Who's Keeping You Warm This Weekend?

As we head into another cold winter weekend, it seems especially timely to ask who you want to cuddle up with: Your partner? Or -wait for it --your dog?

It was big news this week when a national survey (done for the Associated Press and Petside.com) revealed that about 1 in 7 Americans -- if they really, really had to choose -- would choose the pup (that’s 14% for you math geeks out there, and we mean that fondly).

The good folks at Petside saw that as bad news for pets ... but on the plus side for bipeds, 84% said they’d stick with their (human) better half.

Here at SSW, we found that pets are still pretty popular.

When we asked people in our 2010 Wellness Survey if they’d rather have a new pet or a new partner, 71% said they’d rather have a new pet …which might mean they were pretty happy with their current partner, right? But 29% said they’d rather have a new partner (no pets required). So... maybe they're single.

71% also said they’d rather have a new pet than another child. Which makes sense in these economic times, since pets don’t generally go to college or take years of piano lessons.

I have a sneaking suspicion that for most of us, wellness means filling our homes with all the love we can -- whether it's with pets, partners, kids -- or at least 2 out of 3!

What about you?

Hope this finds you well… and staying warm!

Johanna

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Seeing Wellness Through New Eyes in 2011

Happy new year!

Americans are starting the new year with a lot of good thoughts and optimism about the months to come: According to our friends at Gallup, 58% say 2011 will be better than 2010 – only 20% say it will be worse.

Of course, New Year’s is traditionally an optimistic time – that’s why we feel emboldened to make all those resolutions (or even for resolving not to make any more resolutions!). With a fresh new take on the year, our efforts seem fated to succeed …. at least this week, while the year is still young!

Marketers are right there with us. If you were watching any TV at all this past weekend, you saw lots of invitations to amp up your wellness, from starting a new love life with dating sites like Match and eharmony, to the latest way to soften your hands while you do the dishes, with the new Dawn dish liquid/Olay Beauty collaboration.

Weight loss helpers were out in force, with a newly svelte Jennifer Hudson belting out the virtues of Weight Watchers new Points-Plus program, and Nutrisystem showcased “real people” who’ve achieved slimming success. Even yogurt made a big showing, with brands like Activia pushing both its “feel good inside” benefit and its new line of dessert-like flavors, for smarter sweet-tooth satisfaction.

There were also plenty of spots for products that help you smoke less, snore less, sleep better, smooth away wrinkles and under-eye bags, strengthen and slenderize, and in general, be a better you.

But there’s something else about the new year’s new take on wellness – more and more, it’s something we want for ourselves. It’s not about being selfish – it’s about being mindful and motivated to achieve your own hopes and dreams for this coming year, whether your wellness goal is physical, social, emotional, financial -- or just to keep your hands feeling soft after you wash the dishes.

It’s all part of what we’ve been calling the Me-Covery, and we’ll be sharing more about it in the weeks to come.

Hope this finds you well!

Johanna

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Where can you go from here?

I was inspired to find out last Friday, as perhaps you did, that there are at least three times as many stars out there in space than scientists had previously thought.

And who knows? Maybe there are more, many more, as the calculation was based on stars astronomers can’t actually see. (For every visible bright star, the team assumed 100 unseen.) And imagine -- we already thought, as the wonderful Carl Sagan famously told us, that there were billions and billions of stars out there.

At the same time, another assumption-busting discovery was reported, based on the behavior of bacteria scraped from the bottom of Mono Lake in California. Experts have long believed that life could only survive in the presence of 6 basic elements (phosphorus carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen and sulfur, if you were curious). But defying expectations, the Mono Lake microbes learned how to exist on another element entirely -- arsenic.

I bring these up because if scientists can still make discoveries that challenge our collective notions of the nature of the universe and life as we know it, surely we as marketers have the same opportunities.

Of course, challenging a long-held assumption means being aware that we have deeply-held assumptions –a step that’s easy to overlook. If you believe there are a certain number of stars set in the sky, you’ll never ask whether there might be more beyond our visual reach.

Tom Friedman, talking yesterday on Meet the Press, made the point that achieving success in a global economy (or as he puts it, a flat world) means revisiting cherished assumptions about how to get what we want.

This year, one of the things Wellness seems to mean is reassessing the truths about how we live our lives, especially moving from "can't imagine" to "can do." Or even, "what if?"

What do you really, really think is true? Could you be wrong?.

Maybe you’ll discover brave new worlds, far beyond, or deep within.

Hope this finds you well.

Johanna

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A “Me”-covery?

Is there something of a “me”-covery in the air?

It turns out that Black Friday was a time for shopping … selfishly. While total dollar volume only edged up slightly from last year, purchases for “me” were coming out on top. Articles this weekend were full of stories about shoppers saying they deserved something for themselves – and at least for a few minutes, were putting themselves first

It’s not that we’re giving up on gifts… even charitable gifts are starting to rise again, after taking a nosedive in 2009. But there’s something encouraging about taking care of ourselves too, something that speaks to a desire to refresh and rebuild.

Lest you think this is a celebration of being selfish, I’m always reminded of that line spoken on every flight, every day, here in the U.S. – in the event of an emergency, put your own oxygen mask on first. Why? Because of course, if you aren’t taking care of yourself, it’s harder to take care of others.

It doesn’t have to be about gifts, of course, or even spending money – which for many of us is still tight. Part of your own “me”-covery might be scheduling an hour of me-time during the week, to take a walk, to start reading the new biography of Cleopatra (oh wait, that one’s for me!), or even “we”-time –-to catch up with someone whose company you always enjoy.

Because everybody deserves a little more Wellness this holiday season. Especially you!

Hope this finds you well,
Johanna

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Can you ever treat yourself too well?

Every self-respecting self-help book has a chapter on how to treat yourself better. Well, it seems we’ve taken that a little too much to heart. It turns out that one of the biggest barriers preventing Americans from eating healthfully is that ... we like our treats.

Nielsen's latest global survey on healthy eating shows that for most of the world, the US included, a perceived lack of time, money and availability of healthy choices remain key barriers to a more nutritious diet. But here at home, "the desire to treat myself" trumped such practical considerations.

I don't know if this number is higher than in past years, but I do know that the urge for treats increases with stress, our national disease. So how are marketers answering the call?

A new post on WARC offers some insight into how some of the world's leading food manufacturers are approaching the conundrum of helping us eat more healthfully.

Pepsi is betting on convenience. In a strategy they call the Power of One, favorite snacks will be made with healthier ingredients.

Heinz CEO Bill Johnson sensibly puts the discussion in business terms, and investing in areas that will show a good return.

But of all the smart and successful companies mentioned in the WARC article, it was Nestlé CEO Paul Bulcke who pinned his company's strategy to the one thing Americans seem to want most: pleasure. Nestlé, Bulcke said, is "offering … pleasure, balanced and healthy nutrition to people, to our consumers everywhere in the world."

Ah, healthy pleasures. Just make mine chocolate.

Hope this finds you well,
Johanna

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Wellness ... Where You Least Expect It

Cars are a bellwether of American culture: faster and bigger in good times, great gas mileage in leaner years.

So we knew wellness had reached a new level of significance when Nissan announced that its new cars will pump Vitamin C to moisturize the driver's skin. Using Sharp technology, the cars will not only make your skin dewier, but recreate the natural chemical process that purifies the air in the Earth's atmosphere. (By the way, Nissan is also upgrading their anti-collision technology – but that’s not the headline.)

According to one engineer, 'we want drivers to feel that they are healthier staying in the car instead of on the outside.'

How far can the trend in wellness mashups go? Well, consider this:

While doctors in New England have started to write prescriptions for zucchini, researchers in the UK have concluded that burger joints should hand out … statins. Yes, that’s right - The study, published in the American Journal of Cardiology, says that “statin therapy can neutralize the cardiovascular risk caused by harmful diet choices,” specifically “a 7-oz hamburger (Quarter Pounder®) with cheese and a small milkshake.”

The authors go on to their radical recommendation: “Fast food outlets already offer free condiments to supplement meals. A free statin-containing accompaniment would offer cardiovascular benefits, opposite to the effects of equally available salt, sugar, and high-fat condiments.”

In a world where we can soon expect to have our cars give us more beautiful skin, is it too much to foresee a day when a burger will come with a side of … Lipitor?

We’ll see!
Hope this finds you well,
Johanna

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Bodies at rest, bodies in motion

You never know when those old high school physics classes will come in handy. I've never actually taken a physics class, in high school or otherwise, but my friend Richard did, and this is the story he told me this morning.

Mr Clark, my friend's high school physics teacher, taught that there are two kinds of energy: potential and kinetic. Richard illustrated this point by holding up a stopwatch dangling from a cord. At rest, the watch was pure potential. Once it moved -- whether by its internal works, or an outside force -- it started actively affecting the world around it. That's kinetic energy - the energy of motion.

It occurred to me that if you look at the world this way, an object -- or a person -- is never stuck. On the contrary, it is full of potential. It will move -- because (another lesson from physics) nothing in the universe is static. The only question is what will set it in motion.

And that's where it gets really interesting. What sets you in motion? Physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally? How are you creating your own kinetic energy ... and what would help you create more? Because kinetic energy is what fuels creation, whether it's building a healthier body, a more beautiful environment, even a more sustainable business.

But if your kinetic energy is feeling low right now, that's OK too. Because as your high-school physics teacher would tell you, you are full of potential, ready to be put in motion.

Hope this finds you well!
Johanna

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Counter Culture: Eating and Wellness in the News

Is it just us, or does it seem that there are a lot more stories about healthy eating lately? What has us scratching our heads, though, are the ads for rather unhealthy foods that are featured right alongside.

We wonder if there's something in the culture right now that's whispering, "do as I say, not as I do."

For instance, from the “You just can’t make this up” file: Slate's wonderful “Daily Bread” column includes a story on FDA plans to limit the amount of salt foods can contain. Smack in the middle of the article is an ad for Papa Joe’s Pizza.

You Really Are What You Eat – declares a story on Shine.Yahoo – Yahoo’s new site for women. You know it’s a great post when it gets over 400 comments! Right next to it? A cupcake. Yup, a cupcake, linking to a site that provides “daily deals” in the city of your choice. Unless they're doing deals on muffin tops?

And we think there's a missed opportunity for marketers offering wellness to parents (or their children): The New York Times' column, “When Kids Eat What They Watch,” where Tara Parker-Pope writes about acceptable food advertising for kids.

What do you think? Have you seen any untapped opportunities like these for marketing wellness? Let us know!

Hope this finds you well.

Johanna

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Time for a Financial Check-Up?

Does the state of your wallet affect the state of your wellness?

In our survey on wellness and the economy, we found that the driving emotion in the recession is not depression, or fear, but anxiety – and anxiety about money has a big effect on overall wellness.

That’s true even if you have a job: MetLife’s 8th annual Employee Benefits Trends Study, released today, revealed that over 2/3 of employees feel more insecure about their jobs than they did last year – and many are distracted at work because of financial worries.

One of the surprising answers to the problem might be employee wellness programs – which includes not just weight loss and smoking cessation, but financial guidance. Only about one-third (37%) of employees surveyed expressed confidence in their ability to make the right financial decisions.

So if you have been thinking about getting your financial house in order, whether through your workplace or by seeking other kinds of professional help– believe it or not, it may be just what the doctor ordered.

Hope this finds you well.

Johanna

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Olympics Inspire A New Kind of Wellness

I’m not ashamed to admit it: I’m watching curling. And ice dancing! The Olympics this year are mesmerizing, and I don’t think it’s just because of the US medal count. I think in this time of economic crisis, war, fear, distrust in institutions, and general exhaustion, it’s refreshing to see happy, dedicated, talented people at the top of their game, pursuing their dreams.

But the joy is not just in being a couch potato, vicariously watching others sweat (for more about the virtues of watching TV, see Jim Joseph's blogpost today). I’m finding that the more I watch, the more inspired I get to rededicate myself to the things I want to focus on in my own life.

In December, we talked about Re-Invention being one of the top wellness trends of 2010. And while seeing Bode Miller come back from Olympic defeat is awe-inspiring, I take just as much inspiration from all 33 downhill skiers who put every ounce of their energy, talent and intelligence into their qualifying runs, and the ice dancers who practiced for 5 years, not to win, but to be 9^th or 10^th best. In the world, but still.

Reinvention doesn’t just happen. It takes focus, patience and dedicated practice. But fortunately, I don’t think you have to be an Olympic athlete to do it.

Hope this finds you well.

Johanna

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Getting Personal with Social Media!

Last Thursday, I was in San Francisco, speaking – and listening! – at the Advertising Research Foundation’s (ARF) Industry Leader Forum - Putting Listening to Work , held at the beautiful Bentley Reserve. It was a great day, packed with interesting speakers from Toyota, Kraft, Vitamin Water, and many more.

I was there to talk about how pharmaceutical companies can – and do – engage in social media. As you probably know, one of the biggest issues holding pharmaceutical companies back in social media is the need to report adverse events. To help create some perspective around the problem, I quoted a statistic from Nielsen BuzzMetrics – saying that only 1 in 500 posted comments qualify as reportable events.

Here’s what happened next: cue the twittersphere!

@cdny (in attendance) writes: Did I hear that correctly? 1 in 500 conversations on pharma is an adverse event?

@ wmartino (our own William Martino, following the tweet feed from our office in New York) replied to @cdny: According to the study by Nielsen, yes 1 in 500 was "reportable" (meeting 4 key criteria).

@ MelissaKDavies (also following from a remote location) also replied to @cdny: 1 in 500 online HC msgs contains reportable AE. I ran that rsch for Nielsen. View whitepaper at http://bit.ly/cMm8HF

A question was asked, answered and reviewed in the course of just a few minutes, pinging from the back of the room to our office in NY, to Melissa Davies -- the author of the study! -- and back again to San Francisco.

I found all this out at the end of my talk -- still standing on the stage -- when Joel Rubinson, The ARF’s Chief Research Officer, asked for the room's attention and read the entire exchange aloud.

As Joel said, “let me show you how social media is working right now.”

Cool, yes?

I’ll be posting more about my speech, and the rest of the conference, soon.

Hope this finds you well!

Johanna

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When People Care, They Go Social

It’s an old truism that people band together in times of grief. And the response to the disaster in Haiti is showing that is more true than ever, helped by the technology of social media.

Just look at the numbers: as Pete Cashmore, founder and CEO of Mashable, reported today on CNN.com:

“As of midday Thursday, the Red Cross had raised some $3 million in donations via its text message campaign: Text "Haiti" to 90999, and a $10 donation is added to your cell phone bill. The mechanism is so wonderfully simple -- removing credit cards and PayPal accounts from the equation entirely -- that donations have flooded in. Wyclef Jean's Yele Haiti, meanwhile, is leveraging the same technology: Text "YELE" to 501501 to make a $5 donation.”

On Twitter, @RedCross is keeping donors and potential donors updated, while celebrities like @Alyssa Milano are sending out “Tweet Challenges” for matching donations.

On Facebook, over 91,000 people have joined the group “EVERY PERSON THAT JOINS WE WILL DONATE $1 TO HELP PEOPLE IN HAITI!.”

What’s also key is the interaction of mainstream and social media. While every news channel this morning reported from the ground in Port-Au-Prince, they also promoted text/donation options – far more than even the 800 number or web options, which until recently, were the most efficient ways to give .

Media working in concert to bring people together: now that’s social.

By the way, if you’re still thinking about a donation, check out this page at cnn.com for a list of fundraisers.

Hoping this finds you well,

Johanna

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