Every two years, more than 10,000 athletes age 50 and up compete in the largest sporting event for their age group – the National Senior Games. Despite the spirited competition and heart-warming storylines, the event often goes unnoticed among the general public – and particularly among boomers and seniors - as the games are not broadcast.
Health and well-being company, Humana, is the premier sponsor of the games. As a company dedicated to helping people achieve lifelong well-being, they were particularly interested in promoting the games in ways that would resonate with seniors and boomers, especially future Games' participants. Their idea? An engaging, humorous and inspiring video about seniors... and for seniors.
Specifically, Humana sought to leverage their social channels to drive 50,000 video views across all their social platforms.
Every senior who participates in the Senior Games has a unique life story and, despite pre-conceived notions, seniors are online and social. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, the 74-plus demographic is the fastest growing demographic among social networks.
As such, Humana sought to:
- Demonstrate, capture and share the personalities and abilities of a diverse set of National Senior Games athletes via video; and
- Leverage paid and owned channels to reach target audiences
Humana and Coyne produced an endearing, humorous video featuring Senior Games athletes running, jumping, volleying and dribbling through Mall of America. The video expressed the "Mall Walkers" youthful spirit and athleticism, drove national excitement ahead of the games and primed public appetite for more sensational athletes.
The video launched on YouTube and was uploaded natively to Humana social media channels four weeks before the Games to help drive interest and awareness.
Social media advertising was utilized to help drive a targeted set of boomers to the video and drive engagement among the 50+ audience.
The Mall Walkers video garnered nearly 80,000 views on YouTube, contributing to more than 650,000 views across all social platforms. Facebook alone contributed to more than 330,000 views.
Positive comments on the Mall Walker YouTube video included "Great portrayal of us--having fun with fitness!" and "Very proud of my 92 year old mother who will be competing in three Track and Field events, having qualified with three medals in the California Senior Games in Pasadena."
The video heavily bolstered engagement levels on Humana's social media channels. Specifically, Humana's tweets about the video out-performed all previous engagement rates on the company's handle, with a 12.07% engagement rate. This exceeded Humana's average organic rate of .8% and the paid Q1 cross-industry benchmark rate of 1.43%.
The main video post on Humana's Facebook page garnered more than 400 shares, 1,055 likes and 50 comments, including "You go seniors, wish I could do that HA" and "Very well done and fun video with a timely message. Keep moving and keep fun/humor in your life."
Overall, the program succeeded at activating boomers and seniors to engage with the brand on social platforms, including YouTube, and showed the nation that fitness after 50 is essential for longevity through the stories of Humana Game Changers.
