After launching a program with several hundred grade 6-7 students at Bergen Technical High School today, I wondered whether kids respond better to:
- ‘Don’t do X or Y will happen’ types of instructions or
- ‘Do A and you can earn B’ types of directions.
In terms of fighting childhood obesity, knowing the answer to this is important for trying to change kids’ behavior. For example, President Obama has previously considered implementing a soda sin tax to make it more expensive to purchase these unhealthy drinks. The expectation is that this will reduce overall consumption of these drinks and so help reduce the effects that higher sugar intake and a poor diet have on fat content in kids’ bodies.
Will this work? Before we analyze this, I need to revisit my Economics 101 notes where I find the following…
Due to its addictive nature, soda is typically classified as an ‘inelastic good’ ie a large % change in the price leads to a smaller than proportionate decrease in demand.
In normal terms, this means that the effects of the tax will be minimal at best (side note- this will be a decent revenue generator for the government!).
Let’s flip this a second and look at this from the other angle (the second type of instruction above). At Switch2Health, we have learnt from the loyalty and customer retention industry to believe that incentives are the key to personal motivation. That was what helped us develop our S2H REPLAY watch that records and rewards your physical activity. Judging from the initial excitement of the kids at Bergen Tech and seeing them upload their reward codes every day, this could be the start of something that really changes behavior.
I guess only time will tell to see which one has the bigger impact…
As an entrepreneur, one of the first lessons you learn is that everything you do takes twice as long and costs twice as much. So after several iterations, lots of blood, sweat and tears and passionate disagreements in the office, we were delighted to finally welcome the second generation of wrist-worn products that reward you for your activity, the S2H REPLAY:
It’s a major milestone to have product available to sell in 2009, considering some of the supply issues that other fitness product companies have had this year with their overseas manufacturers.
Next step is to create awareness- see you in double the time we expect it to take us to do this
Let me tell you a story, a story I heard from David Meerman Scott…
Imagine you’re the head of marketing at a major theme park and are responsible for generating awareness about a major new attraction- what would you do?
With a promotional budget of tens of millions of dollars, you’d probably buy your way into people’s minds, interrupting them with TV Ads and Billboards, hire a big PR agency and beg the media to write about your attraction, right?
Not Cindy Gordon, vice president of new media and marketing partnerships at Universal Orlando Resort, when she launched The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Instead Gordon told just seven people. Yes seven!
And those seven people told tens of thousands.
And by the time the mainstream media listened to this story, there were conversations about The Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction on TVs and Radio reports, in magazine editorials, blogs and tweets- reaching an estimated 350,000,000 people worldwide within 24 hours!
Think about that the next time you hold a special invite-only event for seven of your most popular brand evangelists…
Last night we were treated to a double helping of entrepreneurship- the first was the CT Digital Media Business Conference where existing companies, including Switch2Health, exhibited innovative products; the second was Columbia Business School’s Fall Venture Showcase for students to demonstrate their new concepts. This year featured a melting pot of entrepreneurs and advisors, including an Olympic silver medalist! Here, Seth and I sought companies to mentor for their ideas to become a reality. Four businesses stood out, the first two from CT and the last two from CBS:
Freefroot- http://freefroot.com/ – Fancy a free Dyson DC24, the latest in innovative vacuum cleaners? If so, head over to the easy-to-use FreeFroot site. Hooman Majidi conceived the idea of matching users who wanted to enter a draw to win a free product to companies that wanted to give a free product away. Dyson gains additional exposure and interest and also gain customers who want to ‘buy it now.’ The site is growing fast and is certainly one to watch, especially as its platform is scalable.
Tournament One- http://www.tournament1.com/ – having the largest TV in the exhibitors’ room was certainly a great way to attract the crowds but when we saw the demonstration of their new 3D TV (without the use of 3D glasses), it was a real eye-opener. Their innovative technology offers not only interactive 3D content in Keno, Slot and Lottery Monitor and Social Space Games, but also 3D linear content in – Mysteries Advertising packages and Progressives.
MavenMagnet- http://www.mavenmagnet.com – most businesses understand the importance of social media as a strategy to generate awareness but how do you manage all of your feeds (twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, flickr, YouTube, Digg etc) all at once? Enter MavenMagnet, a new ‘hub and spoke’ model of managing your conversations across platforms and identifying who your mavens (influencers) are.
One Card- the team here is creating a card that amalgamates all of your credit cards, debit cards, memberships and loyalty cards onto one card. Make your life easier and your wallet lighter with this highly secure and biometrically-protected card. Currently in development and testing, this is an idea that could re-invent the way we shop.
Look forward to more great ventures next semester…
When asked what the three most important things he has learned in business, Recyclebank CEO and co-founder, Ron Gonen, replied ‘People, people, people.’ It’s no surprise that people are often referred to as a company’s ‘greatest asset’ but when several businesses fail due to inadequate capital and lack of cash, what’s an entrepreneur to do?
Given the difficult economic times when raising capital is proving harder than ever, three sources of free finance and human capital are often overlooked.
1. Governmental grants and funding initiatives- these initiatives often specialize in a particular field, whether it’s women-led ventures, green or tech. Switch2Health recently received an award for $115,000 (over 2 years) from the NJCST specifically to hire an MBA via their Entrepreneur Fellowship Program. This gives S2H the opportunity to have access to talent that can scale the venture.
2. B-School Clubs- This is another underused resource. Several clubs try to bridge the gap between the theory taught in classrooms and practice in the real world. With entrepreneurship increasingly being taught at B-Schools, clubs seek innovative ventures that may need advice on strategy, finance, marketing or operations. For example, Columbia Business School’s Small Business Consulting Program pairs teams of 3-5 MBAs with clients seeking consulting on a semester-long project. This free program allows businesses to gain exposure to a school and also allows the school students to implement the ideas they have learnt.
3. Internships- Given the current state of the job market, several B-School students are currently without a job. Many have been unable to go into their number one job choice and so have been advised to bolster up their resume by taking another position and gaining experience. Entrepreneurs have seen this as a way to offer unpaid internships for between 8-12 weeks to see the impact an MBA can have during this trial period. These can often be advertised through the school clubs without paying a fee. Usually a small stipend (a few thousand dollars) or equity options are paid if the entrepreneur has been very satisfied with the MBA’s work.
So there you go. Three ways you can gain talent without having to pay for it. Do a search in your area to find out more about your local university/ school clubs and government initiatives. It’s certainly worth exploring and could be the difference between having a successful venture and an unfulfilled dream.
Let’s face it- we’re typically not a nation that loves to get out of bed early, hit the gym, do a Cardio Vascular work out at 70% of our max heart rate for 60 minutes and then repeat this 3-4 times a week, every week. In fact, when’s the last time you did that? 1 year ago? 5 years? 10 years?
We all know the importance of exercise and how it gives us long-lasting health benefits and energy. What we don’t know is the example our inactivity sets for our children. It’s shocking to read about the latest Obesity Epidemic Figures estimating that 65% of Americans are now overweight or obese; and more than 61 million adults and 9 million children are obese.
What is being done?
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. These guidelines, the first to be issued by the federal government, present science-based recommendations to help persons aged 6 years or older improve their health through physical activity. The Center for Disease Control recommends children and adolescents take part in moderate to vigorous activity for 60 minutes daily.
This is a start, but this ‘stick’ approach is unlikely to suddenly get everyone moving. The real challenge is in motivating individuals to be physically active. For example, wouldn’t it be great if we could gain rewards for being active? Rewards such as Free DVDs, Free movie tickets, free MP3s or even offer your own rewards to friends or children for completing a number of days of physical activity?
One idea that Switch2Health has developed is the S2H REPLAY- it’s a watch with a difference! Not only does it tell the date and time and come in 6 cool colors, it also has an intelligent sensor that tracks the amount of time you have been moderately to intensely physically active- this includes running, dancing, jumping, playing tennis etc.
Each time you reach 60 minutes of activity, a unique reward code is generated which you can then upload online at www.s2h.com to collect points. Depending on how many points you have, you can redeem your points for Free ringtones, MP3s, sports gear, DVDs, movie tickets and more!
Plus, as a parent who wants to challenge their child, a teacher to a student, friend to friend or employer to employee, they can create their own reward challenge.
Innovative, isn’t it?
The S2H REPLAY will launch in late November 2009 so register here if you would like to be one of the first to receive one.
All of a sudden, an early start doesn’t seem too painful after all…
