Introduction:

Covid 19 is definitely always will be a breaking and yet controversial topic throughout history.

Although this pandemic causes lots of negative effects like social distancing, slow economy,

and so on. However, in my opinion Covid also a test to see how good is the national spirit of

each country. In order to win this deadly virus, we need everyone in society to support each

other physically yet mentally. This is also the message that Zalo want to give it in the ‘Digital

Pioneer in Pandemic Prevention’ campaign. Let us analyze this campaign to understand the

communication theories.

Body:

Covid situation in Vietnam:

Currently, Vietnam is going through the fourth wave of Covid pandemic. Based on the number

of cases emerge each region (Figure 1), many experts claimed that this time the pandemic is

getting more deadly than the previous attempts. However, we cannot deny that Vietnam

governments are doing a great job in controlling the situation proved by tracking and locking

down policies each of Covid outbreak both victims and locations (Figure 2).
Figure 1: Regional breakdown of coronavirus COVID-19 cases in Vietnam as of May 9, 2021 by

Statista, 2021.
 Figure 2: Dimensions of policy effectiveness in Vietnam case by Kris Hartley, 2021.

Case study background info:

To support the government during Covid crisis, Zalo had launched a non-profit campaign called

‘Digital Pioneer in Pandemic Prevention’ in 2020 (WARC 2020). The goal of this campaign is

Zalo becoming a trustworthy and reliable brand in providing the accurate info about Covid-19.

As for the audiences, its targeted on those people who do not have opportunity to access media

yet do not know where to find the trust source about Covid. They also invented a Zalo chat box

to help tracking and finding easily.

Theoretical framework:

Overall, the campaign is successful, however in my perceptive it has less impact on society

due to they only target on those do not have access to media channels, but what about those

who have? This is also my creative idea for this campaign and I will explain how it works by

explaining two communication theories: Agenda setting and two step flow theory.

Agenda setting:

Definition:

Maxwell McCombs and Donald L. Shaw conducted this theory to define what order in the news.

The needs of which news starts things out and afterward the following are set by the media as

shown by how individuals think and how much impact will it have among the crowd. Toshio

Takeshita (2006) had claimed that agenda setting has assumed a significant part in principle

working in mass correspondence examination, and it keeps on doing. This exploration custom is

as yet worth passing along.

Features:
• The first level: Researchers used to examine media utilization and its destinations or the

effects that media makes on individuals and the most proximal idea that individuals will have on

the openness to the data given by media house (Communication theory).

• The second level: Media will not tell you but make you think about which particular issue it

addressed. Thus, the key concept at this level is gatekeeping. Gatekeeping handles and has

control of the choice of content examined in the media (Communication theory). For example,

with Covid 19 in Vietnam what do you the government is doing a superb job in stopping Covid.

This simple question can show us the spirit of community, or is love and share emotion.

Two-step flow theory:

Definition:

It is introduced in the book called “The people’s choice: How the voter decides in a presidential

campaign. New York: Columbia University Press” by Austrian Paul Lazarsfeld and Americans

Bernard Berelson and Hazel Gaudet. In fact, they wanted to discover whether the mass media

messages influence directly the decision of voting in the campaign among people.

Features:

Based on the result of the campaign, Paul claimed that ‘the flow of media messages from radio

and print to opinion leaders and then the leaders lead the messages to lesser active users in the

population’ (Communication theory, para 5). For instance, the Vietnam government share Covid

info on some social media platforms. Normal people know where to find reliable sources proved

that they totally believe in their leader.Definition:

This theory is conducted by Maxwell McCombs and Donald L. Shaw to
define what order in the news. The needs of which news starts things out
and afterward the following are set by the media as indicated by how
individuals think and how much impact will it have among the crowd.
Toshio Takeshita (2006) had claimed that agenda setting has assumed a
significant part in principle working in mass correspondence
examination, and it keeps on doing as such. This exploration custom is
as yet worth passing along.
Features:
The first level: Researchers use to examine media utilizations and its
destinations or the impacts that media makes on individuals and the most
proximal idea that individuals will have on the openness to the data
given by media house (Communication theory).
The second level: Media will not tell you but make you think on which
particular issue it addressed. Thus, the main concept in this level is
gatekeeping. Gatekeeping is responsible for and has control of the
choice of content examined in the media (Communication theory). For
example, with Covid 19 in Vietnam what do you the government is
doing a great job in stopping Covid. This simple question can show us
the spirit of community, or in other word is love and share emotion.
Covid situation in Vietnam:

Currently, Vietnam is going through the fourth wave of Covid

pandemic. Based on the number of cases emerge each region (Figure 1),
many experts claimed that this time the pandemic is getting more deadly
than the previous attempts. However, we cannot deny that Vietnam
governments are doing a great job in controlling the situation proved by
tracking and locking down policies each of Covid outbreak both victims
and locations (Figure 2).
Figure 1: Regional breakdown of coronavirus COVID-19 cases in
Vietnam as of May 9, 2021 by Statista, 2021.
Figure 2: Dimensions of policy effectiveness in Vietnam case by Kris
Hartley, 2021.
Two step flow theory:

Definition:
It is introduced in the book called “The people’s choice: How the voter
makes up his mind in a presidential campaign. New York: Columbia
University Press” by Austrian Paul Lazarsfeld and Americans Bernard
Berelson and Hazel Gaudet. In fact, they wanted to discover whether the
mass media messages influence directly in decision voting in the
campaign among people.
Features:
Based on the result of the campaign, Paul claimed that ‘the flow of
media messages from radio and print to opinion leaders and then the
leaders lead the messages to lesser active users in the population’
(Communication theory, para 5). For instance, Vietnam government
share Covid info on some of social media platforms. Normal people
know where to find reliable source proved that they totally believe in
their leader.
Analysis:

Covid situation in Vietnam:

Currently, Vietnam is going through the fourth wave of Covid pandemic. Based on the number

of cases emerge each region (Figure 1), many experts claimed that this time the pandemic is

getting more deadly than the previous attempts. However, we cannot deny that Vietnam
governments are doing a magnificent job in controlling the situation proved by tracking and

locking down policies each of Covid outbreak both victims and locations (Figure 2).

Figure 1: Regional breakdown of coronavirus COVID-19 cases in Vietnam as of May 9, 2021 by

Statista, 2021.
 Figure 2: Dimensions of policy effectiveness in Vietnam case by Kris Hartley, 2021.

Visual analysis:

At first when looking into the name of campaign, people might be felt a little confused about

what is exactly digital pioneer mean but it changed when they went through the video campaign.

The length of the video is approximately 3 minutes and has 3 main contents: Intro Covid, how

Vietnam become successful in preventing Covid pandemic and Zalo plays a minor role in

establishing this incredible achievement, lastly is the campaign evaluation. With this order, we

can see clearly this campaign is logical. In the first part, a short moment to show how deadly

virus by displaying the number of victims over 30 million people yet over 215 affected countries.

Although Covid has caused a great impact on almost fields, some countries that made an

outstanding job in stopping Covid. And Vietnam is an example of successful model in defending

the pandemic according to the video. To prove this true, they showcased a lot of strict methods

in the beginning likes isolating immediately the suspected infected areas then spraying
disinfectant, and after that examining each person in turn. As a result, WHO had praised

Vietnam in managing Covid (Vietnam news 2021). Let move on to the next part. Surprisingly,

Zalo also contributed a little in this achievement by collaborating with Vietnam government in

the first wave of Covid. Thus, the dominant color that represented the brand is blue combine

with the serious music tone, it announced people that Covid not a personal issue but a global

issue that needs the support of each individual in the society. While blue means the sea and the

sky, it is also the color of trustworthy, dependable, and committed (Smith 2019). Funny this is

also a way of Zalo to tell people that it is a trusted info source and a dedicated brand in

Vietnam. To help the government, Zalo had designed a chatbot, online events, Zalo stickers and

more motivated video for all Zalo users (Figure 3).

Figure 3: A screen shot from the Zalo Digital Pioneer in Pandemic preventing Campaign by

WARC 2020 (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n3LX93L9ngYX4kkkLlrh547MUKyqtDz3/view).

And I assumed that Zalo also cooperate with the Bluezone app since it has seen that in the

video, which is the suitable way to apply the agenda setting theory. The process may be like
first the government will send the news on the Bluezone and from that they also transfer to Zalo

due to there are some groups of people who do not use the Bluezone but they used social

media platform as the main source of finding information. Also, the Zalo Official Account (Zalo

OA) of the Vietnamese Ministry of Health consistently refreshes the amount and area of

instances of contamination. It likewise permits all clients to effectively check for sickness

manifestations to make wellbeing assertions or for close by clinical focuses to direct tests. With

this, the range of people engaged in this campaign will expand and, according to the result 63

million people engage.

During the video, Zalo also illustrated the uses of each application like the Zalo event- an online

event helping limit the crowd to still enjoy the special event such as birthday, marriage, and

many more without going outside. Or the Zalo sticker which is one of the most favorite part in

the campaign by using a lot of animated cartoon images to spear the message: Washing hands,

Wearing masks. The reason why Zalso use these stickers is easy to educate people, especially

the young generation. As for the Anti-pandemic team, they created a lot of motivating videos

(Figure 4). For example, Covid victims are grateful for the hardworking of all doctors.
 Figure 4: A screen shot from the Zalo Digital Pioneer in Pandemic preventing Campaign by

WARC 2020 (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n3LX93L9ngYX4kkkLlrh547MUKyqtDz3/view).

Ultimately, with these creative ideas this campaign no doubt is the most non-profit social impact

ranked by the MMA Smarties Awards (419.vn).

Case study background info:

To support the government during Covid crisis, Zalo had launched a non-profit campaign called

‘Digital Pioneer in Pandemic Prevention’ in 2020 (WARC 2020). The goal of this campaign is

Zalo becoming a trustworthy and reliable brand in providing the accurate info about Covid-19.

As for the audiences, its targeted on those people who do not have opportunity to access media

yet do not know where to find the trust source about Covid. They also invented a Zalo chat box

to help tracking and finding easily.

Content Analysis:
To support the government during Covid crisis, Zalo had launched a non-profit campaign called

‘Digital Pioneer in Pandemic Prevention’ in 2020 (WARC 2020). The goal of this campaign is

Zalo becoming a trustworthy and reliable brand in providing the accurate info about Covid-19.

As for the audiences, its targeted on those people who do not have opportunity to access media

yet do not know where to find the trust source about Covid. They also invented a Zalo chat box

to help tracking and finding easily. In the end, this campaign is a bespoke arrangement that was

imagined wholeheartedly to add to the battle against Covid-19. All through the troublesome time

when the pandemic spread and caused genuine harm, Zalo with the upside of innovation and

an amazing stage, guaranteed a steady and helpful association for day-by-day correspondence,

just as bona fide data about the sickness for clients.

Honestly, during the video we can see that the content is always connect to the topic and the

message. To make it more specific, we will analyze the letters, the translate caption. If the

background color is blue, the letters are white to grab attention the viewers. And each of

creative ideas they also use bullet point to help the audience easily understand the features yet

benefits of each application. For example, the chatbot prevents the fake news and produce the

location of each suspected infected victims. As for the caption is helping the people who do not

know about English like the elder generation due to the speaker is talking in English. Besides

the letters are usually encourage words like ‘Cố lên Việt Nam ơi’ (Figure 5).
 Figure 5: A screen shot from the Zalo Digital Pioneer in Pandemic preventing Campaign by

WARC 2020 (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n3LX93L9ngYX4kkkLlrh547MUKyqtDz3/view).

Visual analysis:

At first when looking into the name of campaign, I felt a little confused about what is exactly

digital pioneer mean but it changed when I went through the video campaign. The length of the

video is approximately 3 minutes and has 3 main contents: Intro Covid, how Vietnam become

successful in preventing Covid pandemic and Zalo plays a small role in establishing this

incredible achievement, lastly is the campaign evaluation. With this order, we can see clearly

this campaign is logical. In the first part, a short moment to show how deadly virus by displaying

the number of victims more than 30 million people yet more than 215 affected countries.

Although Covid has caused a great impact on almost fields, some countries that made an

outstanding job in stopping Covid. And Vietnam is an example of successful model in defending

the pandemic according to the video. To prove this true, they showcased a lot of strict method in

beginning likes isolating immediately the suspected infected areas then spraying disinfectant,
and after that examining each person in turn. As a result, Vietnam has been praised by WHO

(Vietnam news 2021). Let move on to the next part. Surprisingly, Zalo also contributed a little in

this achievement by collaborating with Vietnam government in the first wave of Covid. Thus, the

dominant color that represent the brand is blue combine with the serious music tone,

consequently, it announced people that Covid not a personal issue but a global issue that needs

the support of each individual in the society. While blue means the sea and the sky, it is also the

color of trustworthy, dependable, and committed (Smith 2019). Funny this is also a way of Zalo

to tell people that it is a trusted info source and a dedicated brand in Vietnam. To help the

government, Zalo had designed a chatbot, online events, Zalo stickers and more motivated

video for all Zalo users (Figure 3).

Figure 3: A screen shot from the Zalo Digital Pioneer in Pandemic preventing Campaign by

WARC 2020.

And I assumed that Zalo also cooperate with the Bluezone app since I have seen that in the

video, which is the suitable way to apply the agenda setting theory. The process may be like
first the government will send the news on the Bluezone and from that they also transfer to Zalo

due to there are some groups of people do not use the Bluezone but they used social media

platform as the main source of finding information. With this the range of people engaged in this

campaign will expand and, according to the result 63 million people engage. During the video,

Zalo also illustrated the uses of each application like the Zalo event- an online event helping

limit the crowd to still enjoy the special event such as birthday, marriage, and so no without

going outside. Or the Zalo sticker which is one of the most favorite part in the campaign by

using a lot of animated cartoon images to spear the message: Washing hands, Wearing masks.

The reason why Zalso use these stickers is easy to educate people especially the young

generation. As for the Anti-pandemic team, they created a lot of motivating videos (Figure 4).

Figure 4: A screen shot from the Zalo Digital Pioneer in Pandemic preventing Campaign by

WARC 2020.

Ultimately, with these creative ideas this campaign no doubt is the most non-profit social impact

ranked by the MMA Smarties Awards (419.vn).

Content Analysis:

Honestly, during the video we can see that the content is always connect to the topic and the

message. To make it more specific, we will analyze the letters, the translate caption. If the

background color is blue, the letters are white to grab attention the viewers. And each of

creative ideas they also use bullet point to help the audience easily understand the features yet

benefits of each application. For example, the chatbot prevents the fake news and produce the

location of each suspected infected victims. As for the caption is helping the people who do not

know about English like the elder generation due to the speaker is talking in English. Besides

the letters are usually encourage words like ‘Cố lên Việt Nam ơi’ (Figure 5).

Figure 5: A screen shot from the Zalo Digital Pioneer in Pandemic preventing Campaign by

WARC 2020.

Conclusion:
In summary, the thesis statement has been discussed through the theoretical framework and
analysis. Each section has explained the definition and the way to apply the theories by showing
examples. Thus, all of new application Zalo created have linked to the message like for the
chatbot is to communicate with other, to have knowledge about Covid situation nowadays.
Chatbot is for finding information, whereas other applications are for the community. In addition,
with the Zalo events users can still enjoy happiness in some special events without going
outside and Zalo stickers to spear the message: Stay home safe, washing hands and wearing
masks. Moreover, the engagement activities help show us the love and share in the pandemic
moment. As a result, the campaign has been rewarded by Vietnam government in collaborating
to defend against the virus by having nearly 1.5 million users use Zalo events and 70,000
images shared on Zalo in engagement activities. Not only this campaign has effect on society
but also on the brand awareness. The monthly calls on Zalo increased 21%, while the group
message raised on 26% during the Covid period. This demonstrates how clients exceptionally
appreciate and influence Zalo as a reliable informing application. This is a genuinely extremely
valuable present for Zalo.

Reference: