Powerful Promotion Sends
Powerful Promotion Sends Delta Air Lines Wellness Challenge Registration and Results Soaring
Background
Building an Effective Partnership
Delta’s Employee Health and Wellbeing team places high importance on implementing fun, effective, camaraderie-based workplace wellness challenges. Since partnering with HES in 2014, their wellness challenges have reached record global participation. They’ve implemented 12 unique HES challenges, including participant favorite Walktober, a seasonal fitness challenge that continues to inspire Delta’s population to take charge of their health and wellbeing.
Getting on the Radar
As Delta’s most loved corporate wellness challenge, 2018 Walktober season couldn’t come fast enough for some eager participants. Using both modern and traditional tactics to spread the word about registration was important in generating even higher turnout. The team developed a communication strategy that began in the summer and continued through implementation, incorporating HES-provided content and timelines as well as original promotion ideas. Components included email challenges, intranet ads, posters, and Delta’s internal social media platform SkyHub as an effective new promotional tool.
Quick Stats
Benefit-eligible population:
85,000
Global reach:
304 locations in
52 countries
Training Champions
Delta equipped a team of 500 trained wellness champions with a complete toolkit including The Wellness Champion Guide to Walktober ― containing challenge details, ideas to boost participation, and general expectations ― as well as program logo/graphics. They had granola bars with a Walktober sleeve incorporating registration details to pass out to potential participants, too. Delta also hosted a champions-only competition to reward the individual whose 10-person team had the highest step count.
1.5 billion
steps recorded
122,526
autumn leaf icons earned
563
total teams
32
teams with perfect scores
1.5 billion
steps recorded
122,526
autumn leaf icons earned
563
total teams
32
teams with perfect scores
67%
higher registration
56%
of participants had a Solemate (8% increase)
61%
of participants competed
on a team (10% increase)
67%
higher registration
56%
of participants had a Solemate (8% increase)
61%
of participants competed on a team (10% increase)
From the Coordinator
We are so excited to achieve record global participation with HES. Challenges help our employees take charge of their own health and wellbeing in a fun way!
Jennifer Swanson,
Health & Wellbeing Specialist
Don’t do it alone.
You can’t be everywhere at once, so commission others to be advocates for your program within their division/location/department. Find health and wellness supporters in your organization who aren’t part of your team and give them training and resources to spread the word.
Get social.
With the introduction of SkyHub, Delta’s Walktober team took to the online message board. The results? Lots of chatter: 400+ posts and 1200+ responses mentioned the challenge; they were full of inspiring stories and social support before, during, and even after the challenge.
Chart the course.
Look for ways to facilitate growth and reach new sectors of your population, then develop a communication plan. Join forces with internal experts to be sure you’re taking advantage of all available outlets. Be specific, with targeted messages. And remember: The earlier you start promoting, the better the impact. The HES Account Management Team has been around the wellness challenge block a few times, and they’re always willing to provide support and experience-based suggestions to help identify which promotional efforts will yield the most positive results for you.
Listen to your population.
Does a certain wellness challenge create a buzz around the workplace? Go with it. If you find a challenge that gets participants enthused year after year, recognize it and give them what they want. But shake it up a bit, with new promotion techniques, live events, success stories, competitions and endorsements. Many HES clients run a favorite challenge annually or every other year for more than a decade, but it’s never exactly the same. HES updates and revamps popular programs so it’s easy to continue surprising and delighting participants.
Don’t do it alone.
You can’t be everywhere at once, so commission others to be advocates for your program within their division/location/department. Find health and wellness supporters in your organization who aren’t part of your team and give them training and resources to spread the word.
Get social.
With the introduction of SkyHub, Delta’s Walktober team took to the online message board. The results? Lots of chatter: 400+ posts and 1200+ responses mentioned the campaign; they were full of inspiring stories and social support before, during, and even after the challenge.
Chart the course.
Look for ways to facilitate growth and reach new sectors of your population, then develop a communication plan. Join forces with internal experts to be sure you’re taking advantage of all available outlets. Be specific, with targeted messages. And remember: The earlier you start promoting, the better the impact. The HES Account Management Team has been around the wellness challenge block a few times, and they’re always willing to provide support and experience-based suggestions to help identify which promotional efforts will yield the most positive results for you.
Listen to your population.
Does a certain wellness challenge create a buzz around the workplace? Go with it. If you find a challenge that gets participants enthused year after year, recognize it and give them what they want. But shake it up a bit, with new promotion techniques, live events, success stories, competitions and endorsements. Many HES clients run a favorite challenge annually or every other year for more than a decade, but it’s never exactly the same. HES updates and revamps popular programs so it’s easy to continue surprising and delighting participants.
Liked Most
“Gathering leaves and watching my steps take me around the world.”
“Being able to compete with other Delta stations and seeing my teammates tracking progress as well; also loved the attractions — seeing the autumn foliage around the US.”
“Friendship, teamwork, creating a habit, having more energy, feeling proud of my team and myself, being happier and occupied, enjoying the outdoors, mindfulness.”
“Camaraderie and competition… seeing people doing things for their health and wellness that they would not normally do because they are inspired.”
“Participating with a team for the first time made the challenge more fun, as we could encourage each other.”
Take your participants on a walking tour of autumn’s most vibrant landscapes.
