The Health of Australia initiative, being brought to market by Paul Waldren's Health Consultancy, is nearing launch. But it's six months behind schedule, and Waldren says that's because cajoling brands to put their money where their mouths are has been tough.
Health of Australia is built around a personalised content platform and data hub designed to change attitudes and behaviours around health. Waldren said there is a need for private sector action because Government-backed initiatives have spectacularly failed to drive behavioural change.
News Corp is a founding partner of the scheme but despite interest and ongoing talks, other brands are cautious about signing over advertising dollars to an unproven platform.
“We've been in constant dialogue with leading Australian brands in the areas of health services, grocery and health insurance," said Waldren. "While we certainly have interest we are yet to close out the deals we need to. It would seem that sometimes it's easy to talk, but harder to actually do. All that's missing is a brand that believes in investing its marketing budget where its health values are,” he said.
"Can it be frustrating? Sure. But we are taking a very new approach with Health of Australia. It's not only a massive data play, it also takes a completely new approach to serving content to users. Every user will have a unique experience. We see wellness as a very individual thing. To think you can take a one size fits all approach to health is crazy, but that's exactly what health media has by and large been doing.”
The project starts with a health survey designed to take the pulse of the nation’s attitudes towards health – the largest ever collected according to Waldren. It will also provide a growing data base of attitudes and behaviour that can be tracked over coming years.
The data is then used to create a personalised content hub for each user that collates relevant articles, videos, podcasts, menu planners, shopping lists and other content created by The Health Consultancy's team of 50 specialist health professionals and content creators.
Waldren believes that Health of Australia will succeed where previous Government backed heath initiatives have failed because they take the wrong approach by focusing on a generic approach to health issues. By bringing media corporates and brand partners on board, Waldren reckons Health of Australia can make better progress with a personalised approach that matches resources to individuals.
Waldren accepts that, as with any brand-funded venture, once the first partner is onboard, others usually follow.
“Brands are risk adverse when it comes to something new. We know that. It takes time for them to understand the breadth of our offer, but I know they will. There are too many people who want this, and too many who need it for it not to get strong support from the right brands,” he said.
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