http://thepeoplesmovement.co.uk
THE PEOPLE’S MOVEMENT –
SHEFFIELD’S PHYSICAL ACTIVITY MARKETING CAMPAIGN
Campaign aim
To make a significant contribution towards a sustained increase in levels of physical activity in the city – specifically to get more people achieving the government’s recommended weekly activity targets.
Four-track approach
The campaign’s contribution towards increasing activity levels will be driven through a four-pronged approach:
1. motivating – via key messaging and communications
2. mobilizing – via participation events
3. informing – via website and other information sources
4. influencing – via converting key decision makers and ‘influencers’ to the cause
Campaign focus
The campaign will focus on the idea of ‘active living’ i.e. it will embrace physical activity done in a range of settings including – travel-related activity (walking and cycling), workplace activity, leisure-time activity (including sport, walking, dance etc) and home-based activity such as gardening, housework, ‘front room’ exercise etc.
Overall, the campaign will give greatest emphasis to those activities which are the most accessible i.e. those which can be done at moderate intensity (i.e. make you slightly breathless and slightly warmer) and have little facility or equipment requirements. Walking is probably the single best activity which fits these criteria and will therefore be a central feature of the campaign.
Two target audiences – participants and influencers
Participants – local people will be subdivided according to their current activity levels as follows:-
- those already active – the campaign will aim to keep them active
- the nearly active – those doing some activity but not reaching minimum recommended levels. The campaign will encourage them to do more
- the inactive – the campaign will aim to encourage them to try activities and begin to build activity into their lives
Influencers – these can be subdivided into those who influence the attitudes, beliefs and behaviour of others (the best example being parents) and ‘decision makers’ i.e. those who have direct influence on the settings in which physical activity takes place (good examples are employers, town planners, headteachers etc)
Underlying principles
The campaign will avoid lecturing people about the need to be active. It will also attempt to face the challenge of competing with the multitude of commercial messages that bombard people on a daily basis.
It will therefore give strong recognition to people’s aspirational motivations (wanting to look and feel good etc) and give strong emphasis to the fun and enjoyment derived from being active. It will also avoid medicalising the messages because this will either at worst deter people or at best have no effect at all (i.e. the ‘won’t happen to me’ syndrome). In some cases, the ‘get active’ message will be subliminal with the headline messages being focused on ‘come and have a great time’ or ‘ come and meet people’ or ‘come along a raise money for a good cause’.
Based on best international practice, the campaign will employ humour wherever possible and try to be different and distinctive in its messaging – this is more likely to get our messages noticed and remembered.
Branding
The campaign will run under the badge of ‘The People’s Movement’ and will carry a call to action aimed at the individual – ‘Make your move – be active’.
The aim of the branding is to suggest both a collective aspect to the campaign i.e. the whole city needs to get involved, as well as a personal appeal to the individual to ‘be active’. The branding also focuses on the term ‘movement’ to suggest that what is important is that people ‘move more often’ i.e. all activities that get people moving are of value.
Evaluation
Work will be done to evaluate the success of individual elements of the campaign as well as testing awareness of the overall campaign and its key messages
