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Ketchum Launches Well-Connected, a New Health and Wellness Specialty
Contact:
Allison Slotnick
+1-646-935-4068
New York, June 11, 2008 -- For marketers of brands trying to claim a stake in the health and wellness market, targeting certain consumers presents challenges, according to “Health Attitudes and Well Connections: A Ketchum Consumer Study,” a proprietary survey conducted by Ketchum Global Research Network. The study, which polled more than 4,000 U.S. consumers, reveals five distinct population segments based upon their health decision-making motivations, influences and links to demographic factors. For example, 46% of the population consists of “health isolates” or “health neutrals” — individuals who do not place a high value on healthy lifestyle choices.
"While these groups tend to skew male and younger, they are an important target for many health and wellness brands,” said Nancy Hicks, Senior Vice President and Associate Director, Ketchum North America Healthcare Practice. “Knowing their health ‘hot buttons’ and how to engage them in health and wellness behaviors is critically important and will enable them to produce truly targeted messaging."
The survey pinpoints that the five clusters — isolates, neutrals, elites, sharers and traditionalists — are driven by divergent motivations and influences that impact today’s consumer-health-related decisions. The research also offers in-depth insights for pinpointing the consumer health messages that will resonate best, determining the places where consumers will be most receptive to those messages, and identifying the channels where consumers will interact and engage most effectively. Together, the findings provide marketers with a more scientific understanding into reaching their target audiences and sharing the health and wellness benefits of their products to the segmented public.
Among the survey’s key findings related to the five clusters:
- 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 more likely than other segments to place an emphasis on 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 of 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 importance on eating nutritious foods, 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.
This proprietary research will provide marketers with the information needed to accurately identify their target audiences, assess consumer health habits, and craft focused health and wellness messages. The study also serves as a key component of Ketchum’s latest specialty offering, Well-Connected, which reaches consumers by incorporating the agency’s proven expertise in health and wellness, influencer relationships, and proprietary research in food and nutrition, healthcare, and branding.
“We’ve been creating successful health and wellness programs for clients for more than four decades, and Well-Connected will take these programs to the next level,” said Ann Moravick, Executive Vice President and Director, Global Healthcare and Brand Advocacy, Ketchum. “With proprietary research to draw from, the Well-Connected offering will truly become a differentiator for clients trying to break into the health and wellness space.”
Along with Moravick and Hicks, Well-Connected will be led by a team of experts including Leslie Schrader, Director, Consumer Health and Wellness, and Ilene Smith, Associate Director, Ketchum Food and Nutrition Practice, and a registered dietitian.
In addition to the research, clients also will have access to a number of other proprietary tools and key partnerships including a partnership with the National Senior Games Association as well as supermarket and branding expert, Phil Lempert. Both will provide access to targeted consumers and influencers. Together, these partnerships will provide the foundation for developing client programs that focus on education, influencer outreach, and third-party partnerships, and will build complete health and wellness platforms for brands.
“Ketchum is constantly looking at how to combine its resources to better meet the demands of the changing marketplace,” said Dale Bornstein, Partner and Director, Global Practices, Ketchum. “The launch of Well-Connected is yet another step forward in Ketchum’s development of innovative offerings to help move our clients’ business forward.”
About Ketchum
A communications innovator, Ketchum ranks among the largest global public relations agencies, operating in more than 50 countries. With five global practices – Brand Marketing, Corporate, Healthcare, Food and Nutrition, and Technology – and specialty areas that include Concentric Communications (experiential marketing, events and meetings), Ketchum Entertainment Marketing, Ketchum Global Research Network, Ketchum Sports Network, Stromberg Consulting (change management and workplace communications) and The Washington Group (lobbying and government relations), Ketchum leverages its marketing and corporate communications expertise to build brands and reputations for clients. For more information on Ketchum, a unit of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC), visit www.ketchum.com.
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