What does consumer engagement have to do with breakfast?
In November, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation hosted the ALIGN Summit, the final conference bringing together representatives from Aligning Forces for Quality communities to share successes and tools they’ve developed. In one of a series of presentations modeled after the popular TED talks, John Gallagher, Alliance director of communication and development and part-time bed and breakfast owner, educated the audience on how serving a good breakfast is just like running a successful consumer engagement campaign.
Test everything first
In our consumer engagement campaigns, we rely on messages that have been tested, often with consumer focus groups. When you are talking about something as important as health care, you need to use ones that have been tested.
Serve in courses
We’ve all been to breakfast buffets, where you pile everything on your plate, and then everything tastes like pancake syrup. But serving dishes in courses makes each one memorable. The same principle goes for consumer messaging. Each message should be its own course, served it up in bite-size pieces.
Make it enjoyable
In our consumer engagement campaign, we make it fun. People don’t need to listen to another earnest lecture about why you must exercise. You can convey the same messages, but now they are fun and enjoyable, and people listen when they are enjoyable.