From the Nominator

In October 2023, Oxford’s R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine received WHO recommendation for use around the world. This marked a significant milestone in the road to the prevention and, one day, eradication of malaria, a disease that still kills over 620,000 people annually. Oxford’s public affairs directorate had worked with vaccine research teams to communicate previous milestones and knew that WHO’s recommendation marked the moment this research would translate into lifesaving impact. A multidisciplinary team developed rich, online long-form content, coupled with video and images shot at African research stations, infographics, and social media. Together, these communications tools told the story of Oxford’s work on the vaccine and the impact it could have in Africa and globally. We engaged with researchers in the UK and Africa, as well production partners in India, to develop content that shed light on malaria’s human cost, as well as to explain how malaria works and why it is so hard to eradicate. The team aligned the content’s launch with our overall strategy and the international coverage secured by our press teams. Our long-form piece reached over 1,000 readers, while the videos were viewed more than 213,000 times. The b-roll and images we supplied with our press release reached many millions and helped us shape wider storytelling over autumn 2023. The project strengthened our relationships with research teams, as well as demonstrated the value of close collaboration across disciplines and the impact of investing in rich storytelling content.

From the Judges

We agreed that although this is a big and complex story to relay, the storytelling was focused on very clear messaging in all aspects. By reading through the nomination, we could feel the excitement surrounding the impact of the vaccine. Big kudos for the website and exciting graphics throughout!