AdAge recently published a fascinating and potentially very valuable graphic. As part of their American Consumer Project, AdAge commissioned GfKMRI to combine their data on 25,000 American households through the Patchwork Nation segmenting system, which breaks down areas of the country (in this case, counties) in to 12 different kinds of community. This categorization, which includes factors such as economics, culture and politics, goes far beyond overly simplistic terms such as “blue and red” in an attempt to bring more detail and nuance to demographic information.

In this case, the result was a map of the United States that shows the prevalence of major illnesses by county. I’ve reproduced a static version of the map below. For an interactive version that reveals data by county, click here.

Prevalence Map Major Illnesses by County

I, for one, was surprised at the irregularity of illness distribution. What’s with the apparent prevalence of cancer in Northern Iowa/Southern Minnesota? I didn’t know Mormons in Utah suffered so much from ulcers. And speaking of irregularity, look at the pattern of those suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome that follows a swath from Virginia through the Deep South.

The information in the map has been further augmented by a partnership with Modern Healthcare that examines how different generations want to receive health care marketing messages and the increasing relevancy of cross-generational caregivers. A summary is included in white paper available here.

This data should prove extremely useful for medical device and medical technology companies (i.e. digital health/mHealth) in their efforts to more effectively target their efforts in prevention and disease treatment.

This week I attended a webinar hosted by IBM on the trends for in-home medical devices based on research done in 2010 with over 1,300 US and UK consumers by IBM’s Institute for Business Value. (Here’s the link to the webinar http://bit.ly/bSgY73 )

What I found most interesting was that the research toppled some well-established assumptions such as: 1) consumers are unhappy with their current in-home wellness devices; and 2) in-home devices are mainly used for known health conditions (vs. preventative care devices).  On both counts the research results came back opposite of the ‘common assumptions’.  It seems that consumers are satisfied with their current devices and are ready for more, especially as people become so attuned to using small hand-held electronic devices.  And it seems that the message about preventative care and the benefits it affords is making its way into the home. That to me equates to market opportunities for ‘prevention devices’ (like tracking exercise and physical activity) and even remote monitoring of “someone’s changing health conditions”.

My husband usually groans when he hears me make the following comment, “Guess what, it has high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in it.” I’ve been on this food-aware kick for about 2 years now where I read all food labels before deciding whether to purchase an item. And I kept telling my husband that, like trans-fats, HFCS was on my list of foods to avoid.

So imagine my glee when I saw the following commercial on a major TV network during prime time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEbRxTOyGf0

At first he didn’t understand why I was so happy. But then I explained my thinking for the reason behind this commercial, funded by the Corn Refiners Association. If there wasn’t a growing negative backlash against HFCS there would be no need for them to advertise. It’s because so many people are talking about HFCS and actively avoiding consuming it that they have had to resort to these tactics. Now I’m not saying that these ads won’t be effective to convince some people that HFCS is fine. But for others, who are more skeptical, this will convince them exactly the opposite. Think big tobacco.

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Today’s The McKinsey Quarterly includes an article “Linking Employee Benefits to Talent Management” which presents the idea that companies need a well thought out strategy for their benefits program. McKinsey sees it as a way for employers to manage costs and be more competitive by attracting and retaining the most talented employees. I had originally discussed strategies for sound wellness programs but I think the ‘5 Pearls’ pertain to the employee benefits programs overall, as well.

McKinsey suggests that employers should treat their employees as ‘customers’ and use the same marketing intelligence gathering techniques as they do on external customers.

McKinsey states:

When buzz about a potential change in benefits makes its way through employee networks, they often respond with anxiety and consternation. Companies should approach them with the same caution that consumers get, using market research to understand the workforce, segment it, and gauge its responses to potential changes.

When a company tinkers with benefits, it should “brand” the adjustments with themes that research shows are important to employees. Then it should aim those themes at relevant employee segments and actively address the concerns of people who will dislike the changes, while also emphasizing the positive ones that other segments will applaud.

These efforts should take the form of a marketing campaign, similar to what the company would use to launch a new product, that emphasizes aspects of change employees will value.

This makes sense to me but I’d argue that most HR departments, who usually take a leading role in benefits discussions, might not be well-equipped to handle a full-blown marketing campaign on HR benefits. They either would need assistance from their own marketing department, which may be too close to home, or an external marketing agency to shore them up.

For my primary research on the ‘5 Pearls’ blog I spoke to several senior-level HR executives at small and mid-sized companies and they all echoed back that HR departments are not good at marketing new benefits programs to their employee population. They are bogged down with the day-to-day issues facing human resources, like hiring and firing, employee training programs and the like.

Given the limited resources and staff in most HR departments asking them to market their new benefits program is a tall order and one that usually falls to the back of the pile.

I’d like to hear your comments. What is your experience with internal marketing campaigns of either wellness programs or employee benefits programs?

Keys to Launching & Sustaining a Successful Wellness Program

1) No ready, fire, aim! Before you launch anything create a strategic plan that includes the initial roll-out program and at least a one year outlook with proposed budget. The initial roll-out should address employee concerns which can be gathered in a variety of ways- you don’t want to be seen as big brother checking up on employees health. This is a bigger challenge than some executives realize at first.

2) Obtain top-down buy in. Make sure the senior management team is fully behind the initiative and understands what it means as far as employee time and commitment. This means that they not only agree to support the plan roll-out but that they will ‘allow’ their managers and subordinates to attend the various wellness events that are planned throughout the year.

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