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Coca-Cola Saved My Life
Coke: Getting more people more active. I recently facilitated five important workshops for Coca-Cola at their brilliant Together We Move gathering.
The event bought together active lifestyles experts, academics, coaches and partners from twenty two countries to work-together to address the increasingly critical problem of inactive lifestyles.
Low cardio respiratory fitness causes more deaths than smoking, fat.. Fred Turok #togetherwemove @_ukactive pic.twitter.com/1fXXY4b9Tw
— Sean Blair (@ProMeetings) October 24, 2013
"22% uk population do absolutely no physical activity" Fred Turok, chairman of UK active. #togetherwemove @AudioFuel
— Sean Blair (@ProMeetings) October 24, 2013
Let’s not solve the wrong problem
Physical activity levels are in serious decline and there are costly and negative consequences for people and society.
Coke is a powerful brand and some think their products (and others) are The Problem. But actually low cardio respiratory fitness and inactive lifestyles is a much bigger cause of early death than obesity. Look at the slide above. The big problem is not (primarily) calories in, it’s calories out. And that’s what Together We Move is all about, getting more people to be more active.
Brands change lives
A few years ago, a Nike event, the ‘Nike Grid’ had thousands of Londoners, running between phone boxes to earn points. I entered and was surprised to discover this game had inspired me to run 210km in 2 weeks.
After Nike Grid, flushed with happy success six of team AudioFuel (who compose music for running) signed up to run the Berlin marathon. I ran a 3:43 marathon (in a brand new pair of Nikes) and went from being pretty indifferent about Nike (and a non-marathon runner) to being a fan of Nike.
Then I became a triathlete, and 13 triathlons later I can say Nike changed my life. Maybe Nike saved my life. And now, Coke is coming to save lives. At least that’s my hope.
A cheer for Coke
In times when many corporations don’t act responsibly, all I can report from Together We Move, was a very serious and heartfelt commitment to help more people live active and healthy lifestyles.
It’s brilliant that the good-people at Coke are committed to using their skill and imagination to bring people together, to get more people to be more active.
Game changing ideas
Together We Move was full of insight, ideas and suggestions to re-imagine and re-frame how to solve the right problem. My favourite proposal, made by Fred Turok, Chairman of UK Active, was to give measuring fitness of kids in schools exactly the same importance as measuring numeracy and literacy. Now that would change a generation in a generation, if we could get the right people together to agree to do it.
Together we work?
Mogens Kirkeby, the President of the International Sport and Culture Association rightly said that, ‘what we know together, is more important than what we know alone’.
Mission success will only be achieved by working-together (in things called meetings). If the participants of Together We Move and other stakeholders including other big brands, and politicians, work-together effectively, they may bring twenty first century humans back to life and even save lives, through the simple and beautiful power, of movement.
Sean Blair @ProMeetings @AudioFuel
What happens when 100 people ProMeet in 5 workshops? 667 ideas and insights. #togetherwemove @ProMeetings pic.twitter.com/FxYRGbZGtv
— Sean Blair (@ProMeetings) October 25, 2013
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