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WARREN, N.J. — The shared values of Haleon and Target Corp. have led to the launch of their second annual All for Wellness campaign advancing equitable health care.
The 360° omnichannel initiative educates shoppers on disparities in the system, while delivering care to underserved communities through a partnership with the nonprofit Remote Area Medical (RAM).
The end-cap is chainwide.
All Target stores are featuring a co-created end-cap with Haleon products through June 26, while Haleon has donated $100,000 to support RAM pop-up clinics in underserved areas.
The retailer’s mission of helping families find joy, in part through healthier living, and Haleon’s drive “for health with humanity” are behind the program, says Ken Friend, the supplier’s vice president of sales and lead executive for Target.
“With the synergies between these two philosophies, we realized there’s something there,” says Friend.
That realization led to research into healthcare barriers for the underserved, and the discovery that cost — and access — are the primary hurdles.
Digging deeper, Haleon found that barriers to care disproportionately affect people of color and the LGBTQ+ community. With both companies wanting to address the needs of those populations, Haleon worked closely with Target for months to co-create an inclusive health and wellness platform accessible to all of its shoppers.
Subsequent work with agencies established the program’s online and in-store elements, with the goal of having the brick and mortar experience look similar to the digital experience, with clear messaging for both. That in turn led to the partnership with RAM, which maximizes financial support to meet the health, dental and eye care needs of underserved communities throughout the country.
Visiting a RAM clinic at a high school in Cookeville, Tenn. was “an eye-opening experience,” says Lisa Saathoff, Haleon’s shopper engagement lead for Target. “It’s all about inclusive healthcare — about preventing pain and alleviating suffering — no questions asked.”
Clinics, which typically run over a weekend, have up to 75 oral care stations staffed by dental students and hundreds of volunteers to care for up to 500 people a day. “As we looked for partners, we realized RAM is the perfect choice because it’s delivering care to people who can’t afford it,” says Saathoff. “It’s been an incredible partner.”
People leave the clinics with eyeglasses and dentures made on the spot. “This is just amazing,” Friend says. “These underserved people go home with dentures, eye glasses, prescriptions and a diagnosis if needed and that really helps their health. They can now eat or not be in pain, or they can help their loved ones because they’re in less pain or they can see what they’re doing.”
“Five hundred patients in two days,” he stresses. “Can you believe that? That just warms our hearts.”
One element of the campaign’s messaging this year is the image of multicolored hands, which was designed by a non-binary Black artist. Eye tracking revealed that the image resonated with viewers, providing a deeper appreciation of the program’s goals. The hands represent “the multifaceted communities in which we all live,” says Friend.
Messaging has to be authentic, he emphasizes, saying, “You don’t just rainbow stripe a product and say it’s for pride, right? So we led with our and Target’s mutual values and the dedication to helping these communities with healthcare.”
Also, research after the 2022 campaign found that 53% of shoppers said they are more likely to support brands that help nonprofits. “So we’re doing exactly that,” Saathoff says.
Reinforcing the effort is additional information on RAM on the end-caps, as well as on the QR code’s landing page. “We tried to bring in more heart, with testimonials from volunteers and from people who had received service,” she says.
A healthcare influencer, ‘Nurse Julia,’ accompanied Saathoff to the clinic, and part of the 2023 communication enhancement will be her story. She will provide Instagram content about the clinic as well as TikTok content about her experience inside a Target store.
Friend says the strength of last year’s campaign and the initial results this year have fostered hopes for a long-term platform. ”Last year was an incredible success, and we took the learnings to tighten the activation and communications a little and make it even bigger and better in 2023 and beyond. We’re hoping that this is a repeatable, evergreen program and platform. We’ll get more Target guest insights on how they felt and thought about it, and keep enhancing it.”
