Omnicom Group's TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles confirmed it was tapped to lead the creative for Moderna's first-ever, consumer-facing ad campaign, which broke over the weekend in print in the New York Times and via a digital takeover of the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York's Times Square.
The ad introduces consumers to Moderna with a statement that reads: "We've been at this for 10 years. Our mRNA platform is a modern approach to medicine. But it's just the beginning." The ad is timed to Moderna starting to deliver its COVID-19 vaccine to frontline workers and others in immediate need this week—the goal seemingly being to instill American confidence in the vaccine and introduce people to the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech company.
“We are honored to be partnering with Moderna," TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles Managing Director Michael Claypool said in a statement. "Their approach to using an mRNA platform is disrupting vaccines and we’re excited by the prospect of supporting their mission of delivering on the promise of mRNA medicines."
TBWA\Chiat\Day L.A. declined further comment on the partnership but one person close to the matter says TBWA\WorldHealth is also involved, and that this is part of a larger, ongoing relationship. Two people close to the matter say Omnicom Media Group-owned Hearts & Science has also been brought in to support the media buy.
Omnicom Media Group declined comment and Moderna did not return requests for comment.
The media buy includes print, digital and digital out-of-home components on the Nasdaq board and in The New York Times, as well as full-page print ads in The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times this week.
Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine was delivered to the public for the first time on Monday. It comes alongside the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, doses of which were given to U.S. President-elect Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden. In November, Moderna said the COVID-19 vaccine's overall efficiency rate for fighting the virus was 94.1%, and its efficiency rate against "severe" cases was 100%.
