Company: American Heart Association
Agency: Cone
Timeframe: 2007-ongoing
In 2006, 65% of American adults were considered overweight or obese; physical inactivity was cited as a leading risk factor for heart disease and stroke--the number one and three
causes of death for all Americans. Because of this threat, the American Heart Association (AHA) prioritized adult inactivity as a critical issue. However, the organization faced a
significant challenge: several nonprofits, companies and government organizations already had programs addressing this issue that were struggling to effect real change.
To stand out from the clutter, the AHA and PR firm Cone, set out to design an integrated marketing communications campaign that would target Americans and inspire the behavioral
changes required to beat obesity.
The brainchild of the AHA-Cone collaboration was dubbed Start!, an initiative that targets Baby Boomers and implores them to start walking--the activity with the lowest dropout
rate--as a means for living a longer, stronger, healthier life. The team's research suggested that sedentary jobs, longer working hours and technological innovations strongly
contributed to the decline of America's physical state. Consequently, Start! aimed to reach adults through the most appropriate channel--the workplace, where they spend most of their
time.
"Physical inactivity among Americans was one of those initial recommendations from [Cone] that was a critical cause because of the number of Americans who are overweight, obese and
physically inactive," says Robyn Landry, EVP of communications for AHA. "They helped us think through how do we set it apart from other causes, or other initiatives related to
physical activity."
Working collaboratively was key to fleshing out the details of the program. "In that way, [the partnership between Cone and AHA] was different from most engagements," says Kristian
Darigan, VP of cause marketing for Cone. "We had in-person meetings with them [on site at their headquarters in Dallas]. We became a member of their team, and they a member of ours.
We brought marketplace research and strategic cause framework to them--the benchmarks of what's going on and how to apply them."
Putting Their Best Foot Forward
The project team employed a diverse array of marketing/communications tactics, including national and grassroots events, online tools and resources, national advertising, viral e-
mail marketing and e-commerce.
For the strategizing/planning phase, the team conducted intensive primary and secondary research. The premise was to determine the best methods for the AHA to reach and change the
behavior of the Baby Boomer audience. Cone reviewed studies, reports and articles; it also scrutinized raw data of the target demographics that included psychographics and consumption
habits. The findings informed the communication channels used in the Start! Program.
Then, to help Start! break through a crowded marketplace, the team identified, researched and tracked 36 potentially competitive nonprofit, government and corporate programs to
ensure differentiation in marketing/communications tactics.
"One of the distinguishing features of Start! is that it focuses primarily on corporate America, and reaching the consumer through the corporate workplace," says Landry. "There
are a lot of physical activity initiatives out there. Our question was: What do we do to set this one apart? Doing it through the workplace was one of the critical pieces to help
consumers pay attention and look at it in a different way."
To drive development of Start! toward its internal launch in March 2006, Cone facilitated three sessions with members across multiple departments within AHA. Objectives included:
presenting key findings from research; identifying objectives, criteria and audience; developing marketing/communications campaign within a limited budget; identifying a campaign
name, logo and lead messaging; and determining a distribution channel and rollout plan.
Like other complex integrated marketing efforts, the strategies developed for the Start! program were multi-pronged. The team determined its approach should:
-
Encourage companies to reach employees within the workplace by appealing to the desire to lower obesity-related healthcare costs;
-
Conduct outreach to individuals through new media;
-
Promote movement at key market times, such as January (New Year's resolutions) and April (pre-summer fitness season); and,
-
Combine marketing communications outreach efforts to engage individuals.
To attract the attention of both corporate and consumer-focused media, the Start! program was launched in NYC's World Financial Center in January 2007--auspiciously timed for
people to make their New Year's resolutions. Appealing to business press, the CEOs of AHA, fast food franchise Subway and Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca rang the New
York Stock Exchange opening bell and participated in a high-profile press conference.
Consumer press was attracted via appearances by actress Jane Seymour, former football player Jerome Bettis and Subway's Jared Fogle. Individual attendees were engaged through
activity stations, including a treadmill challenge, sneaker detailing, a Start! photo booth, cooking demonstrations by celebrity chef Juan Carlos Cruz, health screenings and branded
giveaways. Media partnerships were established with Family Circle and Parade to guarantee coverage at key push times.
Carpooling On Foot
Leveraging one of AHA's primary fundraising events, the team transformed the American Heart Walk, held annually in more than 600 cities, into the Start! Heart Walk, the grassroots
centerpiece of the initiative. Beyond a simple rebranding, the Walk was reinvigorated to personalize participants' experiences, infuse passion into activities and focus on walking for
fitness in a more substantial way beyond fundraising. The first Start! Walking at Work Day was held on April 25, 2007, and was marked by dozens of local Start! Events, accompanied by
a major media push.
All Start! communications drive participants to a custom Web site--online hub of activity for the program. Operated by corporate sponsor Fitbug, the site provides free access to a
personal fitness-tracking tool that includes daily recommendations, weekly analyses based on the individual registrant's daily activity and diet, and the ability to
compete/collaborate with friends and coworkers.
To further leverage new media to encourage healthy habits, free Start! celebrity-recorded phone messages were available to consumers during key campaign peak periods. Celebrities
such as Wheel of Fortune hostess Vanna White and actress/singer Vanessa Williams, recorded messages.
Raising awareness of the movement via viral buzz was also critical. E-mail invitations to sign up for MyStart! Online were distributed to AHA databases. E-newsletters with tips,
recipes and updates are sent regularly to Start! enrollees.
To further build awareness and raise funds, an e-commerce microsite, http://www.shopstart.org,
was established on the AHA's main site, to sell Start! gear such as T-shirts,
sweatshirts and pedometers
Leading up to and following the launch, TV public service announcements began airing nationally. Paid print ads were also placed in 10,000 gyms in Boston, Philadelphia, New York
and Washington, D.C., to promote the wake-up calls and Web site. In April and September, "Start! This Is The Day" print, radio and TV PSAs were displayed across the U.S., driving to
the Web. Start! has also been featured prominently in the TV advertising of national sponsors Subway and Healthy Choice.
Since its launch in January 2007, Start! has exceeded expectation. More than 43,600 individuals have registered for Start!, walking more than 5.6 million minutes and more than
350,000 miles to date.
PRN
CONTACTS:
Robyn Landry, [email protected]; Kristian Darigan, [email protected]
Activating Communications To Overcome Challenges
For Robyn Landry, executive vice president of communications for the American Heart Association (AHA), one of the main challenges of implementing the Start! program with Cone was
handling the logistics of a New York City launch.
"We felt that NYC was the right place to launch it because of the corporate focus of Start!," she says. "We felt that doing something at the World Financial Center made good sense.
But getting a location that's big enough to accommodate the American Heart Association, the consumers that would attend, our sponsors and media was problematic in January. Of course,
outdoor locations were pretty much ruled out because you just never know what the weather is going to be like in NYC in January."
Thus, when choosing locations for a launch event, it's essential to plan ahead and anticipate potential snags, from inclement weather to challenges in receiving necessary
permits.
Another challenge became clear very early on and had to be considered throughout the effort--that is, steering the program away from invoking scare tactics or guilt as inducements
for consumer participation.
"Although heart disease is the number one killer for most people, many don't take action until it's too late," says Kristian Darigan, vice president of cause marketing for Cone.
"We wanted to position Start! as being a real benefit to people--something that adds value to your life."
The team overcame this hurdle by massaging messaging in all aspects of the integrated campaign to encourage change based on the little things that could be done, rather than to
threaten people that if they didn't take action, they risked death.
Think It Through: Best Practices & Lessons Learned
For other companies wishing to launch a cause initiative, Robyn Landry, executive vice president of communications for the American Heart Association, has these two points to
offer:
-
Partner your company with an agency that has a strong background and expertise in cause marketing. "If this is something that's new to [the company], it's great to have an
agency partner like Cone to help [plot] the strategic elements of it."
-
Focus on what you can do in-house: "Think about what your organization's strengths are--what you need complemented from an agency standpoint. [For instance,] we have a lot of
staff who are great at media pitching, so a good bulk of the pitching for the Start! launch was done by our staff on site here in Dallas; we also have a communications person in New
York."
For Kristian Darigan, VP of cause marketing for Cone, there were three lessons to be learned from working on the development and implementation of the Start! Program:
1. "It's critical to involve the field in the development of the national program that's going to have a heavy grassroots push to expedite adoption and delivery."
2. "It's important to go beyond demographics and tap into personal drivers so you can connect consumers, and by connecting consumers you connect to corporate sponsors."
3. "In building long-term relationships, particularly with this campaign, we knew that it was important to be giving as much as you were getting."