In 1998, 68 percent of West Virginians reported little or no physical activity. The state ranked the third worst among the 50 states for having no leisure time physical activity. The Wheeling Walks campaign relied on the fact that walking is the best and easiest form of physical activity that will improve heart, brain and other body functions at all ages. The campaign used paid media to raise awareness about the benefits of a healthy active lifestyle and promote walking as a habit among residents of the community.
The program targeted insufficiently active adults ages 50 to 65. The core message was to get “30 minutes or more of moderate intensity activity everyday.” Wheeling Walks used paid radio and television advertisements, which were run many times with one ad focused on men and one focused on women. The message focused on time and energy—exercise only takes as much time as one TV show and gives you a lot of energy to do everything. Rather than highlighting cardiovascular benefits and blood pressure reductions, their message just said “miss one TV show and gain a lot of energy.” And it worked.
A number of paid ads were designed to communicate the program’s message. These ads ran for an initial period of eight weeks. Two 30-second television ads ran 683 times during prime time on local, network-affiliated and cable TV. Two 30-second radio ads ran 1,988 times on local radio stations. Two different quarter-page print ads ran 14 times in local newspapers.
Effective Use of the Media
The National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity (NCPPA) has developed a guide to using the media for active communication.
Step 1 – Media Relations
Step 2 – Communications Plan
Step 3 – Getting your Message Out
Source: National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity Active Communication: A Guide to Reaching the Media.
Wheeling Walks also organized several press events:
Each of these events gave the campaign invaluable “earned” — and free — media coverage.
Wheeling Walks also organized subsequent events like a 5th month booster with a celebrity visitor, Friday night walks and weekly columns, an 11th month 4-week media booster with paid advertisements, and earned media events like a kick-off, a celebrity visitor, Mayor’s 2nd Annual Mayor’s Fitness Cup and a Closing celebration.
Results
Wheeling Walks carried out telephone surveys of 1472 community members at four different times. In addition to the baseline survey, they conducted a post-intervention survey as well as surveys six months and twelve months after the media campaign. Wheeling Walks found that the group who benefited most was composed of those who did not walk at all or walked less than ten minutes a day prior to the campaign. Studies on effectiveness of mediated health campaigns estimate that realistically one can expect 40 percent exposure to a campaign and a 9 percent change in behavior. Surveys conducted by Wheeling Walks show that 90 percent of the target audience were exposed to the campaign. This high level of exposure resulted in a 14 percent increase in those who walk 30 minutes or more a day, at least 5 days a week. While the campaign was a success, there was room for improvement as community members who already walked did not increase their levels of activity. The survey found that people who already walked 15 to 60 minutes a day did not significantly increase their time spent walking each week.
Wheeling Walks is moving forward with policy and environmental changes. The campaign is engaging local clubs, press, schools, businesses, the medical society and other stakeholders as well as city agencies responsible for parks, streets, highways, planning, and law enforcement. They encourage local physicians to write prescriptions for walking. The mayor has designated an on-going Walkable Wheeling Task Force and has worked with local clubs to develop walking opportunities. The initiatives being pursued include:
Lessons Learned
The most important lesson to be gained is that a community health campaign should involve experts, volunteers and consultants from all community sectors, including physicians, schools, faith-based institutions, clubs, press, businesses, city agencies and law enforcement. Careful and detailed planning and sequencing of all activities is as important as the availability of adequate resources. Wheeling Walks used a consistent theme with a targeted message and employed variations on that theme to make it suitable for specific segments of their audience. They benefited from their large media purchase. The program recommends that similar campaigns should buy as much exposure as can be afforded as well as make the most of free media through public events. Finally, any initiative should be well evaluated. A documented success will help with future funding and activities.
Strengths
What made Wheeling Walks a successful program is the careful planning and attention to details. Their campaign was aggressive and they had support from all sectors of the community. Most importantly, their message was simple and direct. They used paid media as well as earned media through special events like press conferences, community walks, and celebrity events. This free media was an effective bonus rather than the most important means of conveying their message.
Innovative Ideas
Use of paid media was the most effective idea that benefited the Wheeling Walks program. Most public interest campaigns rely on free media in the form of press releases and press conferences. In Wheeling, they decided to use their resources to pay for advertising, thus allowing them to craft a suitable message and have people talk about their experiences. It enabled more direct and effective communication with the target group.
During the initial aggressive campaigning phase, Wheeling Walks organized a different public event every week, each of which gave them free media coverage in addition to encouraging more people to start leading a more active life.
Implementation
Careful planning ensured the successful implementation of the program. First, the initial planning activities occurred. To get the program off the ground, the community steering committee was established and staff and consultants selected. Shortly thereafter, grants were pursued and media producers were selected. In the second phase, Wheeling Walks developed their message and determined the target audience. The next step was the most critical as the program focused on intervention and evaluation. At this stage, program managers conducted a baseline survey to determine the time that potential participants spent being active.
They designed their ad, and used paid media to dissipate the message. There was an initial period of aggressive campaigning during which the ads ran several hundred times on the local TV and radio stations and in the newspapers. The ads were repeated for a week a few months later and again almost a year later. Such repeats help keep up the motivation and help people stay on the program. To gain free media coverage, Wheeling Walks also organized several public events.
Resources
www.wheelingwalks.org
An excellent web site that details why and how Wheeling Walks is motivating residents to lead healthier lives. It also has links to Wheeling Walks’ TV and radio ads.
Contacts
Bill Reger-Nash, Ed.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Community Medicine
WVU School of Medicine
PO Box 9190
Morgantown, WV 26506-9190
Phone: (304) 293-0763
Fax: (304) 293-6685
Email: wreger@hsc.wvu.edu
References
Snyder, L.B. (2001). How effective are mediated health campaigns? In Rice, R.E. & Atkin, C.K. Public Communications Campaigns. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
