safefood Encourage Parents to START Their Kids on Their Way to a Healthier Lifestyle in New Ad Campaign

Today, safefood, HSE and partners launch the START campaign, created by award-winning
agency Target McConnells. Maintaining a healthy weight for children is a major health challenge
on the Island of Ireland and this campaign is the first in a five-year public awareness initiative
aimed at addressing this public health issue.

The campaign was developed using a co-creation approach which involved working with parents to
ensure the campaign is relevant and realistic. Target McConnells’ Strategic Planning Director, Dr.
Kenneth McKenzie says, “We started by talking to parents around the island of Ireland to get
insight into the daily challenges they face. These conversations shaped the entire strategy and the
creative approach from the tone of the campaign to the final scripts for the ads. All the scenarios
we filmed for TV and out of home and recorded for radio are based on insights gleaned from the
many conversations we had with parents.”

A key focus for the agency was to give a realistic version of parenting in the campaign. Kenneth
explains, “We’ve all seen the white-washed version of parents and families often peddled in ads.
That’s exactly what we didn’t want to do with this campaign. Parenting is messy at the best of
times and we wanted to reflect this in the campaign, to give a realistic window into family life. It’s
not about being perfect, it’s about trying to get that one daily win. We want to encourage and
support parents to persist no matter how often life intervenes to derail them.”

safefood Director of Communications and Marketing Fiona Gilligan says, “The START campaign
seeks to help families take that first step towards a healthier lifestyle for their children. Through the
consumer campaign we hope to reflect the real lives of parents, while inspiring, supporting and
empowering them to make a start. The adverting is built to start those conversations and our social
tools will allow conversations to continue among parents so their own insights and tips can be
shared. There is no easy answer, we recognise that parenting is tough but we’re calling on parents to be tougher. This campaign is a key initiative for safefood, HSE and partners over the next 5 years. The wider aim of the campaign with partners is to ensure that parents receive consistent information, support and encouragement across the health services, schools and in community settings.

The three week launch campaign for Start includes TV, OOH, video on demand, Radio and Digital.

Source: Target McConnells

  Childhood Obesity, Fiona Gilligan, HSE and Partners, Island of Ireland, Kenneth McKenzie, safefood, START Campaign, Target McConnells