Partners: Spotlight Promotions

VERB Summer Scorecard
Lexington, Kentucky
June 1–August 10, 2004
and
June 1–August 1, 2005

The Lexington Tweens Nutrition and Fitness Coalition led by the Lexington Fayette County Health Department uses a community-based prevention marketing approach to make regular physical activity popular and accessible to Lexington tweens during the summer months.

The coalition created the VERB Summer Scorecard for tweens to track their physical activities and win prizes. To make the scorecard program relevant for tweens, the health department formed a youth board of local high school students and trained them to conduct focus groups with local tweens to learn about the types of events and prizes they would find appealing.

From the tween focus groups, the coalition learned that kids wanted free or low-cost events where they could socialize, and that a scorecard would have to be wallet-sized. The coalition also conducted interviews with potential scorecard partners and learned that they saw benefits to participating in the program.

An event planner recruited businesses to participate [rtf 80K] in the program by offering specials for tweens as participating scorecard activity locations, taking part in the special events and donating prizes. The scorecard program offered businesses an opportunity to attract customers to their venue while also helping to increase kids’ levels of physical activity.

In addition to all of the ongoing events that are part of the scorecard program, the coalition adopted a VERB marketing tactic and hosted the Longest Day of Play on the summer solstice — the day with the most hours of sunlight — with many special events throughout the community. During the Longest Day of Play 2004, more than 950 kids tried activities, got their scorecards stamped, and most of all, had fun — an outcome sure to be repeated during the 2005 program.

The 2004 Grand Finale took place at Applebee’s Park, the home stadium for the Lexington Legends minor league baseball team, and included a special appearance by Nazr Mohammed, a New York Knicks NBA player from Lexington. More than 1,000 tweens and their families played at stations throughout the park featuring activities from local organizations and businesses participating in the scorecard program. More than 20 tweens were prize winners in the grand prize drawing, and all kids at the final event received a VERB bag with give-aways from the coalition. This year’s Grand Finale will be held on August 1st at the same location with the same fun activity stations.

“I tried things I never tried before. I went bowling and climbed rocks. I went outside and played more than I usually do.” 2004 VERB Summer Scorecard participant “I never thought about if my kids exercised or not. The Scorecard made me think about it every day. And now I’m still checking.” Parent of a 2004 participant “I’m proud to be a part of this program. I tell everyone who comes in about it. I’ve worked here for years and I see how much bigger the kids are getting. I’m going to talk to the owner about selling something besides junk food here.” Employee at Scorecard business partner “I would work on this project full time if I could.” Youth Board Member

The 2004 VERB Summer Scorecard generated more than 2,000 visits to scorecard partner events, 355 completed scorecards in the grand prize drawing (and countless partially completed cards), and increased physical activity opportunities for tweens by businesses and youth-serving organizations. Feedback from tweens, parents, and businesses about the program was overwhelmingly positive, with 100% of businesses indicating they would participate in 2005.

In addition to making VERB a household word in Lexington, the 2004 program also launched more than eight spin-off scorecard programs in several other Kentucky counties and also in Sarasota County, Florida.

Lexington’s VERB Summer Scorecard
The VERB Summer Scorecard has 24 squares, and each time children do a physical activity at a Scorecard site, they get their Scorecard stamped. Scorecard sites offer discounts, such as free admission to public pools at special times, two-for-one-priced admission for mini golf, and more. Parents can also initial Scorecard squares each time their kids play for 60 minutes. Tweens with completed scorecards are eligible for a grand prize at the Grand Finale event.

http://www.verbsummerscorecard.com*

VERB Summer Scorecards 2005
www.VERBsummerscorecard.com* — Lexington, Kentucky
www.VERBsarasota.com* — Sarasota, Florida
www.barrenriverhealth.org/verb/index.htm* —Warren County, Kentucky