Finalist
The Infant and Toddler Forum (ITF) Rethink Portion Sizes Campaign
Summary of work
The Infant & Toddler Forum [ITF] is an independent expert group promoting healthy eating through the education of healthcare professionals and families from pregnancy through childhood. In 2016 the ITF saw a critical gap in the education surrounding childhood obesity, with initiatives too often focusing purely on ‘what’ to feed children without adequately educating parents on ‘how much’ to feed children. In response the ITF developed the Rethink Toddler Portion Sizes media campaign, which aimed at encouraging families to rethink how much food is on the plates of young children, and calling for advice on portion sizes to be a public health priority in the fight against obesity.
Say Communications worked with the ITF to develop a multichannel media relations campaign to achieve this, combining expert advice with hard statistics and arresting visual resources. Widespread media coverage was achieved, surpassing KPIs and expectations and igniting extensive and lively spontaneous discussion on social media. The breadth and diversity of both coverage and discussion surrounding the campaign ensured that the campaign reached individual parents and encouraged behavioural change. The insights and outputs gained from the campaign are now continuing to inform the development of future ITF campaigns.
Judges’ comments
This was an honest and brave campaign. Say Communications and Danone carefully handled what could have been a sensitive issue, which resulted in strong visibility.
