Campaign Stats:
- 33 Pieces of coverage
- Audience Reach: 69 Million
- Air Time: 116 Minutes
- Coverage Views: 269K
- Circulation: 2.78 Million
- 291 shares
4media group conducted an integrated campaign with sugar alternative brand, Natvia, in order to boost brand awareness and promote their products during Sugar Awareness Week. The campaign consisted of research, broadcast and news generation elements. Specifically the campaign centered how much sugar children are consuming and the impact that is having on their health. In order to look in more detail at the impact, Natvia teamed up with The British Obesity Society.
The campaign was fronted by Paul Evans, Vice Chairman of The British Obesity Society and Operations Director of School Health UK as well as Sam Tew, Director of Natvia.
The research of over 2000 parents of under 16’s, conducted by our in-house research division, Atomik Research, revealed children are consuming dangerously high levels of sugar throughout the year which cumulative amounts to 30.5 1kg bags of sugar.
The research found that children under 16 are eating twice the recommended daily sugar intake during a typical school week day- just from treats alone. Over the weekend, children are consuming 5 times the recommended amount (128g per day).
But it’s holidays and annual celebrations that are boosting children’s intake to very high levels. On their birthday weekend, children’s sugar intake rises to 343g on average, as according to their parents, they eat 3 slices of cake and 3 puddings, among other treats, as well as drinking 3 cans of fizzy drinks and 3 glasses of fruit juice. Children attend around 11 birthday parties a year and at each party children are eating around 335g of sugar.
During the Easter period, parents say their children eat 6 Easter eggs on average, along with 5 small bags of sweets and 5 chocolate bars. With a typical Easter egg containing 61.6g of sugar, this amounts to 354g from Easter Eggs alone.
The summer holidays are also a time of indulgence, with children on an average week eating 3 ice creams or lollies, 3 muffins (or slices of cake), among other treats, as well as drinking 3 cans of fizzy drinks and 3 glasses of fruit juice. During a typical summer holiday week, children are consuming 407g of sugar.
But it’s Christmas where we see dangerously high levels of sugar consumption, as children are eating around 1,947g of free sugars.
While many parents are concerned about their child eating so much sugar, almost half (48%) believe sweet treats are part of the fun of these events and a third admit they let their child decide how many sweet treats they have.
The health concern relating to sugar intake that parents are most likely to be worried about for their child is plaque/erosion of teeth (43%). 40% worry about obesity, 41% worry about dental cavities, and just 26% worry about Type II Diabetes.
The campaign secured extensive media coverage across broadcast and news outlets. Coverage highlights included BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio Kent, BBC Radio Tees, BFBS and more. It also picked up widespread news coverage in print and online, with highlights including The Daily Express in print and online, The Metro, The Daily Star, The Daily Mirror and more. You can view the full coverage here.