Why Culturally Tailoring Matters: ‘Mag Vax Tayo’
If you know me, you’ll hear me talk alot about why culturally tailoring is crucial when truly meeting audiences where they are at - especially when building trust and battling misinformation.
As we are well into the winter season, I hope everyone is well and have been able to dodge the illnesses floating around - from the flu to COVID-19 etc.
So I thought this would be the perfect time to refloat Tayo’s PSAs, Mag Vax Tayo series that was released in October.
While it would have been ideal that you already received your annual flu and COVID-19 shots, health experts say it’s not too late if you haven’t had a chance to get one yet.
Since the flu peaks later in the winter, there’s still time to protect yourself and those around you.
Why Culturally Tailor?
At Tayo, we pride ourselves on one of three key pillars - culturally tailoring our content. What do I mean by “culturally tailoring”? It’s a step beyond simply a translation.
It’s literally meeting your audience where they are at.
I learned this first hand during my time at Tayo and why we exist.
If you missed these PSAs the first time around, I present to you 3 culturally tailored videos on vaccine confidence aimed at intergenerational audience segments in the Filipino diaspora.
With each of these, you can see which ones have a certain audience segment in mind and the cultural references and nuances that a translation wouldn’t simply address as clearly – it’s really a nod to, “if you know, you know.”
Tito Boy’s Lesson:
Even the skeptics benefit from timely health decisions.
In this PSA, we address the skepticism around vaccines in the community. Vaccination is everyone’s responsibility.
The Latest Trend:
Influencers aren’t just online—they’re in the family, too.
In this PSA, we lean heavily on the tita or auntie competition.
The best move this season is protecting yourself and your loved ones with up-to-date RSV, COVID, and flu vaccines. Health is true wealth.
Betting on Your Health:
Tita Flor’s tip: betting on your health isn’t a risk worth taking.
In this PSA, we address how everyone plays their part in protecting the community by vaccination and how it’s not as painful as it looks.
Vaccination not only protects individuals but strengthens the whole community’s resilience. It’s bringing immunity to the community.
Maraming Salamat:
Thanks to the Angeles Company’s Meriden and Steve Angeles for their partnership and collaboration along with Tayo team (Medical advisor Dr. Melissa Palma, Technologist Jobel Vecino, Legal Counsel Mark Calaguas, Tayo research team members - Matthew Rodriguez, Hannah Kinzer, Soyu Hong and Tayo fellows Joshua Manlutac and Jasmine Osumo) and Tayo collaborator and CYFAM’s Dr. Angelico Razon.
Thank you to the cast and crew for their work and participation in this important initiative: Rhandy Torres, Joanna Bacalso, Ruby Rodriguez, Valentina Zuma, Arienne Calingo, Regina Solidum, Lyndon Apostol, Elmor C. Garlitos, Everdeen Angeles, Fred Docdocil, Alpha Faye, Emmanuel Munda, Michael "Mac" Cruz, Tim Coto, Celeste Fanco, Mana Afsha, Nathan Quiroga, Roxanne Jacques, Sthanlee B. Mirador and Cebuchon BBQ & Grill’s Max and Cher for feeding our teams.
Additional PSAs:
This is the third vaccine public service announcement campaign Tayo has produced.
In 2021, as part of the “We Can Do This” initiative to promote COVID-19 vaccination, Tayo produced bilingual and dance video PSAs.
The 2022 Tayo fellows cohort worked on a series of Tik Tok videos to encourage getting the COVID-19 booster right before school kicked off in the fall.