Fitness Blog
Australia’s overweight men ignored by business
Wed Aug 6 2008The report, based on a trend index of 1,210 18 to 64-year-old Australians, hypothesised that men are less likely to acknowledge their weight issue because marketing, advertising and media currently neglects them and focuses predominantly on women.
'The trend index found weight issues were the second biggest concern for the Australian public, after the environment, with 78 per cent currently dieting or watching their weight' stated Chris Meredith, a senior consultant with The Leading Edge; 'This seemingly high figure, however, is masking a more significant issue; men are being ignored. Currently 47 per cent of women actively incorporate dieting or weight watching into their lifestyle, compared to 33 per cent of men.
'Yet the latest ABS figures (Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Social Trends 2007) show not only are rates rising, but almost two thirds of men are either overweight or obese. This means there are twice as many overweight men than there are men actually taking any steps to address the problem' Meredith continued.
'The Leading Edge believes men are being thrown to the curb in favour of women, who are the targets of most weight loss marketing from manufacturers, retailers and grocery stores. Whilst there are some new products aimed at men trickling onto the market there is still a long way to go to catch up with the plenitude of low-fat/ low-calorie products that are targeted at women'.
The trend index also showed that when it came to the issue of weight, people were very self-centred. Australians are much more concerned with their own weight (39 per cent of men and 44 per cent of women) than they are about anyone else's weight in their family. The results showed only 12 per cent of males and 10 per cent of women are most worried about the weight of their spouse/partner/defacto. And if women are more concerned about themselves than the men in their life; partners, father or sons, then products and services targeted at women are not likely to be bought by women for men. This, coupled with a lower concern rate amongst men and the lack of products or services targeted at men, suggests that the situation is unlikely to change.
Meredith commented, 'There is a large (and potentially even larger) market here that businesses should be actively looking at targeting. Marketers could start by thinking about the occasions that men would be consuming food and drinks products and then be engaging with men in a relevant way with a healthier product. It could be a potential gold mine. Coke Zero is an excellent example of making a low-cal product relevant to men. Diet Coke was positioned as a product for females, whereas Zero is targeting a male audience and has been a huge success. According to ACNielsen, research conducted after the first five weeks of Coke Zero's entry to the market showed the product achieved the highest level of household penetration ever for any beverage, confectionary or personal care launch in Australia'.
Source: Markson Sparks PR
« Go Back Tags: Weight Issues, Overweight, Obesity
Comments (1)
Very interesting statistics. I think another example of this is Hahn Super Dry low carb beer. I am creating an online platform similar to Facebook, but for fitness professionals and their clients.
We are targeting men and women, both over weight or just looking to improve their overall health.
Great article
Posted by Terry Gilsenan at 05:38 PM October 14 2008
