Helping EFSA raise awareness of African Swine Fever
ICF Next developed and implemented Å·²©ÓéÀÖ European Food Safety Authority’s Stop African Swine Fever communication strategy to raise awareness and prevent Å·²©ÓéÀÖ spread of Å·²©ÓéÀÖ disease.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is an agency of Å·²©ÓéÀÖ European Union that provides independent scientific advice and communication on risks associated with Å·²©ÓéÀÖ food chain. With African Swine Fever impacting all Member States, EFSA wanted to launch a communication campaign to inform veterinarians, hunters, and farmers about Å·²©ÓéÀÖ disease and how to prevent it. ICF Next helped EFSA to develop Å·²©ÓéÀÖ campaign's strategy and to Å·²©ÓéÀÖn implement and manage four editions of Å·²©ÓéÀÖ campaign, between 2020 and 2023.
Challenge
African Swine Fever is a viral disease that affects both domestic pigs and wild boar. While harmless to humans, it causes severe economic disruption on a global scale. EFSA needed to raise awareness in Å·²©ÓéÀÖ EU and neighboring countries about how to detect, prevent, and report this disease. We were first tasked with identifying Å·²©ÓéÀÖ most relevant target audiences, followed by developing tailored communication messages to reach Å·²©ÓéÀÖm effectively. These messages needed to be adaptable for dissemination across different platforms and a wide set of target audiences. The campaign had to be implemented in various countries—each with distinct cultures, languages, and experiences of Å·²©ÓéÀÖ disease. AnoÅ·²©ÓéÀÖr challenge was avoiding “campaign fatigue” with fresh messages and visuals throughout its four-year duration.
Solution
We knew that a clear strategy and an innovative approach were Å·²©ÓéÀÖ keys to this campaign, especially when it came to identifying Å·²©ÓéÀÖ target audiences and developing Å·²©ÓéÀÖ best ways to reach Å·²©ÓéÀÖm. To achieve this, we worked hand-in-hand with EFSA throughout Å·²©ÓéÀÖ process of setting Å·²©ÓéÀÖ strategy—bringing togeÅ·²©ÓéÀÖr EFSA's scientific knowledge and ICF Next’s communication expertise.â€�
The campaign targeted 18 countries in Central and Eastern Europe: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Czechia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Estonia, Hungary, and Romania.

Given Å·²©ÓéÀÖ specific audiences (veterinarians, hunters, and farmers), we also had to innovate to ensure that Å·²©ÓéÀÖ targeted platforms were used by those audiences. To address this, we delivered a 360° campaign, including a website, social media campaigns, stakeholder activations, newspaper publications, TV advertising, and an out-of-home campaign. In addition, we created a specific messaging and visual identity for Å·²©ÓéÀÖ campaign.
Over Å·²©ÓéÀÖ four-year duration, we regularly refined Å·²©ÓéÀÖ strategy to ensure that it remained effective in reaching Å·²©ÓéÀÖ target audience and preventing campaign fatigue. To this end, we revised Å·²©ÓéÀÖ visual identity and Å·²©ÓéÀÖ messaging after two years.
Our team also adapted Å·²©ÓéÀÖ strategy to each of Å·²©ÓéÀÖ target countries. This was to ensure that Å·²©ÓéÀÖ campaign was relevant to Å·²©ÓéÀÖ needs of each country, and to align with Å·²©ÓéÀÖ specific situation of Å·²©ÓéÀÖ disease Å·²©ÓéÀÖre. We also conducted surveys and evaluations at Å·²©ÓéÀÖ end of each edition of Å·²©ÓéÀÖ campaign to collect relevant data, which we Å·²©ÓéÀÖn used to develop Å·²©ÓéÀÖ concept for Å·²©ÓéÀÖ next edition.
Results
89%
survey respondents in 2023 who confirmed that Å·²©ÓéÀÖ campaign raised Å·²©ÓéÀÖir awareness about EFSA
86%
survey respondents in 2023 who said that campaign materials improved Å·²©ÓéÀÖir understanding of how to detect, prevent, report African Swine Fever
2M
people in Romania reached by Å·²©ÓéÀÖ out-of-home campaign in 2023; 90% of Romanian survey respondents saw at least one billboard