Investigation and Analysis (Health)

 

Client Research

 

The National Health Service was founded in July 1948 and provides free healthcare to legal British citizens. The NHS is funded by the British government and is structured like a board with the higher ups informing important decisions and changes to the workplace. 

The NHS's goal is to treat and prevent serious health issues in everyday citizens, which is why they invest in large multimedia marketing campaigns like "Change4Life" and "Better Health" in order to prevent rising obesity rates in children to young adults. The NHS use children as their main demographic to prevent health issues from an earlier age and to reduce future appointments. 

Change4Life was a previous campaign by the NHS, the campaign was targeted to young children from the ages of 5 to 11 and the goal was to reduce rates of childhood obesity and encourage children to be more physically active.  

The NHS features services such as dentistry, opticianry and sexual health consultants, these services are put in place by the NHS in order to provide everyone with necessary information regarding their health. 

The NHS website contains information about not only about the NHS itself but also about general medicine and health, which is useful for those looking into medicine as a career as possibly as a nurse or doctor, the website also includes help lines for those in need of care and support or for those struggling with mental health issues

The NHS was founded by Aneurin Bevan, who was the UK minister of health from 1945 to 1951, who believed that everyone in a civilized society should have access to free healthcare regardless of class or what they earn. The NHS was the first free healthcare system in the world and paved the way for other systems in other parts of the worlds.

The NHS is one the largest employers in the UK with over 1.5 million employees across the UK, jobs associated with the NHS include ambulance drivers' psychologists, nurses, doctors, surgeons and many more.

Due to the NHS life expectancy of the average citizen has increased from 63 for males and 70 for women, to 79 for males and 83 for women, this shows a clear impact to the average person's life from the NHS. 

The NHS endured the pandemic caused by Covid-19 and has undoubtable saved many lives due to their relatively quick response to the virus including helping to develop the vaccine for Covid 19. Many NHS facilities struggled through the pandemic due to large amounts 

Of patients and limited spaces to care for them.

After the pandemic, the NHS is attempting to combat the rising obesity rates caused by the pandemic and lack of exercise during the lockdowns, the “Better Health” campaign encourages families to become more active and change their lifestyles for the better in order to reduce the cases of serious diseases caused by obesity.

 

Researching existing NHS media

"Help" by the NHS is a campaign which spreads awareness of mental health issues. The campaign encourages people struggling with their mental health to speak up and talk to a therapist, this is in response to the Quarantine where many people developed depression or other mental health issues due to social isolation.

The "Help" TV advert spreads awareness to the campaign and to mental health as a whole. The ad features John Lennon's song "Help" which not only coveys the theme of mental health awareness but also makes the ad more memorable and recognizable to its audience. The advert features a group of people singing the chorus of the song, in which the lyrics ask for help which directly addresses the audience and telling them where to find help from the NHS. 

The advert features close ups from the singers, the camera is handheld and is shaky and the focus is on deep view making the singers faces the only thing in focus and creating a deeper connection between the audience and the people in the advert. The close-up of the singers' cuts between one another as they sing the chorus. The close-up cross dissolves, when they finish the song, into the singer's giving information about the campaign and where to find professional help as the camera cuts between them occasionally showing a low angle and an over the shoulder shot of a man contacting his GP. 

The NHS print adverts for mental health feature a close up of a person's face, her expression seems depressed or sad communicates their struggle with mental health and shows how they struggle to cope, with a quote covering their face, the quote is from the person behind it, and they convey the idea of someone battling with their mental health or struggling to talk to someone about their issues. The print products feature the logo of the NHS as well as the slogans "just talking can help" and "your health matters help us help you" which is a use of personal pronouns, directly addressing the audience, this communicates that the NHS wants people to reach out and seek help for their problems and issues. The quote on the print product is relatable to those struggling with mental health problems and have difficulties communicating their issues. This print advert follows codes and conventions as it is an advert about mental health with a dark and glooming tone and harsh lighting this signifies that this issue is serious and firmly establishes the target demographic as adults with mental health issues. This ad appeals to the personal identity of the audience and how they want to improve themselves, the ad serves to show where help is available. The person in the poster is looking off to the side of the camera, which is a use of indirect address, signifying that she is thinking and struggling with speaking out about her health.

The "Better Health" campaign strives to encourage families and young children to become more active and improve their diets, in response to the rising obesity rates caused by the Quarantine, as well as quitting smoking and drinking to live longer and healthier lives. The print products for the campaign feature bright colors and bold text which communicates to the audience that the campaign is light-hearted and fun, the main person in the print products is usually older or a minimum of 30-year-old which appeals to the older demographic who are encouraged to be more active and support their families. The slogan for the campaign "Better Health let's do this" encourages the audience to be active and fits the theme of being active and improving our health.

Audience Research

 My audience that took the survey have roughly a 50-50 gender split meaning that i should market my adverts to both genders equally.

Most people taking the survey were between the ages of 17 to 18, this is my target age range and can inform who I target my ad to. I could include the interests of this age demographics to better appeal to them.

 The majority of the people taking the survey work part time this could imply that the audience is working class social grade. Most people taking the survey are physically active sometimes, my advert could encourage people to exercise on a more consistent basis and for longer periods of time.

If the previous answer was yes: how long are you active for?

an hour a day

like less than 30 minutes

3 hours a week

5 hrs a week

16 to 24 minutes on a Monday

7 hours

I exercise 5 times a week

about 1 hour a day

 

people exercise for roughly an hour however other results vary.

Most people take the bus to and from college.

Most people weren't active during lockdown, this could be used to appeal to the audience and relate to them or it could be used to encourage others to be more physically active.

Most people don’t have they're five a day. 

Most people don’t consider themselves healthy. 

Most people don’t have the recommended amount of water a day. 

 Athletes inspire some people to be healthy, but the majority aren't inspired by anyone meaning that my advert shouldn't have popular celebrities on them as most people can't relate to them.

 Most people agree with the idea that being healthy improves your mental health. I could show this in my adverts by having someone say that being healthier has made them happier.

 

My Google forms results show who I should market my advertising to (people between 16 and 18 who are physically active for roughly 2 hours a week), what I should or shouldn't include in my adverts to better appeal to the target audience (no popular celebrities instead someone who reflects the audience) and what product to create in order to catch the audience's attention like posters or radio adverts.

Audience profile

·         Age between 16 and 18

·         Work part time

·         Sometimes physically active

·         Are active for roughly 2 hours

·         Takes bus to and from college

·         Weren't physically active during lockdown

·         Don’t have they're five a day

·         Wouldn’t consider themselves healthy eaters

·         Don’t drink the recommended amounts of water

·         Isn't inspired to be healthy by anyone

·         Believes being physically healthy can improve their mental health

 

Ideas for focus group questions

1.    Do you consider yourself to be healthy? If not, what challenges prevent you from being healthy

 

2.    What kind of ads have made you think about yourself?

 

3.    What part of your lifestyle would you change and why?

 

4.    What changes would you make to your diet in order to be healthier?

 

5.    How can being physically healthy impact your mental health?

 

6.    Has anyone in your life encouraged you to be more active?

 

7.    What makes an ad unique or standout in your eyes?

 

8.    What adverts do you watch (TV, radio etc)

 

What makes an advert successful to you?

 

9.    What makes a healthy lifestyle?

 

 fitness Cian.m4a

 

Feedback:

1.     The ad needs to be memorable and stand out to ads of a similar nature

2.     If the ad is online, it needs to be skippable

3.     The ad should motivate people to exercise

4.     Dietary issues seem to be a prominent theme preventing a healthy lifestyle

5.     Being physically healthy can improve your mental health

6.     Everyone said that their parents encouraged them to be more healthy

7.     Lack of motivation, other people’s comments and medical issues were the three main challenges preventing people from exercising.

A big take away from the answers given was that other people’s comments and insults prevented people from exercising in public places like the gym or swimming pools leading to an overall lack of motivation or will to continue. Another big take away was that people’s diets and what they eat was a big reason why they wouldn’t consider themselves healthy (People’s health issues also resulted in people not exercising as they were unable to).

The current industry adverts are unappealing due to the editing and depiction of exercise being exclusively targeted towards extreme sports, like mountain climbing and football, other ways of exercise should be included and the focus of high-octane activities should be reduced if the advert is trying to encourage others to be more physically active, more casual and entertaining sports should be including such as hiking and cycling, many people find exercising boring so depicting sports as fun could encourage others to participate.

My advert needs to be visually intriguing to catch the viewers' attention and to stand out amongst other products, also try to be appealing to the target audience and being relatable to the people watching the advert as well as including visuals or music the audience would recognise like a popular song or a popular social media in order to market the advert to the target demographic.

 

 Audience Profile

 This audience profile compiles the results of my audience research such as my google forms survey and the results from my focus group.