Consumers could earn Vitality points at each station, then cash them in at “check out” for health-related prizes.
John Hancock on April 6 spiced up the life insurance sector with a market-themed activation in New York City that brought its Vitality program to life. Held in Manhattan’s Grand Central Terminal, the John Hancock Vitality Marketplace offered consumers six healthy choice stations where they could sample healthy fare, test their nutrition knowledge and earn points towards prizes along the way.
The brand’s Vitality program, which launched last year, rewards policyholders for healthy choices like getting a flu shot or going to the doctor. Through its HealthyFood initiative, a new extension of the program, consumers who purchase nutritious food at one of 16,000 eligible grocery stores are rewarded with policy savings of up to $600 annually. The activation aimed to promote this new feature.
“The event was designed to be analogous to the [Vitality] program overall,” says Laura Wooster, vp-marketing at John Hancock. “The idea being that you go from station to station and you go through life—sometimes you make a healthy choice and sometimes you don’t. Our program rewards you for making healthy choices; it doesn’t punish you if you don’t. So we designed the activation the same way.”
As consumers entered the event they were handed a “shopping list” that broke down each of the six Marketplace engagements. Among them was a station where participants chose between doing a quick workout on a StairMaster or relaxing in a massage chair, and one in which participants took a nutritional quiz on an iPad. Attendees could also take part in a photo op just outside the terminal featuring a 12-foot high by 12-foot wide grocery basket, which ultimately helped draw passersby into the activation.
John Hancock also leveraged a partnership with renowned restaurateur and “Top Chef” judge Tom Colicchio to promote the HealthyFood initiative. Colicchio provided an on-site cooking demo and offered attendees insights on how to navigate healthy food options at the grocery store.
“It’s so exciting to be able to do an activation like this around life insurance,” says Wooster. “People don’t often think about it or don’t want to think about it… so we hope [the program] will help life insurance be more appealing. It’s a win-win. We’re sharing back with [participants] the value that’s created by living healthy.” Agency: Inspira, Norwalk, CT.
A 12-foot high by 12-foot wide grocery basket prop served as a photo backdrop for attendees.
