Challenge
Leverage PR to support LiveWell Colorado’s campaign to encourage Coloradans to adopt healthier lifestyles
Solution
Utilize traditional media relations and engage moms statewide through a new LiveWell Moms ambassador program
Results
Extensive media coverage, soaring website traffic and Facebook engagement, and an army of engaged moms
Challenge
Despite Colorado’s designation as the “leanest state in the nation,” nearly 20 percent of its adults are obese or overweight. However, Coloradans had misconceptions about their health. LiveWell Colorado developed a Culture Change Campaign to encourage Coloradans to make healthy lifestyle changes and turned to GFM for related PR support.
Solution
GFM immediately began laying the groundwork for the public launch of LiveWell Colorado’s Culture Change Campaign by planning local, regional and national media strategies targeting health and wellness reporters, mom bloggers and Hispanic media.
Core components of the plan included:
- Establishing an understanding of the research results framing the issue
- Building momentum around the related advertising campaign to drive families to gauge their health through an online “gut check”
- Developing and placing opinion articles statewide on topics such as “Obesity is a reality, not a reality show”
- Creating a LiveWell Moms ambassador program to actively include moms in the organization’s mission and encourage healthy changes within families
These efforts were enhanced with optimized and bilingual news releases, the launch of an improved LiveWell Colorado Facebook page with a Body Mass Index calculator tool, traditional media, influencer pitches and blogger outreach to create a successful, multi-pronged approach to delivering the culture change message and motivating people to take action via Web-based tools or by becoming a LiveWell Mom.
Results
Within six months of the campaign launch, more than 280,000 “gut checks” were calculated on the LiveWell Colorado website. Site traffic also jumped by 540 percent. LiveWell Colorado’s Facebook page grew from 300 to 3,200+ fans, and GFM helped successfully launch the LiveWell Moms ambassador program through grassroots and social media outreach. Efforts to drive media attention for the campaign resulted in 24 pre-launch placements highlighting the related research. Outreach efforts in support of the television advertising and online campaign resulted in 45 additional media placements. The Colorado Healthcare Communicators recognized these outstanding efforts with a Silver Leaf Award.
