BIN Presents "It's Up To You" Vaccine Education Week

RADIO ONLINE | Thursday, February 25, 2021

BIN: Black Information Network has joined with the Ad Council and COVID Collaborative to help kick off their "It's Up To You" COVID-19 vaccine education initiative.

Despite the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color there are extremely high rates of vaccine hesitancy among these communities, rooted in a deep history of health inequities, mistrust and skepticism. To reach its audiences with messages that will resonate, BIN has adapted the Ad Council's "It's Up To You" COVID-19 vaccine education campaign and created a week-long schedule of programming designed to reaffirm the legitimacy of having questions about the vaccines, while at the same time answering questions and addressing concerns their audiences may have.

"Based on research, the Black community is the least likely group to be receptive to taking a COVID-19 vaccine," said Tony Coles, President of BIN: Black Information Network. "Our goal is to present the most accurate news and information to help curb the future impact of COVID-19 on the communities we serve, by both answering questions around vaccination and providing resources for the public to get informed." BIN was founded on an innovative business model: instead of being supported by traditional advertising, BIN is enabled by a group of well-known brands as Founding Partners who provide long-term support to allow BIN to focus solely on its mission of building an important platform for Black journalism and trusted news.

As a result of this innovative and unique advertising model, BIN has been able to bring together some of its Founding Partners including Bank Of America, CVS Health, Lowe's, McDonald's USA, Sony, 23andMe and Verizon, to contribute a week of advertising on BIN, using the platform to spark meaningful conversation fueled by trusted news and information. Collectively these leading consumer brands will donate over 1,300 hours of continuous media to spark a deeper conversation around the COVID-19 vaccine and address specific concerns within the Black community.

"Combining the collective power of BIN and the Ad Council will be one of the most effective partnerships to get the right information about the COVID-19 vaccine to the Black community," said Diego Scotti, CMO, Verizon. "With Verizon being a partner of both organizations, it is a proud moment to see the impact that can be made when the industry takes action together."

"As a Founding Partner of the Black Information Network and a member of the Ad Council Coalition, we recognize the opportunity to help address critical communication efforts around the importance of this vaccine," said Meredith Verdone, Chief Marketing Officer of Bank of America. "This initiative will accelerate the impact of the Ad Council's campaign within communities that continue to be disproportionally impacted by the coronavirus."

"CVS' partnership with BIN allows us to have an ongoing channel to reach Black consumers every day with important and timely COVID-19 and vaccine information," said Norm de Greve, Chief Marketing Officer of CVS. "We were thrilled to see so many of the BIN partner brands band together with the network and the Ad Council to donate their airtime to help ensure these critical messages get heard in the local communities where they are most needed."

"We are proud to partner with our franchisees to turn over our advertising time to BIN and the Ad Council to educate the community about COVID-19 vaccinations," said Morgan Flatley, Chief Marketing Officer, McDonald's USA. "At McDonald's, being a good neighbor is one of our core values, and we hope by using our resources as a BIN founding partner, we can help bring the Black community one step closer to overcoming this pandemic."

"As a brand grounded in science and research, we are proud to support the Black Information Network and The Ad Council's campaign to deliver trusted, balanced information around the data behind the COVID-19 vaccine," said Tracy Keim, Vice President, Consumer Marketing and Brand, 23andMe. "Knowledge is power, and the campaign message "It's Up To You" highlights the importance of being armed with the critical information necessary to make an informed health decision today and in the future."

Beginning today through next week, BIN's "It's Up To You" Vaccine Education Week will feature hundreds of custom audio PSAs that bring to life the moments that we have all been missing and encourage listeners to get the facts so that they can make an informed decision about the COVID-19 vaccines; local news updates that provide specific details around local vaccination requirements and availability; interviews with medical experts around the safety and science behind the vaccines; hourly news coverage providing the most up-to-date information around the vaccine rollout; and a Sunday morning public affairs show dedicated to an open discussion about the vaccines and mistrust within the Black community.