A little push

And...I'm back! After a month of summer school and an ulcer, I'm back to actual life. Yay!

In my effort to get back on track, I've picked out three books to read via GoodReads.

See?

I'm most excited about Nudge for a few reasons. In my Health Campaigns class this summer we spent a lot of time working on getting people to make healthier choices. Fact is, most people dont-even when presented with education and information out the wazoo.

I'll remind you that baby carrots started flying out of vending machines in high schools not because of some PSA touting their benefits but because the choice buying baby carrots was made fun, interesting, and easy.

Nudge talks about "choice architects". These "choice architects" are a hybrid of public health know-how, consumer insights, clear communication, design, and results oriented thinking. Any of you that know me even a little know that I love all of these things. I've been searching for a term for what I am interested in and like to do. And this is almost it (I would like it to be a real job that I could get paid for).

These choice architects may just be the key to seeing some public health wins in advertising and marketing spaces. Look for a post on Nudge and it's implications in the coming weeks.

Summer reading time just needed a little freedom and a little push.

Magnets and Polar Opposites

For the past 4 days I've been in Utah, hiking in Arches National Park. On the drive from Salt Lake City to Moab, UT, I noticed more public health billboards than anywhere I've been before. There was one for breast cancer, one for colonoscopy, and one for stroke.

The campaign for stroke caught my attention because it was everywhere. There was a story about an unlikely stroke victim on the local evening news, radio ads, tv ads, magnets, and brochures, and billboards every 2-3 miles in between Salt Lake airport and Provo.

If you visit the Utah Department of Health "Heart Highway" website, you'll find a comprehensive overview of the signs of stroke, testimonials, and action items. Yay for effective, clear communication through different channels!

But, you'll notice the stroke campaign does not address the racial/ethnic/socioeconomic disparities in stroke recognition and care put forth by the American Heart Association. The brochures for the Heart Highway campaign are available in Spanish, but addressing health disparities goes far beyond language barriers.

"...Factors that impact these disparities range from economic and social issues to cultural and language barriers. In addition, attitudes, beliefs and compliance among populations differ and the perceived or true presence of racial bias within the healthcare system can negatively impact a patient's compliance with a healthcare provider's advice, medications or treatment" according to the article.

To reach those who are out of the mainstream health care system, public health advertisers must look beyond mainstream media. Billboards not on bus routes, radio ads during traditional drive time, and posters in public health facilities are preaching to the choir.

Little progress has been made in reducing the health disparities of under served populations. With all the money poured into public health campaigns, we have to ask how effective they are if those that need the education the most remain disproportionally sick?

It seems that whatever public health marketers are doing isn't working, enough. Billboards, posters, and TV ads are reaching those with access to the realm of healthcare not those with no connection, increasing the health care and education gap.

New strategies are needed, starting with asking those who are dying faster and living sicker, what will keep them well longer. Market research is a long standing tool in advertisers toolboxes;I wonder how many focus groups Utah Department of Health did for disparate populations?

I wonder what we'd learn if we stopped to listen to those we are trying to reach? I bet you they wouldn't say a billboard would help them be healthier. Or a magnet.

Sell me health.

Last night, I sat down with the founder of HealthStart Foundation to begin a deep dive into their communication and messaging strategy. During our discussion about the message and value of HealthStart, the founder said "There are no good foods, or bad foods, there is only fuel for your body. Some foods fuel you better."

Food as fuel. Fuel is food. Brilliant.

You may have noticed that fresh foods (like fruits and vegetables in the produce section) don't have labels. They don't have tiny stickers that say "Antioxidants and Fiber!" or "Now with more more Vitamin D!". Why? Because they don't have to convince anyone that they are healthy. In fact, Dr. Yoni Freedhoff of Weighty Matters says, "Ultimately if a food needs to convince you that it’s healthy, it’s probably not" in his guest blog found here.

The food industry uses nutrition buzz words as a marketing tool. That's no surprise, but marketing to consumers who are seeking healthy products is important. It's important because it has consequences for their wallets and their lives. So, when those health claims are false, it's bad news for consumers and the food industry.

Consumers have little knowledge of what low-fat, Vitamin A, D, or antioxidants actually mean. They just know they sound nutritional. They don't think in terms of how their body uses those nutrients or what those nutrients really mean. "Dr. Brian Wansink that refers to the phenomenon of eating more, liking more, or buying more of an item due to its perceived healthfulness" as the health halo. So, because a pack of Oreo's is labeled as reduced fat, consumers may eat more, like more, and buy more often. Clearly, marketers and the food industry are not educating consumers. They are selling to their want for healthfulness without providing for their need for healthfulness.

So, what if, marketers of foods (fresh and otherwise) started thinking in terms of fuel. What if marketing educated consumers about how their body uses the food they put in it. What if everyone knew your brain needs water to think straight. That soda is a treat. And that a mango helps lower your cholesterol (LDL). Wouldn't that push the food industry to think differently? Wouldn't that cause consumers to think differently?

While food that isn't 100% healthy certainly has it's place (I sort of love ice cream sandwiches). So do educated consumers. So does exceptional marketing. So does fuel for our bodies, not just our stomachs.

Marketing Health Education

She thought her milk was bad. She was told that her milk was so bad, in fact, that if she continued to breast feed children, they would all die. Just like her first baby, because she was cursed. So, since she couldn't breastfeed her newborn for fear of killing him with her curse, she watered down 7-Up, put it in a bottle, and used this weak sugar water to sustain her newborn. As you might guess, this baby died, 5 months later, of severe dehydration and his mother's mis-education.

This is a real story. It is painfully documented in the NY TIMES. This story is representative of a global health education and literacy crisis.

Here, in our own backyard, the same health mis or lack of education is contributing to healthcare costs, mortality, and poor health outcomes. Women misuse birth control because they didn't understand the directions. They didn't understand the directions because they are written at a 10th grade level while they read at the 7th or worse. A baby is fed the wrong medicine, in the wrong way, because the mother was too embarrassed to tell the doctor or pharmacist she didn't understand.

But what do we do? How do we help low health literate populations better understand their care? How do we know who they are? We ask. We provide. We research.

Last week, I presented a research proposal at a symposium to understand how low health literate populations can be marketed to better to improve health outcomes. I'm particularly looking at how OTC products can be positioned to low health literate audiences to eliminate misinformation and replace it with consumable health education that can be spread household to household, peer to peer, community to community. What if products and health services were communicated to educate, not to tell? What if we used treatments and interventions as a way to spread accurate, reliable health information and not perpetuate myths?

If that was the case, maybe there would be no bad milk. Only support. Only education. Only targeted marketing. For good.

Look for more updates on my work soon.

War Damn Eagle!

As I sit here in my Auburn shirt, getting dirty looks from all these UT fans, I feel proud. I didn't go to Auburn, but my sister does, which counts for something. I love, love SEC football, wearing dresses to football games, and getting beer spilled on my pearls. I will not apologize for not caring about UT football. My loyalty will always be to the SEC. Keeping with this SEC pride, I thought I'd give a little shout out to the Alabama Department of Public Health

In a state where 31% of the total population is considered obese and 9% have obesity related diabetes, Alabama is up against some scary statistics in their public health battle. To make matters worse, 15.9% of Alabama residents live below the poverty line, this is compared with the US average of 13.2%.

So, how does the Alabama Department of Public Health start to make gains in making Alabama a state that doesn't lead the nation in obesity, diabetes, and poverty? They start a Facebook page, of course.

By now, it is clear that in order to create awareness of public health crisis and then change those crisis causing behaviors, public health agencies must know their audience. They have to reach them where they are.

The Alabama Department of Public Health Facebook page is rich with content for both information seekers, advocates, and public health professionals. Video and article links enrich the public health agenda of Alabama with relevant and timely updates.

This being said, I doubt the Alabama public health folks think that Facebook will make a huge dent in changing behaviors, but, it does create awareness, give advocates a place to show their support, and create a groundswell of support around specific initiatives. For example, Scale Back Alabama, a state-wide weight loss initiative, has it's own cause page.

Most public health maintained Facebook pages leave something to be desired. They are not frequently updated, the applications are not used efficiently, and they struggle to find relevant, easy to understand content. The Texas Department of Public Health doesn't have a Facebook page, however, the Texas Department of State Health Services does. See? No picture, no consistency of voice, and not content rich/diverse.

Facebook alone can not change the health of Alabama, but, it can be a tiny piece of the strategy to arm advocates and target audience with easy to digest information in an easy to access format.

War Damn Eagle! and Roll Tide! ( I guess)

get rich or die tryin

I'm going to stray from the typical blog post here to explore the idea of million dollar ideas for social good.

This story was featured on This American Life, episode 412 Act 3. I point this episode out for two reasons: 1. I love This American Life and 2. this episode highlights people, ideas, and things that are all striving to be remarkable.

At the threat of higher cigarette taxes, Philip Morris commissioned a study in the Czech Republic. This study was intended to show that smoking Czechs actually saved the government money. Philip Morris asserted that smokers died young, saving the government money on their long-term care. Philip Morris was creating a campaign to show the good side of death, or, the good side of poor health. To quote "because people die early you save money in elderly housing." They created a cost benefit analysis to support their product in an entire country. Good idea. Except, you can't say your product kills people and that their early death is a benefit. It just doesn't sit right.

Of course, this study got found out and Philip Morris had some 'splanin to do. They groveled and apolgized and said the study wasn't authorized, even if the data did support their product.

Then, anti-tobacco groups got a hold of this cost-benefit to society and government idea and ran with it. They came up with the notion that, a smoker's cost to society and their credit to society was about even. What anti-tobacco folks could figure in was the cost-benefit to the individual, which of course wound up in the cost column. No one wants to live 10 years less, and five of those last years are with lung cancer.

These findings, the cost to the individual, are now widely used in lobbying and advertising for anti-tobacco campaigns. And Philip Morris is quiet, while their idea gets used against them.

It's fascinating to think about the talent behind socially destructive products. It's more fascinating to think about what that talent could do behind socially responsible products. Sadly, it seems to be all about the benjamins.

lol. omg. gtfo. rotfl......is it worth it?

I curse AT&T at least once a day for a dropped call. I have gotten irate after I was overcharged on three seperate occasions with no explanation on the other end of the phone. If you ask me what I think of AT&T, I'll tell you they are pretty good. I'll tell you they are pretty because of the fantastic work they are doing on a public safety issue: texting and driving.

AT&T hired BBDO do produce an anti-texting and driving campaign.

This campaign was highlighted in Ad Age.

Texting and driving hasn't gotten me hurt (thank goodness) but did get me hit from behind. Texting and driving has caused me to swerve off the road just a little and be discourtious to other drivers. I don't mean to do these things. Texting has become an addiction for most people, and when fighting an addiction you are fighting a habit, an unconcious behavior.

BBDO and AT&T have collaborated to come up with a campaign that gets your attention. Now, they have to keep pushing to change behavior.