Blog post
February 1, 2021

Australia’s Great Vaccine Roll Out: Communicating through the COVID-19 Inoculation Initiative

Vaccination communication

We are fast approaching one of the largest health undertakings in 60 years, since the move to eradicate polio in the 1950’s. Australia’s vaccination initiative presents a mammoth challenge for everyone, particularly communicators. From government at all levels, to aged and health care services, to logistics providers as we distribute the vaccine; to the business community at large, such as corporates & NGOs. From the retail sector right through to education, travel and tourism, this impacts all of us as we work through the mass inoculation initiative of 2021.

With that in mind, planning and tracking, and measuring the execution of your communications strategy has never been more important. At Isentia, our Insights and Research team can support you with this important task, with a range of media intelligence and in-depth analysis solutions to help.

It’s also important to note that our research is not just for the PR & Media team, it’s used at all levels of an organisation across multiple role types, from HR teams, through to Strategy & Engagement teams. We just use the media (including social media), and/or the general public through our survey capabilities as a source of information. 

Here are some of the questions we can help answer and some ways we can support you around the COVID-19 vaccination roll out:

How do I track the effectiveness of our communication on vaccination?

Isentia Policy Insights is a great way to understand how your initiatives and approaches are being received. Isentia will help you to navigate through the communication stages of vaccination and policy/regulation around vaccine directives, tracking your effectiveness. Using a customised approach to meet your needs Isentia can draw upon contextual social media analysis, survey data and traditional media analysis. This can help you to understand what narratives are being put into the market, how people are reacting to them and how attitudes are shifting. Most importantly for policy analysis, Isentia always digs deeper than just assessing attitudes and narratives to assess risks and opportunities for your organisation and help you plan your communications strategy. For example, you could deep dive into the conversations around vaccine hesitancy and look at addressing trending topics around this.


I’m planning our communications strategy around the vaccine and would like to understand what’s worked in other countries who are already in the execution phase of their vaccination roll out.

Isentia’s International Media Insights will allow you to analyse media coverage from other countries around the world, to examine some of the emerging issues, message cut through, and considerations which could be applied to your strategy and remit. Isentia’s International Media Analysis is an ideal way to leverage the benefit of Australia’s position, where we can learn from other countries who have gone before us with the vaccine. Isentia can provide you with in depth research and evaluation of other countries vaccination communication programs. This combined with a pulse check of the current sentiment and issues around vaccination in the Australian media would be a powerful tool, for evidence and research-based planning.


Vaccination can be contentious, how can I stay across the broader narratives and look for risk and opportunities that are relevant to my communication?

Isentia’s Insights team can help you identify what narratives are being discussed in traditional media and how conversations are evolving on social media. Through contextual social media analysis we can see the effect of different communications on public response, and our audience sentiment analysis can look at how various people are thinking and feeling about the vaccine and how they respond to new information. Our award-winning Insights team has decades of communications experience at its disposal, and doesn’t just analyse data for you but can help to workshop the findings and discuss effective communication strategies in a volatile period.


How can I see the most influential voices on vaccination, is there anything I can learn from who leads the discussion?

Isentia can help you identify the highest impact influencers, what they are saying and where their messaging aligns with yours as well as where it diverges. Using our Media Impact Score we can provide a standardised methodology to assess the effectiveness of each influencer to provide you with a data-driven method to identify key targets. We can also categorise those targets so that you not only know who to contact, but about what. We are experts in isolating and identifying nuanced mischaracterisations that are being communicated to the market and help you more effectively work to counteract misinformation about your policy and activities but also about issues like vaccines in general.


I work in the aged care sector, I want to understand my position and overall reputation – I want to use the vaccination approach to rebuild some trust, particularly following the Aged Care Royal Commission

Reputation and Audience Sentiment Analysis at Isentia combines survey and social media research to assess what people are thinking and saying about a brand or an issue, and most importantly what’s driving those opinions. The aim of our research is not only to provide you with benchmarks and an overview of opinion, but to help drive strategic and tactical conversations within your organisation about your communications activities.


How do I stay across the issue broadly? I want to track what’s being said around vaccinations in Australia.

Isentia has a number of Daily Briefing options available, from daily weekdays, or 7 days a week coverage or a weekly subscription. This round up of key news, collated by an expert editor provides a snapshot of coverage relating to the vaccination, so you are fully informed. This serves as a tool for tactical response on a day to day basis, and helps you manage your response to a story that is constantly developing and changing rapidly. With the Daily COVID Vaccination Briefing, we make sure you haven’t missed any key stories, and will help you digest the key information as quickly as possible so that you are fully prepared for the day ahead.


I need to communicate with non-English audiences around the vaccination. How can I gain trust and confirm that my message is being heard?

At Isentia, we have a CALD media monitoring service which monitors non-English print publications along with online sources. We can also analyse the effectiveness of your communications through media analysis, and identify any misinformation and ensure your messages are getting traction.


To learn more or to speak to a consultant, get in touch today.

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As communications professionals look toward 2026 planning sessions, one question dominates the conversation - How can we use AI in a safe, scalable, and sustainable way?

Behind this question often lies the hope for an "AI easy button"—a one-click solution for complex measurement challenges. However, as discussed in our recent APAC webinar, the real opportunity lies not in automating old metrics, but in architecting a smarter era of measurement.

Hosted by Russ Horell, Isentia’s Chief Revenue Officer for APAC, the session featured deep dives from two industry leaders who've contributed immensely to research and planning: Ngaire Crawford (Director of Insights, ANZ) and Prashant Saxena (VP of Research and Insights, SEA). Together, they unpacked the transition from using insights and converting them into strategic, measurable storytelling.

Here are the key takeaways from the discussion.

1. From experimentation to transparency

If 2024 and 2025 were the years of "playing in the sandbox," 2026 is set to be the year of transparency.

Ngaire Crawford emphasized that while AI is incredible at summarising data and recognising patterns, it does not automatically generate insight. As we integrate these tools, the focus must shift to methodological integrity—understanding the source data, the structure, and the limitations of the models we use.

"Models are really good pattern finders. But they don't necessarily set what good looks like, or understand the consequences of being wrong. And the antidote to that is always going to be good design." – Ngaire Crawford

2. "More data, better insight" is the misconception

A major misconception remains that feeding AI endless amounts of data will naturally result in better answers. In reality, without the right framework, more data often just creates more noise.

Prashant Saxena warns against the "sameness" that AI can generate. If everyone uses the same models on the same big data sets without specific objectives, they will get similar, generic answers. The role of the insights professional is evolving from descriptive reporting to strategic storytelling—using judgment to break through the "echo chamber" of AI validation.

3. Kill, keep, create: redefining our metrics

The panelists played a game of "keep, kill, create" to determine the future of measurement metrics.

  • Kill: The panel was unanimous in moving away from vanity metrics. Ngaire called for the end of Cumulative Reach, noting it is a biased metric that offers no context. Prashant agreed, suggesting that AVEs (Advertising Value Equivalents) need to be finally left behind.
  • Keep: Share of Voice remains useful as a foundational benchmark (a "census" of market presence), provided it is redefined to measure the share of a specific idea or perception rather than just volume
  • Create: The future lies in Authenticity Metrics. Prashant argued that while reputation is a downstream outcome, authenticity is the upstream outcome that drives it.

"Authenticity is more upstream, as reputation and trust are more downstream... That's an authentic ritual on a day-to-day basis, which leads to reputation." – Prashant Saxena

4. The "home field advantage" for communicators

Despite the technical buzz surrounding AI, the panel argued that communications professionals hold a distinct advantage. "Prompt engineering" is, at its core, a language and communication skill.

The future doesn't necessarily belong to the most technical users, but to the most articulate—those who can clearly define an outcome, ask the right questions, and deconstruct language to get the best result from a model.

Trust your judgment

As we move into 2026, the advice from our experts is to not let AI replace your strategic point of view.

  • Have an opinion: Don't wait for metrics to be imposed on you. Go into conversations knowing what you want to measure and why.
  • Pause before you prompt: As Prashant advised, "Paper before a chatbot.". Define your strategy and objectives on paper, using your human experience and judgment, before turning to AI to execute the work.

By combining the speed of AI with the nuance of human strategy, communicators can finally build the sophisticated measurement systems they have always wanted.


Interested in viewing the whole recording? Watch our webinar here.

Alternatively, contact our team to learn more insights into meaningful measurement, KPIs and communicating using the right dataset.

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Blog
Key takeaways from the Future of Measurement webinar

Our recent webinar explores what the future of measurement in 2026 looks like and what brands must do to scale in this AI era.

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The media landscape is accelerating. In an era where influence is ephemeral and every angle demands instant comprehension, PR and communications professionals require more than generic technology—they need intelligence engineered for their specific challenges.

Isentia is proud to introduce Lumina, a groundbreaking suite of intelligent AI tools. Lumina has been trained from the ground up on the complex workflows and realities of modern communications and public affairs. It is explicitly designed to shift professionals from passive media monitoring back into the role of strategic leaders and pacesetters. 

“The PR, Comms and Public Affairs sectors have been experimenting with AI, but most tools have not been built with their real challenges in mind.” said Joanna Arnold, CEO of Pulsar Group

“Lumina is different; it is the first intelligence suite designed around how narratives actually form today, combining human credibility signals with machine-level analysis. It helps teams understand how stories evolve, filter out noise and respond with context and confidence to crises and opportunities.”

Setting a new standard for PR intelligence

Lumina is centered on empowering, not replacing, the human element of communications strategy. This suite is purpose-built to help PR, Comms, and Public Affairs professionals significantly improve productivity, enhance message clarity, and facilitate early risk detection.

Lumina enables communicators to:

  • Understand & Interpret: Move beyond basic alerts to strategically map the trajectory and spread of narrative evolution.
  • Focus & Personalise: Achieve the clarity necessary to execute strategic action before critical moments pass.
  • Execute & Monitor: Rapidly deploy strategy firmly rooted in real-time, actionable insight.

Get a demo today: Stories & Perspectives module

We are launching the Lumina suite by making our first module immediately available: Stories & Perspectives.

In the current fragmented, multi-channel media environment, communications professionals need to be able to instantly perceive not just how a story is growing, but also how it is being perceived across different stakeholder groups.

Stories & Perspectives organizes raw media mentions into clustered, cohesive Stories, and the Perspectives that exist within each, reflecting distinct media, audience, and public affairs angles. This unique functionality allows users to:

  • Rise above the noise: Instantly identify which high-level topics are gaining momentum or fading from attention.
  • Get to the detail, fast: Uncover the influential voices, niche communities, and specific channels actively shaping the narrative.
  • Catch the pivot point: Precisely identify the moment a story shifts—from a strategic opportunity to a reputation risk—or when a new key opinion former begins guiding the conversation.

"Media isn’t a stream of mentions," said Kyle Lindsay, Head of Product at Pulsar Group. "But rather a living system of stories shaped by competing perspectives. When you can see those structures clearly, you gain the ability to understand issues as they form, anticipate how they’ll evolve, and act with precision. That’s what we mean when we talk about AI built for communicators, and that's what an off-the-shelf LLM can't give you."

The Lumina Roadmap: AI tools for the future of comms

The launch of Stories & Perspectives is the first release of many. Over the upcoming months, we will systematically roll out the full Lumina roadmap, introducing a comprehensive set of AI tools engineered to handle every phase of the communications lifecycle.

The full Lumina suite will soon incorporate:

  • Curated media summaries: AI-driven daily summaries customized specifically to the priorities of senior leadership, highlighting only the most relevant stories.
  • Reputation analysis: Advanced measurement tracking how critical themes like ethics, innovation, and leadership are statistically shaping corporate perception.
  • Press release & media relations assistant: Tools designed to accelerate content creation and craft hyper-focused, personalized pitches that reach the precise contacts faster.
  • Predictive intelligence layer: Technology engineered to track and anticipate story momentum and strategic change before the window of opportunity closes.
  • Intelligent agents: Background agents continuously scanning all media channels for emerging key spokespeople and previously undetected reputation risks.
  • Enhanced audio, broadcast & crisis detection: Complete, real-time oversight of all channels—including audio and broadcast—enabling rapid context building and optimal crisis response delivery.


Want to harness the power of Lumina AI for your PR, Comms, or Public Affairs team? .

Complete the form below to register your interest.

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Blog
Announcing Lumina: The purpose-built AI suite for PR, Comms, and Public Affairs

An intelligent suite of AI tools trained on the language, workflows, and realities of modern public relations and communications.

Ready to get started?

Get in touch or request a demo.