2018.wsmconference.co.uk2018.wsmconference.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wsm... · Web viewResearch agency TNS was commissioned by the former Australian National Preventive Health

Healthier. Happier. Using Online Assessment and Digital Support Tools to Facilitate the Reduction of Overweight and Obesity in Queensland

Name of Author Jane Martin

Name of Organisation Queensland Health

Address of Organisation Queensland Health Building

147-163 Charlotte Street, Brisbane Qld 4000

Email [email protected]

Background Information

Rates of obesity in Queensland have been on the rise for many years, doubling between 2001 and 2012. In 2007, obesity overtook tobacco as the leading preventable cause of illness and premature death. On average, life expectancy for obese people is reduced by two to four years—and for the severely obese, eight to 10 years.

Obesity cost the Queensland healthcare system $391 million in 2008. With impacts outside the healthcare system added, it cost Queensland society $11.6 billion. The rates of overweight and obesity are growing and the issue has become more topical. While people are aware it is one of the biggest health issues we are facing, they do not necessarily identify it is an issue for them personally. To begin reversing this trend it is important that the issue of overweight and obesity is recognised on a personal level. Attitudes toward good nutrition, physical activity and healthy weight need to be improved.

Aims and Objectives

In October 2013 the Queensland Department of Health launched a three-year campaign, underpinned by a social marketing strategy, to address the rising rates of overweight and obesity across the state. The Healthier. Happier. campaign aims to stabilise and reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Queensland by targeting three primary audiences. The social marketing campaign is supported by policy, programs and preventative health activities and comprises a range of evidence-based support programs, digital and mass media.

Behavioural Objectives and Target Group

The overall goal of the program is to stabilise and reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Queensland.

Campaign objectives to be meet within the first 12 months of launch:

· Achieve over 100,000 people completing the Health & Fitness Age calculator

· Achieve over 50,000 people downloading the Health & Fitness Age Challenge app

· Achieve over 150,000 unique visitors to the Healthier. Happier. website healthier.qld.gov.au with an average of four pages viewed per session

· Achieve behaviour change in more than 30 per cent of Queenslanders as a result of seeing the campaign and completing the Health & Fitness Age calculator. Desired behaviour changes:

1. Completing a self-assessment of weight and lifestyle.

2. The trial of small lifestyle changes:

· Increase in physical exercise,

· Increased consumption of fruit and vegetables,

· Reduced intake of sugary drinks,

· Reduction of portion sizes.

In order to achieve these objectives, three target groups were identified as being most receptive to messaging and most likely to change:

· At risk (pre-contemplators)

· Overweight (contemplators)

· Obese (contemplators)

Citizen/Customer Orientation

Research agency TNS was commissioned by the former Australian National Preventive Health Agency (ANPHA) to inform the development of the third stage of the federal anti-obesity campaign Measure Up. The research was conducted nationally over three stages (2012–13) comprising a comprehensive literature review, qualitative research and subsequent quantitative research. The qualitative research consisted of 36 ethnographic interviews, 34 affinity group discussions, four online messages boards and 19 affinity paired depth interviews. The quantitative research consisted of 3,242 online surveys. A boost of the Queensland sample (n=953) in the quantitative stage was commissioned by the Queensland Department of Health to provide greater insight to the issue of obesity in the state.

The department then commissioned two rounds of testing to inform the creative development of the campaign. This helped refine the creative concepts to ensure effectiveness before advertising was produced. The overarching social marketing strategy and subsequent Healthier. Happier. campaign was informed by this research.

The Social Offering

Overweight and obesity is an issue for all Queenslanders, young and old. The good news is that through improved nutrition and increased levels of physical activity, overweight and obesity, and its subsequent impacts are largely preventable.

The Healthier. Happier. campaign is positive and inclusive and deliberately avoids focusing on weight or the consequences of weight gain. Instead, the campaign focusses on the fact that everyone can be healthier. Regardless of size, people should take steps to improve their diet and increase physical activity to lead a healthier life and reduce the risk of chronic disease.

Engagement and Exchange

The Healthier. Happier. campaign is an inclusive and supportive program which provides people with simple, fun and cost-effective healthy options which can be incorporated into their existing lives. The strategy for Healthier. Happier. shifts the focus away from size and instead promotes the benefits associated with better health, such as:

· mental—feeling more positive, increased self confidence

· physical—sleeping better, clearer skin, feeling fitter and more energetic.

The rewards are great—a healthier lifestyle with more energy and feeling more comfortable and better about yourself.

Competition Analysis

A mix of formative research, Mosaic geo-demographic profiling, the Alere Wellness Index and Roy Morgan media consumption data was used to understand what competes for the target audiences’ time and attention. Research revealed the perceived costs of leading a healthier lifestyle vary dramatically and include:

· tangible—the time, money and effort it takes to eat healthy and be physically active

· social—missing out on enjoyment and fun (not drinking alcohol or eating fatty foods) in social situations

· psychological—fear of failure and embarrassment when attempting weight loss, and the comfort ‘treat’ food provides

This understanding has informed the development of the campaign and media strategy, ensuring the strategic delivery of messages at critical times.

Segmentation

Segmentation of the market, utilising the Sheth and Frazier model (1982), identified nine groups based on Body Mass Index (BMI) and lifestyle. Of these nine groups, three were selected as targets for the Healthier. Happier. campaign based on their likelihood to change.

· At risk (pre-contemplators) - this audience is currently within a healthy weight range but at risk of becoming overweight / obese in the future.

· Overweight (contemplators) - audience is generally middle-aged and older with positive attitude towards weight loss.

· Obese (contemplators) - this audience is generally middle-aged and older, with more females, with a positive attitude towards weight loss.

Details on all nine segments can be found in the appendix.

Insight

The formative research identified a range of barriers and motivators to weight loss. The most significant barrier, poor knowledge of what is a healthy weight, has provided the starting point for educating Queenslanders about the risks associated with obesity.

Perceptions of body shapes have shifted, with overweight body shapes now considered normal. Obesity is considered a problem for ‘them but not for me’ as my weight and shape is ‘normal’. Friends, family and society are being used as a reference point rather than a quantifiable measure such as BMI.

These are valuable insights—if people generally perceive themselves as being relatively healthy, they are switching off to the messages around nutrition and physical activity because they do not think it applies to them.

Integrated Intervention Mix

Product

The product is the Healthier. Happier. website, an engaging and informative platform which acts as the central campaign hub, hosting all relevant content, messaging and tools in one convenient location. All supporting advertising and communication drives traffic to the Healthier. Happier. website.

Supporting the Healthier. Happier. website is the Health & Fitness Age Challenge app. This e-service provides additional motivation and enhanced engagement with the program.

Price

Costs identified in the market research related to financial, social and psychological cost. These were addressed through:

· Providing simple recipes and advice for healthy, quick and cost effective meals.

· Providing advice on the cost benefits of using in-season or canned/frozen fruit and vegetables.

· Highlighting the benefits of nutrition and physical activity on how you look and feel.

· Avoiding the need for complex planned physical activity, gyms and public exercise by providing mobile programs and assessment tools that can be done at home or at work.

· Providing simple free physical activity options for people to add to their daily routines.

· All services and support are provided free of charge from a credible and trusted source.

Place

The Healthier. Happier. campaign delivers convenient access to advice and support through a variety of tools and services, including:

· The online Health & Fitness Age calculator which is mobile and tablet compatible.

· The Health & Fitness Age Challenge app which can be downloaded to smart phones.

· The Healthier. Happier. website which includes information and advice about nutrition, physical activity and practical tools and support through recipe and exercise videos.

· A free telephone support and coaching service, Get Healthy, that is available 8 am–8 pm Monday–Friday.

Promotion

A key focus for the promotion of Healthier. Happier. is to establish this as relevant for every Queenslander. This separates it from commercial weight-loss products and positions the campaign for Queenslanders who currently have a healthy weight, but poor nutrition and physical activity behaviours.

The campaign is being delivered through various media, including TV, radio, digital and out-of-home. The call-to-action is to visit the website for a self-assessment and further information on where/how to get help. After visiting the website, customers can access information on a range of programs and interventions, including a free phone coaching service, available in their local area to suit their needs.

Co-creation Through Social Markets

Engaging with our target audience on a regular basis has helped inform and shape the development of the Healthier. Happier. campaign. Qualitative and quantitative research has tested existing approaches/messages around obesity, nutrition and physical activity. It also provided direction for the development of campaign messaging, new creative concepts and the development of core campaign features such as the Healthier. Happier. website, Health & Fitness Age calculator and the Health & Fitness Age Challenge app.

Systematic Planning

The overarching social marketing strategy is based on the Transtheoretical model of behaviour change (Prochaska & DiClemente, 1983), and takes a stage-matched approach, targeting interventions to particular stages of change. The priority audiences for the campaign are pre-contemplators and contemplators. Over three years it aims to move consumers through the stages of behaviour change to increase healthy lifestyles and reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity across the state.

However, the campaign also engages consumers in the action and maintenance stage by providing ongoing encouragement, reminders and motivators to ensure they do not regress to earlier stages of change.

Two rounds of concept and market testing were conducted to guide the Healthier. Happier. campaign as well as the development of the Health & Fitness Age calculator app. Concept testing, post campaign evaluations and ongoing data analytics (content, technical, engagement and usability audits) have all feed into the development and ongoing evolution of the campaign and resources.

Results and Learning

The Healthier. Happier. campaign has been very successful to date. As at 7 March 2014, there have been:

· over 460,000 unique visitors to the website with an average of 4.09 page views

· the Health & Fitness Age calculator has been completed over 409,000 times

· the Health & Fitness Age Challenge App has been downloaded over 84,000 times

· 61 per cent prompted recall of the campaign.

Not only has the campaign succeeded in encouraging Queenslanders to perform an honest assessment of their lifestyle, a large portion of people who have completed the calculator have started making healthier changes as a result:

· 48 per cent reported that they had started exercising more and eating more fruit and vegetables.

· 39 per cent reported that they started to drink less alcohol.

· 35 per cent reported that they started to drink less sugary drinks.

Lessons Learned

The campaign has exceeded expectations in driving people to complete the Health & Fitness Age calculator, which was a result of engaging campaign creative and strategic media buy-outs of key transport hubs. This did create an initial issue with server capacity at peak times. To avoid this in the future, an assessment of web readiness, including performance and stress testing will be prepared pre-launch allowing for immediate action if required post launch.

Completing a content, technical, engagement and usability audit of the Healthier. Happier. website has allowed us to further refine the website to achieve greater exposure through organic search. This has ultimately resulted in the most relevant information and resources being served to people when they search for information online.

References

1. Sheth, Jagdish N. and Frazier, Gary L. (1982), "A Model of Strategy Mix Choice for Planned Social Change," Journal of Marketing, 46 (Winter), 15-26

Appendix

Using the Sheth and Frazier model, nine segments were identified as detailed below.

BMI

Underweight = 3%

Normal weight = 35%

Overweight = 30%

Obese =

32%

Segment 1 =3%

Segment 2 = very healthy lifestyle = 12%

Segment 4 = Positive attitude to weight loss = 13%

Segment 7 = Positive attitude to weight loss = 15%

Segment 3 =

Less healthy lifestyle =

23%

Segment 5 = Neutral attitude to weight loss = 12%

Segment 8 = Neutral attitude to weight loss = 12%

Segment 6 = Negative attitude to weight loss = 5%

Segment 9 = Negative attitude to weight loss = 5%

Health & Fitness Age challenge app

Advertising

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