MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER
Eating healthy is perceived as a hard work, and therefore many people sacrifice healthy eating to something faster, cheaper and easier. However, unhealthy lifestyle leads to obesity which in turn leads to heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. This campaign was created for MD Anderson Cancer Center and its partners to help combat childhood obesity to prevent cancer in Pasadena, TX.
KEEPING IT SHORT
Problem: 65% of children in Pasadena, TX are overweight or obese
Strategy: Create easy to cook, cheap, age and culture appropriate offerings to enable small changes of the target audience’s diet
CASE STUDY
OBJECTIVE
How can we convince people in Pasadena, TX to eat healthier?
SECONDARY RESEARCH
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Secondary research on MD Anderson Cancer Center and its previous campaigns
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Secondary research on target audience: Nielsen My Best Segment, Hispanic cooking enthusiastics, marketing to Hispanic Moms, Hispanic’ diet and wellness
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Secondary research on children: Marketing to Kids, Kids as Influencers
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Secondary research on obesity and specifically children and obesity
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Secondary research on food trends and factors which influence food related decisions
PRIMARY RESEARCH
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Interviews with parents at stores in Pasadena, TX (Walmart, H-E-B, Food Town)
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Interviews with parents in parks in Pasadena, TX
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Observation at stores, fast food restaurants and parks in Pasadena, TX
RESEARCH FINDINGS
INSIGHTS
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Children are not willing to eat healthier than their parents
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Children prefer age-appropriate brands
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The top internal challenges for Hispanic moms are lack of willpower and a perceived lack of time
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Hispanics like to cook and see themselves as “enthusiasts”
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Parents are delusional about their children's weight
PERSONAS
Maria, a 35-year-old cashier at Home Depot and a mom of two kids. Her job is tough and after a long day the last thing that she wants is cooking several meals and then spending her time and energy trying to convince her kids to eat it. She tried but she gave up. Maria gives them what they want to eat, even if it is fruit with pepperoni.
Daniel, Maria’s 11-year-old son. He likes to watch Mexican soccer with his dad, to play video games, and to watch movies. He is happy when his parents take him to McDonalds or Taco Bell because he likes the taste of food there.
STRATEGY
To increase the self-efficacy for the target audience by enabling small changes
BIG IDEA
The HELPS model is based on the five most important variables which Hispanic moms and kids evaluate during their decision-making process of choosing food.
HELPS model elements which target children:
Happy - A product that targets kids should be fun and a brand should be age-appropriate.
Enjoyable - Taste is the primary driving factor of why people enjoy eating food.
HELPS model elements which target mothers:
Low Cost - Since the target audience is mostly low income families, the price of the solution should be low.
Piece of Cake - The solution should provide easy ways of cooking and be attractive for children, so parents will not spend time and energy for cooking and convincing their children to eat.
Speedy - To effectively compete with fast food restaurants the tactics should provide fast solutions.
TACTICS
All tactics will be created based on the HELPS model and it will also be part of the HELPS program that MD Anderson would implement to promote the suggestions described below.
Sabrosa Basket
Sabrosa Basket is ingredients for 2 meals for 4 people, 2 snacks for 2 kids. One meal will be a healthy version of a fast food staple and the other one will be a food inspired in Hispanic culture. Each box has a booklet with recipes in English and Spanish for these two meals. Meals will be easy to cook with total cooking process for a meal will not take more than 30 minutes which will include no more than 10 minutes of preparation. In addition, inside the basket will be two toys for kids, that will encourage them to help cook with their parents.
The snacks will be for the kids to take and packaged under the name - Jackalope. Each healthy snack will be named in way that will be fun and encourage the kid to eat it. For example: Atomic Carrots or Dragon Apples with Peanut Butter.
For qualifying families, the box will be provided at a reduced cost (at least 20% discount). To be qualified for the Sabrosa Basket, a family must have at least one child under the age of 15, make less than $50,000 a year, and live in Pasadena, TX.
To make this tactic feasible, MD Anderson would have to seek a partnership with a supermarket. We believe that a HEB/MD Anderson partnership would be mutually beneficial for both because HEB already has a mission of helping Texas communities and by providing the Sabrosa Basket could feature its own brand named food.
Social Media is an easy and inexpensive way to target one of the target audiences - Hispanic Moms. A cooking video with up to 1 minute will showcase a recipe that takes less than 30 mins to prepare and all ingredients are from the Sabrosa Basket. A new video recipe will be added each week. In addition to the recipes, also there would be infographics, inspiring photos, interviews with chefs and MD Anderson employees about having healthier eating habits to engage the social media audience.
A food tent would be set up at a children's sport event featuring Jackalope snacks. Both kids and parents will be engaged because they would be trying out the food given to them. Brochures about Sabrosa Basket and Jackalope snacks would be distributed during the event. In addition, this food tent will be a good opportunity to families sign in.
Sabrosa Basket will be promoted in the beginning of the school year folder that all students are given. This folder traditionally contains mandatory documents for parents to sign. The flyer will be included in this folder and is expected to be seen by at least one parent.
TEAM
TAGS
Darya Procopovich, Paula Freitas, Brett Morris,
Chloe Cho Hee Sung, Cassandra Martinez
Strategy, Primary Research (Interviews, Observations), Secondary Research, Presentation, Personas
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