When Covid-19 crashed onto UK shores in early 2020, the last worldwide pandemic had been 100 years before. People were understandably, and rightly, frightened by the potential threat as rumours circulated about this deadly disease.

“The degree of alarm in February, March … it wasn’t clear at that time who it affected,” recalls Tom Knox, MullenLowe UK chairman and long-standing member of the Covid response team. “It was quite broad … people were pretty scared. It was clearly infectious.”

Amid the hysteria, a small team from MullenLowe got to work, producing comms that would help navigate the UK through this unprecedented event, from the initial hand-washing campaigns to the final booster jabs. While the general public locked down, the London agency worked alongside MG OMD, Freuds, 23 Red and MMC, working from a Covid response hub in the cabinet office.