Preventing Childhood Obesity - Evidence Policy and Practice.pdf

Food and beverage marketing to children
indeed professionals. In this way marketing can indeed
promote healthy weight.
The n ature of m arketing
Familiarity with customer desires and needs requires
consistent and multi - method research. Marketers
attempt to get inside our heads, see the world as we
see it and adjust their offerings accordingly. Because
people differ, this often means that a degree of customization
is needed, so markets are segmented into
homogenous subsets and target groups selected for
bespoke attention. Customization also includes the
choice of communication channels — and with the
growing sophistication of electronic communication
technologies the opportunities for segmentation even
to individual level, becomes a reality. The only limits
to innovation and the responsiveness of the commercial
marketing mix are that shareholder value has to
be enhanced. The key lesson is that meeting customer
needs more accurately is good for business.
The need for this degree of sensitivity to the customer
is quite simply because their behavior is voluntary.
Marketers cannot force people to buy, so they
have to engage, entice, persuade and seduce: the aim
is to create motivational exchanges in which people
will freely, indeed gladly, engage.
For marketers, children represent an important
target group: their independent purchasing power
makes them a valuable market in their own right; they
also influence household purchase decisions and ultimately
they represent tomorrow ’ s brand - loyal adult
market.
It is challenging to put precise figures on these phenomena,
but as a rough guide, the US Institute of
Medicine Report on Food Marketing to Children and
Youth1 suggested that one third of children ’ s annual
$30 billion direct purchases were on food and beverages.
In addition, the US Market for Kids ’ Foods and
Beverages, 2003 report estimated that children and
adolescents influence $500 billion of purchase decisions
at the household level. 2 This represents more
than half of the total US annual spending on food and
beverages (estimated at $895.4 billion in the 2004 US
Department of Agriculture Economic Research
Service Food Expenditure Series). 1
The public health community also has strong social
and economic motivations to invest in influencing
children ’ s purchase and consumption behaviors. The
Foresight report projected a seven - fold increase in
total societal costs for obesity in England to just under
£ 50 billion by 2050. 3 Many intervention campaigns
want to ameliorate these projected trends by encouraging
children and adults to accept added - value
offerings — whether these are to eat more fruit and
vegetables, cook or take exercise. And just as with
breakfast cereals or soft drinks, individuals are free to
accept or reject these offerings. The effectiveness of
such public health initiatives is dependent on the
voluntary action of the target audience. Public health
therefore has to learn to be engaging, enticing, persuasive
and seductive.
Sensitive research, customization and partnership
working have to become second nature. The opportunities
to intervene and encourage healthy diet and
lifestyle choices using marketing theory and practice
are only just beginning to be recognized and, therefore,
the evidence on what works and what does not
is still being amassed. There is however, much transferable
experience and learning from other sectors
that can be interpreted, adapted and applied in childhood
obesity prevention. Two of the most valuable are
current commercial marketing theory and practice,
and retrospective analysis of tobacco control.
The p ower of m arketing:
the f ood b usiness
In 2003, a systematic review of the literature on the
extent, nature and effects of food promotion to children
was commissioned by the Food Standards
Agency. 4 It concluded (see Box 15.1 ) that food was
promoted to children more than any other product
group, and that the types of food being advertised
were consistently contrary to recommended dietary
guidelines. Television was the dominant medium for
this advertising, but the review noted the increasing
importance other channels, including sponsorship,
in - school marketing, point - of - sale materials and
incentives, free gifts and samples, loyalty schemes, and
new media in the communications mix.
The review also showed that this promotional activity
does influence children ’ s food knowledge, preferences,
behaviors and diet - related health status. It
impacts on food categories (e.g., breakfast cereals)
as well as specific branded items (e.g., particular
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