February 2010 – Cover Story: Have You Called Jenny Craig Lately?

The Weight Management Service Company Earns Electronic

Retailer’s Direct to Consumer Marketer of the Year Honors.

By Vitisia Paynich

Not since her role as the quintessential “girl next door” on the hit ’70s TV sitcom “One Day at a Time” has actress Valerie Bertinelli attracted so much media attention. Thanks to the Jenny Craig weight-loss program, the actress dropped 40 pounds and unveiled her bikini-fit body in a national commercial. The spot triggered a public relations windfall leading to talk show appearances, magazine covers and book deals for Bertinelli–and major brand exposure for Jenny Craig.

However, PR and general advertising are simply not enough for this iconic brand. To maintain its competitive edge in the $40 billion weight-loss market, Jenny Craig, which is owned by Nestle, embraces a multichannel strategy that encompasses DRTV, print and online, as well as social media.

The weight management service company combines its arsenal of top-celebrity spokespeople with infomercials, blogs and direct mail to engage clients in their preferred medium and promote shared dialogue. What’s more, the company features webisodes on its site highlighting both celebrity and client success stories.

This outside-the-box thinking has garnered Jenny Craig Electronic Retailer’s 2009 Direct to Consumer Marketer of the Year Award.

Electronic Retailer spoke one-on- one with Steve Bellach, senior director of North America marketing, to discuss the marketing strategies that have helped make Jenny Craig a leading weight-loss brand, along with future plans for expanding its global operations.

Electronic Retailer: What do you believe has made Jenny Craig such a strong competitor in the weight-loss category for three decades?

Steve Bellach: It really starts with the brand, the program and the fact that it’s a clinically proven weight management solution. It’s important that we have a science-based, personalized approach to weight management. And what really differentiates us from others are our one-on-one consultations.

The Jenny Craig website features a host of e-tools, links to celebrity blogs, as well as access to a library of webisodes.

ER: Jenny Craig embraces a multichannel marketing strategy that comprises traditional and new media. Why was it important for the company to concentrate on multiple channels as opposed to just one–such as television?

Bellach: As you know, the media environment has become so fragmented and consumers seek information through many media channels. We want to be in front of them in all those channels. At the end of the day, if the consumer decides they are ready to make a lifestyle change–and whether they’re watching TV, reading a magazine, on Facebook or whatever it might be–we want to make sure we’re in front of them talking about how effective our program is.

ER: How do you make certain that your branding remains consistent across all marketing channels?

Bellach: One strategy we use and have used over the years is our celebrity tactic. The celebrity helps put a face on the brand across channels. So, for example, if you see Valerie Bertinelli–or one of our current celebrities such as Sara Rue or Jason Alexander–on TV, on the website or in print, that brings some consistency to the brand. We are very strict in terms of our brand standards and how our brand is presented. A lot of my background is in classical brand marketing, so I like to make sure that every touchpoint a consumer uses to interact with us gives them a similar brand experience and communication.

ER: Which celebrity campaigns have been the most successful for the company?

Bellach: We’ve used a number of celebrities over the years. They’ve all been very successful in losing weight in their own way. With Valerie, we’re now in our third year with her and she’s really been very powerful for us. Queen Latifah was effective. We’re now just launching Sara Rue. Nicole Sullivan has been on the program for several months and she’s been very effective in generating publicity for us. One of the powers of working with a celebrity is the publicity topspin. So in addition to TV, print and online, we can generate magazine covers and significant television talk show appearances.

We think what makes our celebrity program most effective is we’re the only company out there that launches them before they’ve lost the weight. Think about any other competitor who uses even regular clients. They only show them after they’ve lost the weight. We stick our necks out there and say, “Hey, Sara’s joined Jenny Craig and she wants to lose 30 pounds.” And, she hasn’t lost the weight yet, but we’re so confident in the efficacy of the program that we then show their journey almost in real time–on TV, on the website both through written and video blogs, on Facebook. We give clients and consumers as many ways to connect with our celebrities as possible.

ER: You mentioned that actor Jason Alexander recently partnered with Jenny Craig. In recent years, you’ve mainly featured female celebs. Is this a way of focusing more on the male demographic?

Bellach: Yes, we just announced him in January and we’re very excited. Naturally, we hope it will reach a new demographic. It’s important to note, however, that we have used male [spokespeople] in the past, about 10 years ago. But you’re right, recent celebrities have been women. Right now, roughly about 10 percent of our client base are men and obviously, the obesity epidemic has affected everybody. We feel our program and the flexibility of it works for everybody–whether you’re older, younger, male or female. We just launched a microsite called Jenny Craig Type 2. The program is very effective for people with Type 2 diabetes. Again, it’s not necessarily a new program for communicating to men, but it’s more like saying, “Hey, Jenny Craig works for you, too.” We’re using Jason in the ad and Valerie will be featured, as well.

ER: When did Jenny Craig begin marketing through DRTV?

Bellach: Actually for many years, we have been in spot DR. It’s probably within the past five years or so that we have been national–primarily cable. And we feel that the comprehensive, hybrid approach gives us a nice balance between the efficiency of DR and the brand building with some of the other channels out there.

ER: Can you tell us about some of the company’s other marketing efforts?

Bellach: Well of course, TV advertising is critical. We also do a lot of print and a lot of magazine advertising. We make a significant investment in public relations. I’ve never been with an organization that gets the People magazine covers and talk show appearances. We also do a lot of direct marketing through direct mail with post cards, e-mail marketing, and also in the social media arena. In the past two years, we’ve ">been active on Facebook and Twitter.

ER: It’s clear that the web is also a big part of your overall marketing. What online tools and features do you utilize to assist existing clients as well as engage new ones?

Bellach: We offer a suite of free e-tools. You don’t even need to be a client, just a registered user. You have access to recipes and health help tools. Also on our website, there’s a menu planner to make it more efficient for existing clients. They don’t need to come into the center to go through all the details of planning their weekly menu; they can get a lot of the work done ahead of time.

In terms of reaching new clients, in the past year or so, we’ve launched a strategy against microsites. So, we have, for example, a microsite called JennyCraigAtHome.com. And on January 4, 2010, we launched three new microsites: JennyCraigForMen.com, JennyCraigType2.com and JennyCraigSilver.com. It’s really in the spirit of trying to reach new segments. We have some banner advertising out there as well against these microsites. There’s much richer content that would be relevant to these segments.

ER: When did you first venture into webisodes and how do your campaigns complement your DRTV efforts?

Bellach: Webisodes have been part of our mix for a little over a year. In late 2008, we launched our first webisodes. Consumers generally don’t know a lot about our program. And once they understand it and how comprehensive it is, they’re more compelled to join. It’s really hard to communicate a lot about the program in a 30-second ad. The webisodes have provided a great complement to our DRTV efforts to give a lot more information about the food, which is more about portion control and about the body or activity component, which is really not about joining a gym. It’s about getting off the couch and walking. There’s also the mind component. What are the motivators and how do we really help you with the lifestyle change that you’re looking for?

We’ve been working with Waldorf Crawford and they’ve been a great partner for shooting the infomercials, which kind of dovetailed into the production and creative development of the webisodes.

ER: You spoke earlier about Facebook and Twitter. How does social media play a role in your marketing and branding?

Bellach: With celebrities, we’re communicating a journey. It’s almost a reality show of their weight-loss progress. It’s for people who want to come to our website and read the written blogs or view the video blogs, which are monthly. Or maybe they want to go to Facebook and see how Sara’s doing at a certain stage of her weight-loss progress. So, it’s just another avenue to reach consumers and update them on the celebrity progress. It’s also about non-celebrity clients’ progress. If you went to the Jenny Craig fan page, for example, on Facebook there’s a lot of dialogue. One of the things we know is that if people have a support system and try to lose weight with somebody or at least know other people trying to lose weight, they’ll be more successful. And, it’s just really gratifying to read strings of comments and see how people are cheering each other on and providing support.

ER: Is the company currently doing mobile marketing?

Bellach: We’re evaluating that. Again, given that we’re so direct response-oriented, if we can find a way for it to generate efficient phone calls and efficient sales, we will pursue it. We just want to make sure that before we make a significant investment we really understand how it is going to work for our business.

ER: What does the future hold for Jenny Craig and the brand?

Bellach: We’re part of the Nestle organization, which is the largest food company in the world. They’re shifting their focus to be much more focused on health and wellness. Thus, there are significant resources around program innovation, around investment in the business, and we are looking at some global expansion opportunities. So, we really fit in the sweet spot of that.