Category: health
CVS (CVS) one of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains, has forged a partnership with Google (GOOG) that enables their customers to import their full prescription history into Google Health, which was launched in May, 2008. Longs Drugs and Walgreens (WAG) also offer customers the ability to import their prescription histories to Google Health. Techcrunch 4/6/09
Dominos (DPZ) franchisees were hit with 11,000 orders on March 30 as part of a ‘mistaken’ free medium-pie promotion that didn't exist. Huh? Supposedly, Dominos agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky devised the online promotion in December using the password "bailout.” The promo was not approved, but no one disabled the code. Last week, a consumer ‘randomly’ typed in the word and triggered the free coupon. AdFreak 4/3/09
Disney (DIS) Online has added to its family-oriented websites with the purchase of the North American properties of Kaboose, Inc. (KAB.TO) for $18 million. Sites included in the deal are AmazingMoms.com, Parentzone.com, FunSchool.com, Zeeks.com, and Kaboose.com. Clickz 4/3/09
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Nielsen’s Healthy Eating Report for 2008 says organic foods accounted for $4.9 billion in sales in 2008, up 16% from the year before, and 132% since 2004, but foods labeled as “natural” generated $22.3 billion in sales in 2008, up 10% from 2007.
Foods targeted to the carb conscious declined 3% to $2 billion in sales in 2008, while foods with antioxidants increased 11% to 1.9 billion in 2008., up 147% since 2004. Also, sales of caffeine free beverages declined 3% in 2008. Nielsen Wire 1/21/09
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Brand prestige will be driven less by premium price in 2009 according to Nielsen’s 2009 Industry Outlook, but the report cautions that focusing on low price won’t provide the results marketers desire. “Marketers should look to emphasize a brand’s value proposition in new and unique ways by linking the value message to the consumer benefit.” In other words, if your brand positioning strategy has gotten a little hazy, this is a good time to re-focus on brand strategy basics.
Nielsen’s 2009 Industry Outlook also predicts that national brands will aggressively fight private label growth with “innovative packaging, unique flavors and additional health and wellness claims.” Nielsen Consumer Insight
New brand positioning from P&G (PG-W) for its troubled Pantene brand touts it “a value buy that's just as good as salon brands, but less expensive.” Adweek 12/01/08.
Campbell Soup Co. (CPB)will sell its V8 juices in more than 15,000 vending machines for the first time in a new 12-ounce bottle as part of a deal with Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. (CCE) Atlanta Business Chronicle 12/03/08.
Nestlé S.A., whose tagline is “Good Food, Good Life,”and positions itself as “the leading nutrition, health and wellness company,” has announced a sports nutrition research program studying the needs of athletes across a wide range of sports. Data from the program will help create “a new generation of sports nutrition products for leading athletes.” The program is under the auspices of Nestlé Nutrition, an independent entity within the Nestlé Group that studies infant nutrition, healthcare nutrition and performance nutrition. From:Nestlé S.A.
Quepasa Corporation (Nasdaq: QPSA) owner of Quepasa.com, says the unique audience for the site grew by 33% from October to more than 1.6 million, according to Alexa traffic data, making it the #2 U.S. based online social community for young Latinos.” Source: Quepasa.com 12/05/08.
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Holiday messaging from many retailers this year is downright pragmatic: Best Buy (BBY) touts reliability and trust, Kohl’s (KSS) talks pricing, Sears (SHLD) and Kmart promote layaway and JCPenney (JCP) advertises price points instead of percentage off. Via AdAge.
Tic Tac hopes their new sugar-free Tic Tac CHILLs will “personalize” and “modernize” the brand, make it stand out in the adult mint category, and appeal to harried Gen Xers looking for a “fresh way to CHILL”. Photo: tictacplaychill.com
Mercedes-Benz USA says the private, online Generation Y-centric community they launched six months ago – Generationbenz.com - has been so successful at generating feedback from members that they plan to launch a site for boomers. Via Brandweek.
Welch’s antioxidant repositioning as the “original SuperFruit” helped the brand to reverse four years of sales declines according to the company. “Super Fruits” are characterized as having high antioxidant levels, such as pomegranates, goji berry, noni, and acai. Via Brandweek.
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CVS Caremark Corp.(CVS) has launched Beauty 360 Washington D.C., a freestanding beauty format offering a wide range of skincare, cosmetics, grooming and fragrance products, along with services including “mini-manicures, express facials, hand massages and makeup.
OfficeMax Inc. (MAX) founder Michael Feuer is launching Max-Wellness, a chain of health and wellness stores. Tampa is home to Publix Supermarket’s third GreenWise Market brand, the company’s organic, all-natural and earth-friendly grocery stores.
Source: Chain Store Age (Requires registration)
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Here's something for healthcare brands to think about:
The increasing cost of medical care, growing numbers of uninsured or underinsured Americans, the global outsourcing of record-keeping and x-rays, the recruitment of doctors and nurses from other countries, and the increasing quality of hospitals in other countries is paving the way for the growth of medical tourism says The Economist. They report that Americans can save as much as 85% by 'shopping around’ for medical care and that the number of Americans traveling for care will grow from 1 million in 2007 to 10 million in 2012, costing American hospitals $160 billion in annual business.
Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG), has teamed up with the Medical Tourism Association, an international, non-profit association made up of the top international hospitals, insurance companies, healchcare companies, medical tourism companies, etc., to launch an initiative to offer medical-related travel into Latin America. Expect more of these partnerships as costs mount in the US and interest grows in cost effective alternatives.
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According to consumer research company, Yankelovich, African American attitudes about health are shaped by 3 key influences:
Fatalism – a belief that one must “let go and let God”
Curative vs. Preventive Mindset – a tendency to focus on cures after a health problem has developed, rather than preventive measures before it occurs
Holistic Approach – Use of alternative, home and natural cures for illnesses and injuries.
Yankelovich advises health marketers, and advertisers who want to communicate effectively with African Americans, to understand that “the health disparities between African Americans and other groups are real, and the roots lie in unique cultural characteristics and attitudinal differences rather than in any biologic or genetic factors.”
To be successful marketers must ensure they understand their audience (key for any communications strategy), tap into African Americans’ social networks, and understand the reasons behind African American attitudes about health so they can specifically address them.
Source: Yankelovich MONITOR Minute Flash
Ketchum Research Network has released the highlights of proprietary research that studied 4,000+ consumers to learn about health decision-making, motivations influences and links to demographic factors. The findings included the identification of five population segments. An excerpt from the Ketchum press release is below:
Health sharers, who make up one-fourth of the U.S. population, give and take health information from a variety of sources, especially friends and family. They are knowledgeable about health topics and proactive in doing a range of activities to improve their own health. Sharers are also enjoying time with friends and participating in their communities. Despite this proactive spirit, obesity remains a top issue faced by health sharers.
Health isolates, who comprise 12% of the population, do not actively seek or share health information and place little importance on looking good and eating low-fat foods. While this group is one of the least likely to seek information from doctors, this group is more likely than other segments to cite a pharmacist as a top source on information on health conditions.
Despite the fact that health traditionalists, who make up 14% of the population, seek out health information and advice, specifically from health professionals, they pay minimal attention to being physically fit and looking good.
While health elites, the 16% of the population who give but don’t take health advice are the most educated about healthcare, they are among the least likely to listen to healthcare professionals. Individuals from this segment are self-motivated and place a great deal of maintaining a healthy weight and exercising regularly.
One in three Americans is health neutral, meaning that health and wellness are not driving influences in their lives. As both the largest and the youngest of the five population segments, they are the least likely to visit a primary care physician at least once a year.
Sources:
“Research Shows Changing Role of Influencers in Consumer Health Decisions”, Ketchum
I learned about Innocent Drinks in a recent post by Mack Collier on Viral Garden. The UK beverage company manufactures ‘Natural Drinks That Taste Good and Do You Good” --- aka smoothies made from 100% natural fruits and “traditional/homemade recipes."
The highly successful Innocent Drinks sells $2 million smoothies per week across Europe, building a 72% market share in the 8 years since they were founded in 1999. The brand is infused with curiosity, fun, and compassion, contributing 10% of their sales to charitable organizations.
One popular public relations program, “The Big Knit,” enlisted people to knit tiny caps which were placed on bottles of Innocent Drinks. The company then donated a portion of every purchase of a capped bottle to an organization that provided warm clothing to elderly citizens.
The company positioned the program as multi-generational by showing one of their younger employees take knitting lessons – yes, Innocent Drinks actually made knitting cool. In 2007, the campaign went viral across Europe: “…more than 400,000 hats were sent in, while customers posted photos through photo sharing site Flickr and met up through online communities.” The program generated a significant contribution to the charitable organization and resulted in a 100% lift in increased sales.
Click on the video in our left sidebar to highlights of this wonderful program. (If the video isn't visible on this page, you can view it here on YouTube.)
So, what are some of the brand strategies that have contributed to the company’s success?
First and most importantly, Innocent Drinks provides a healthy, good tasting product that focuses on benefits that people are actively seeking. Natural is a key component of their positioning, but it’s a feature of the product that provides a reason to believe/support to the positioning rather than a benefit. In general, benefits resonate more strongly with customers than features because they link the product to customer needs.
‘Green-ness’ is a core value of this company. Many would-be green brands are so focused on telling a ‘green’ story that they forget that ‘greenness’ isn’t, in and of itself, a benefit, no matter how sincere or authentic their brand may be. The smart strategy is to first make sure that you have a product that your target audience wants to buy, and then communicate how being green contributes to its benefits.
It takes the combined efforts of every area in the company to ensure the strategy is a success Everything the company does reflects their vision to leave the world a better place. Their completely natural ingredients, sustainable packaging, carbon neutral energy practices, etc. are authentically green right down to their fruity core.
Success isn’t without its challenges. When Innocent Drinks tested its products in McDonald’s stores in the UK it angered some avid brand users who accused the company of selling out. Company officials assured them that was not the case and provided opportunities for ongoing dialogue, illustrating that the more successful a company is in facilitating a brand’s development; the more engaged they will be with brand followers.
Images: InnocentDrinks.co.uk
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