January 13, 2003
New York Times
Ad Campaigns Expand for Weight Loss Programs
By PATRICIA WINTERS LAURO
DR. ROBERT ATKINS, the king of the high-protein and low-carbohydrate diet, and Dr. Dean Ornish, a staunch proponent of the low-fat lifestyle, have become the Norman Mailer and Gore Vidal of the diet industry, duking out their opposing views on television and in newspapers and magazines.
Now the battle between the doctors and their companies and products is spilling over into the advertising world.
Atkins Nutritionals in New York, a sister company to Dr. Atkins's clinic, is increasing its ad spending over last year's, which was already a hefty addition to its budget. This month, it is introducing a multimillion-dollar print and radio campaign that capitalizes on the diet's heightened popularity following recent research suggesting that its low-carbohydrate approach may have merit.
Lifestyle Advantage, a joint venture between Dr. Ornish's institute and the Pittsburgh-based health insurer Highmark, markets and oversees Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease, and it began advertising its Ornish five-day retreats nine months ago. Although its initial campaign was modestly budgeted at under $1 million, Anna Silberman, the chief executive of Lifestyle Advantage, said that figure was sure to grow.
The two campaigns will have plenty of company over the next few months, the usual time for a barrage of weight loss ads. Companies like the market leader, Weight Watchers International, which spends more than $30 million on ads annually, as well as Jenny Craig, a $20 million-a-year spender, have started new campaigns with increased ad budgets.
This year, given all the Atkins-inspired publicity and the country's worsening obesity epidemic, ad spending by the $39.8 billion weight loss industry is expected to reach a new high.
According to CMR/TNS Media Intelligence in New York, ad spending for weight loss programs and products — excluding diet foods, diet beverages and health clubs — totaled $241 million for the 10 months through October. In 2001, the total was $216 million, and in 2000 it was $190 million.
Even marketers whose products do not seem particularly diet-friendly are adapting their campaigns to capture the Atkins-inspired consumer. Last September, Anheuser-Busch introduced Michelob Ultra, urging consumers to "lose the carbs, not the taste."
Other foods and drinks are also being swept along by the low-carbohydrate clamor. The bacon and egg breakfast is experiencing renewed popularity, according to NPD Group, a market research firm based in Port Washington, N.Y. And Dr Pepper Seven/Up Inc., which recently reformulated Diet Rite, attributes the brand's growth partly to the fact that Dr. Atkins recommends the artificial sweetener sucralose, which the company now uses in the drink, said Jim Trebilcock, senior vice president of marketing for Dr Pepper/Seven Up.
"What's happening today is that due to global obesity rates, virtually all kinds of programs are in demand," said John LaRosa, research director of Marketdata Enterprises in Tampa, Fla. "But the Atkins diet is getting all the hype right now."
Dr. Atkins, who has espoused his diet for more than 30 years, believes that carbohydrates and sugar — not fat — are the culprits behind obesity. This approach is the exact opposite of the diet championed by the medical establishment for decades, an approach that is low in fat and high in the complex carbohydrates found in foods like fruits and vegetables.
Dr. Ornish, who has argued that the high-protein diet is dangerous to heart health, went on a media blitz last year, soon after the first published scientific study about the low-carbohydrate diet in two decades appeared in The American Journal of Medicine. The study found that people lost weight and that cholesterol levels improved, but it urged more research to determine the approach's long-term safety.
The increased interest has given a lift to sales of Atkins's products, but it also presents problems for the company that Dr. Atkins founded, said Matthew Wiant, Atkins Nutritionals' new senior vice president of marketing. "There's a lot of great publicity out there right now, but our first concern is many people don't know how to follow the Atkins diet safely and effectively," Mr. Wiant said. "It's not just about eating meat."
As a result, the Atkins print ad campaign, which is running in magazines like Vanity Fair and People, gives people enough information to begin the Atkins diet, and also highlights Atkins's controlled-carbohydrate foods. Atkins Nutritionals now has 30 low-carbohydrate foods, up from 15 in 2001, and it plans to add 15 new products this year, Mr. Wiant said.
Still, Atkins radio spots created by Mad Dogs & Englishmen in New York do play up the hype. They promote the diet's seeming redemption by explaining how the reaction to Atkins has gone from a soundtrack of laughter to one of applause.
Mr. Wiant said Atkins would spend more than it did last year on advertising, which for the year through October totaled $3.9 million, according to CMR. That is up from $2.4 million spent in 2001 almost solely on Atkins supplements. The twist this year is to promote the diet itself in addition to the products.
The marketers of Dr. Ornish's program, Lifestyle Advantage, expect to see more advertising of its hospital-based centers, ads paid for by the health plans participating in the Ornish program.
So far, 25 health plans, most of them in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, pay for patients with heart disease to enroll in the Ornish program.
Lifestyle Advantage will also continue to use print, radio and TV to advertise its retreats this year in eight states, from California to Pennsylvania. The ads are headlined "Live Better."
Ms. Silberman said the increased advertising had nothing to do with the Atkins diet's spurt of publicity and was linked solely to America's obesity and heart disease epidemic. "That's why advertising is so important," she said. "Our goal is to bring this clinically proven diet to the American mainstream, not just to people who can pay for retreats."
Meanwhile, Weight Watchers, the longtime market leader, keeps growing in the face of dozens of other approaches, said Greg Cappelli, senior research analyst for Credit Suisse First Boston in Chicago. "A lot of diets come and go, and what works so well over time is really the educational-based model," Mr. Cappelli said. "It's fair to say Atkins may be hot for a while. But Weight Watchers has stood the test of time."
Weight Watchers began a new ad campaign on Dec. 26, stressing its longtime "winning points" program and featuring its spokeswoman, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York.
Jenny Craig Inc., whose diet includes personal consultation and specific foods purchased at its centers, has added an edge to its marketing. One TV spot shows a large pair of underwear next to a skimpy thong and asks, "Want to change your underwear this year?"
"We wanted to be a little breakthrough, get some attention and make people laugh," said Patti Larchet, the president of the company, which is based in Carlsbad, Calif. "I don't know that much is changing in the market right now, but when January rolls around, it's always interesting to watch who else comes in."
The marketers are preaching to a crowd that wants to be converted. According to NPD Group, 63 percent of Americans — and 68 percent of baby boomers — say they want to lose at least 20 pounds, up from 52 percent in 1990.
But in reality, Americans' waistlines just keep expanding. NPD, the market research firm, says 56 percent of Americans are overweight, compared with 50 percent in 1998.
New York Times
Dr. Atkins enters the diet campaign wars with WW & JC
Re: Dr. Atkins enters the diet campaign wars with WW & JC
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