Illinois Mask Campaign: Data-Driven Approach to Public Health

A noteworthy example of effective and health-conscious ad targeting is currently underway in Illinois. The state government, in an effort to promote mask usage, is directing its digital advertising budget toward counties experiencing the greatest COVID-19 risk levels.

This initiative is being carried out in collaboration with Civis Analytics, a data science firm established by Dan Wagner, who formerly served as the chief analytics officer for Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection effort. The campaign began in August, and the state is now releasing further details regarding its methodology, including a map illustrating the weekly risk assessments used to guide ad placement.

Crystal Son, Civis’ director of healthcare analytics, explained that her team compiles the most recent county-level COVID-19 data each week for Governor J.B. Pritzker’s office. This data is then utilized to determine the optimal allocation of advertising funds for the “It Only Works If You Wear It” campaign.

Cameron Mock, chief of staff at the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget, stated that the government is employing “a unique formula to focus media investments in areas facing the highest levels of risk.”

Mock further elaborated, “This risk-based formula considers trends in case numbers and population mobility at the county level to categorize counties as high, medium, or low risk. It then proportionally allocates funding, directing the largest share of resources to the highest-risk regions.”

Counties are categorized into five tiers, with Tier 1 representing the highest risk and Tier 5 the lowest. While Tiers 4 and 5 still receive a minimum level of advertising expenditure, Tier 3 counties experience increased spending, and Tiers 1 and 2 receive the maximum allocation.

Although the mask campaign encompasses various advertising channels, this formula is currently applied solely to digital advertising due to the difficulty of making weekly adjustments to funding for traditional media outlets.

“Each county faces distinct and evolving circumstances related to the virus, so we developed this campaign to be responsive to the real-time situation in all 102 Illinois counties,” said Alex Hanns, deputy press secretary to Governor Pritzker, in a statement. “As an area’s risk level increases, the intensity of public health messaging will also increase. As the pandemic persists and the possibility of another surge arises, the state of Illinois will continue to prioritize scientific guidance and data analysis to safeguard our citizens.”

Son noted that she is unaware of any other COVID-19 response campaign utilizing a comparable model to prioritize spending in areas with the greatest risk. Regarding its effectiveness, while this data does not directly measure the impact of the campaign itself, data from Carnegie Mellon University indicates that 89% of Illinois residents consistently wear masks – currently the 15th-highest rate nationwide.

Looking ahead, Son expressed optimism that other organizations will embrace “a more personalized communications strategy” within the healthcare sector.

“Healthcare often defaults to treating populations as uniform, assuming everyone behaves and thinks alike,” she explained. “More tailored approaches have broad applications extending beyond mask-wearing.”