a comprehensive targeting strategy was crucial in getting people to vaccination centers. Mobile ads were seen over 15,000 times, and with those devices once again being located at Māori-run Auckland vaccination centers, the Tāmaki Makarau digital campaign was clearly proving effective.

The solutions required in Tāmaki Makaurau differ considerably when speaking to the wider North Island in this new phase of the campaign, particularly rural and regional communities. Namely challenges around geographical proximity to vaccination clinics, and digital/mobile penetration and media infrastructure, as well as limited covid-visibility in certain communities inviting vaccine complacency. The core strategic motivation of Fight For Your Whakapapa is to ensure it comes from a ground up model and builds trust and resonance via local leaders, on the ground as ambassadors for the campaign.

Fight For Your Whakapapa is now live across Te Ika-a-Maui and will be running into mid December with the aim to reach a 80-90% Maori vaccination rate by March 2022.

For more information contact katene.durie-doherty@waiwhanau.com

Campaign website - https://fightforyourwhakapapa.co.nz/

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