Weight Watchers was ready to roll-out the largest changes to its program since its 1997 launch – a tweak to how it calculated its “points” to be more in-step with modern nutritional science. But rather than rush to market with advertising and PR campaigns, Weight Watchers waited and watched.
“We were something that we are not usually – which is kind of patient,” said senior vice-president of marketing Cheryl Callan.
Weight Watchers made its move in December 2010, about three years after the drastic overhaul of its program was conceived. And the wait paid off. By taking its time, the company was able to get its 19,000 meeting leaders – who would be influential in selling the changes to skeptical members – onboard, while lining up support from influential dietitians.
A year later, the company is thriving. Analysts cited the program launch as a factor in boosting third-quarter 2011 revenue 30%, outperforming competitors, including Nutrisystem, which reported falling revenue.
In an age where so many corporations have failed and even backtracked on major changes that seem rushed – see Netflix, Bank of America – how did the company manage to remain on course? Ad Age talked to key members of the team to find out.
Resisting temptation
“We really wanted to launch this program a year ahead of when we launched it,” Callan said. “It was tempting to do that. But we couldn’t have pulled off this level of synchronization across the entire organization and the attention to detail.”
The original idea arose in 2007 when new CEO David Kirchoff asked his team how they would design the program if it were created from scratch.
The answer was to create a system that tracked not just calories but the quality of calories. What emerged was “Points Plus,” in which the amount of protein, carbohydrates, fat and fiber in foods are all considered.
The new system favors foods that make the body work harder to convert calories into energy, resulting in fewer calories absorbed.
For members, the change is profound. For example: Fruits and vegetables are now point-free. Orange juice, on the other hand, costs three points.
Starting small
So Weight Watchers started small. After clinical trials and focus groups, the company rolled out the program in early 2010 at meeting sites in Manhattan, Los Angeles and Morristown, N.J.
Among the lessons: People loved point-free fruit, but it had to be carefully communicated because you can’t “eat 100 bananas and be OK,” Callan said.
Most importantly, Weight Watchers realized it could not go too deep into the science.
“All that stuff is kind of cool once you are in,” Callan said. “But what we learned was it wasn’t motivating to get you to join. Fundamentally, people want to believe they can be successful. They don’t want to get caught up in the detail of why that’s the case.”
So the ad campaign, developed by roster agency McCann Erickson, kept it simple. In ads starring Jennifer Hudson that began appearing in December 2010, the singer belts out a remake of Feeling Good, while Points Plus is briefly mentioned by a program user who says it “gave me the edge” to lose weight. The marketer even kept the same “Because it Works” tagline rolled out months earlier inHudson’s debut ad.
“In advertising, if you say too much, nobody hears anything,” said McCann Group creative director Sharon Ehrlich. “We wanted to sort of move people and let them know there was something new and great.”
Ever feel rushed to launch a product or campaign when all your instincts shouted “Wait?” Post your thoughts in our comment section.
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