What’s the point of vaccine PSAs that no one can see?

The Ad Council and COVID Collaborative have partnered with ad tech companies Kinetiq, TVSquared, Upwave and Ace Metrix to measure the reach and effectiveness of its $50 million COVID-19 vaccine awareness campaign.

The partnership, pitched and led by TVSquared chief strategy officer Bob Ivins, will help the Ad Council collect the data it needs to optimize COVID-19 awareness efforts nationally and locally.

“The industry has a lot of great technologies and a lot of great people,” Ivins said. “I made a few phone calls and everybody said ‘we want to help.'”

Each of the four ad tech companies will offer their services pro bono to measure a different aspect of campaign effectiveness.

Ace Metrix (recently acquired by iSpot TV) is testing ads before they hit the market to understand which are most likely to capture people’s attention. Kinetiq is measuring brand mentions online.

For post-campaign analysis, Upwave is running surveys to measure consumer sentiment towards getting a vaccine after seeing an ad, and TVSquared will measure campaign attribution by understanding what action a consumer takes after seeing an ad, such as visiting a vaccine appointment website.

While still in its early testing stages, the companies are preparing to process more data as vaccinations pick up across the country.

“Together we’re giving the Ad Council the best view of whether their advertising is working,” said Chris Kelly, founder and CEO at Upwave.

Kevin Kohn, CEO at Kinetiq, added: “We’re trying to get as many people vaccinated as possible. That’s the ultimate goal.”

The Ad Council is distributing the assets to local broadcast stations so they can use any available inventory to get the message out. The organization is also sharing toolkits and conducting webinars for measurement partners to maintain a consistent messaging.

“We need to be data-driven and intentional in order to reach the right audiences with the right message,” said Anne Deo, SVP of analytics at The Ad Council. “Technology and analytics is the only way we’re going to be able to deliver against this initiative at scale.”

Measurement partners have also said they will continue offering their services post-pandemic for other public health campaigns.

“For all of us to take a step back and contribute to the greater good here is important,” said Peter Daboll, former CEO of Ace Metrix.