We are launching our brand new book, "A More Active Lifestyle", a behaviour change tool to help people along the journey to become more physically active. We are offering a number of complimentary copies of this resource to interested organisations. Read below to find out more...

Sitting on a Gold Mine

Imagine, really, sitting on a gold mine. Imagine knowing a secret formula for a product, something you could bottle and sell, which made your skin glow, made you look and feel years younger, helped you to lose weight, busted cellulite and helped to shape your body and made you feel fantastic and alive. Imagine if it came with such a wealth of evidence to prove that it worked too. I think it would be such a revolutionary "miracle" product that it would outsell every beauty product and treatment on the market. Imagine knowing that secret formula and not using it. Sitting on a gold mine.

I went to Professional Beauty North at the Manchester Central exhibition hall last weekend. It's the Northern version of the annual expo for the beauty industry. The first thing I noticed was the hall smelt very strongly of fake tan and it was easy to spot why as I walked around the exhibition, there were a number of portable fake tan kiosks in use for customers eager to take advantage of special show prices for a quick blast of paint.

The beauty industry is very alive, demonstrated by the fact the room was jam packed with people walking around, carrying bags full of goodies they had just purchased. The queues to buy fake nails and fake lashes products were the longest, a segment of the beauty sector which is in apparent boom at present. Then there were the major brands and the expensive creams and treatments which tended to have one of three marketing messages:

1. "We have a secret you don't know because we travelled to a previously unknown corner of the world and found a plant/shrub/stone/water/mineral that you didn't know about and it has secret properties for making you look younger."

2. "We have developed our understanding of science to such a degree that we've been able to use its magic to make you look perfect. It's science you see and we're very clever."

3. "We are foreign, and the laboratoires (said in a French accent) on our Paris industrial estates are much more glamorous that your labs in the UK so we therefore know better how to make you look glamorous."

There was also a lot of high-tech on display for teeth whitening, water softening, cellulite removing, skin smoothing and so on. However, the machines all looked just a bit dated, strange off-white contraptions that would have looked good in an 80s sci-fi film with pumps and tubes and electrodes.

One of the stands had a TV showing a news channel. A caption scrolling across the bottom of the screen said that the UK was the 4th worst in Europe for adult obesity, at which a chap walking past commented "at least we're good at something!"

Outside the exhibition hall, filling up the steps to the main entrance were dozens of young girls, beauty therapists, with gorgeous nails, long eyelashes and a little too good a tan for this time of year - ALL smoking cigarettes.

As you'll probably know already, there is one product which hands-down beats all the above for beauty benefits and that's physical activity. It really is a miracle product which can transform people from the inside out. The best thing is it's free and it's relatively instant with many of the benefits of being active felt soon after getting into the habit. I've not seen a controlled study to back this up, but take a closer look at any athlete taking part in ourdoor sports, marathon, runners, cyclists, skiers, tennis players, triathletes and so on and you'll see just how many of them have flawless skin. A blast of cold fresh air and a bit of sweat and effort do wonders for your complexion.

The problem is that, in the main, we don't market physical activity very well. We talk about long-term health benefits and disease. Open up any strategy on physical activity and you'll see reference to cancers, diabetes, heart disease and strokes in the first paragraph. Pick up a leaflet on the benefits of being more active and you'll find stats and data on relative health risk that most human beings don't really have the time or inclnation to dive into fully enough to understand, let alone be persuaded by.

The buzz at the beauty expo and the sheer size and growth of the beauty industry tell us that many share an almost desperate desire to look and feel their best in the short term, and we can harness that desire in our effort to generate more physical activity participants if only we start to use a language that means something to those people, to sell them our 'miracle product, and offer them the benefits they want.

A New Physical Activity Resource

As you know, at Hampson Solutions we publish high quality resources for behaviour change and our “My Weight Loss Workbook” and “Achieving a Work-Life Balance” diaries have now been used by thousands of people to support them towards a healthier and happier lifestyle. We have just published our third book, "A More Active Lifestyle" which focuses purely on supporting people to help themselves become more active. The book contains 6 weeks of lifestyle challenges with a specific physical activity theme with record sheets, a certificate and suggestions of next steps. We've only had them a couple of weeks and already have dispatched the majority of these books to our wonderful early-bird customers, although, we have allocated a limited number to send out as samples for any customers who wish to look through a copy of one before making the decision whether or not it fits with their plans.

The workbook is built upon the following principles from the latest understanding of human behaviour and decision-making processes to help people over the age of 16 to become and stay more active: Harnessing the power of social norms for motivation and support Promoting short-term, certain and positive benefits for physical activity Working with our natural tendency to switch to the default option Providing objectivity and reflection through the practical diary-style of the workbook Supporting people to recognise existing behaviour and overcome obstacles to change Generation of new habits by linking new behaviours to existing autonomic behaviour Predictable failure and support for relapse to old behaviours It is a flexible resource with many potential uses, including but not limited to the following: A support tool for fitness trainers and health trainers to work through with their clients A welcome gift for new fitness members or new participants of an activity programme A retention tool to encourage people to continue with a fitness programme or to come back into a more regular active routine. A tool to support those on a GP referral programme A free gift for participants to attract them to take part in a one-off event A give-away at exhibitions (for just a bit more than the cost of a pedometer) Click here for a price list. The book can also be ordered as a bespoke resource with local branding and including additional pages of local information. Contact us for further information on this option. If you would like to receive a copy of this book (one copy per organisation), please email me at denise@hampsonsolutions.co.uk with your contact details including postal address. If you want more than one copy please click here for an order form.

IMSPA Launches New Nationwide Search for Regional and National Management Board Members

IMSPA has started a campaign to recruit members to their Regional and National Management Boards. Having recently received the Royal Charter from the Privy Council, the task ahead for IMSPA is to lead the drive to increase standards professional practice in the sport and physical activity sector. If you have the desire to contribute to the shaping of this industry for the future, take a closer look here at how you can get involved.

Goodbye to Steve Jobs

You will have heard the sad news of the death of Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs earlier this month following a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Through being an incredible visionary and displaying outstanding leadership he was a man who quite literally changed our way of living. What I liked best about Steve Jobs was his ability to understand what people wanted without askng them first. He was also a design obsessive and put design aesthetic at the core of everything he produced.

I'm a subscriber to Before & After, a design and tech e-magazine, who's author, John McWade wrote this about Steve Jobs last year around the time of the launch of the first iPad. If I could share even just a little food for thought with you in reflection of the life of such an inspiring man, this would be it.

http://www.mcwade.com/DesignTalk/2010/05/possibilities/

Hampson Solutions Ltd, Commodore House, 51 Conway Road, Colwyn Bay, Conwy LL29 7AW
Tel: 01492 530700 | Mobile: 07727 642846 | Fax: 01492 517815
Email: denise@hampsonsolutions.co.uk | Web: www.hampsonsolutions.co.uk

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