The Campaign

We created the MILO Champions Band and App – complete fitness technology to get kids moving. The MILO Champions Band is a type of wearable technology that tracks the energy expenditure of a child. Based on the child’s height, weight, and age, the partner app then computes the unique daily recommended average number of steps as well as nutrition and calorie intake for each child. When the band detects that the target number of steps is not achieved for the day, the app sends out a notification to let the mom know her child needs more play time. Conversely, the app gives smart food recommendations, aware of the nutrients that the child still lacks for the day, based on the mom’s current input of food. To really get engagement, we needed the kids on board too. We used gamification principles that turned hitting energy targets into rewarding screen experiences for kids.

Creative Execution

The first version of the app and band was developed and piloted in Vietnam as proof of concept. Confident that the technology worked, we piloted with 1,000 parents in the Philippines. The platform was launched in the annual MILO Summer Sports Clinic. Each kid received a band and his mom was instructed to download the app. Both of them got to see how the system worked, as energy expenditure got logged into the app during the training. Beyond the training sessions, the platform became a mother-child bonding activity as the kids treated the whole thing as a game where the goal was to reach the recommended energy level. The experiences and insights from this batch of users were used to improve the band and app, giving MILO momentum to scale the project not just nationally but globally with pilots in Australia and Thailand.

Results

The Champions Band and App was successful in making kids move more – increasing the average number of steps taken by 41% in 4 weeks. The platform also increased parents’ involvement in the process. In fact, 98% of the parents found the platform relevant, since they can now monitor activity and nutrition everyday. They used the app for an average of 63 minutes for the first 3 weeks, making it most engaging among MILO channels and other utility apps. After using the app for 4 weeks, users improved their perception on brand attributes relating MILO to sports, energy, and innovation. Best of all, MILO’s consideration score increased. In Australia, the Champions Band bundle sold 35,200 units in the 8 weeks following the launch, generating AUD1.4million in revenue during this period. With the Champions Band and App, MILO’s growth is as secure as the healthier future of children everywhere.

MILO wove itself into the lives of its target parents and kids through a technology-led solution. A solution that aimed to get kids more active. The platform allowed the kid to track his own energy expenditure through wearable technology. The parent is then encouraged to log her child's energy intake through a build-in food journal. All this data, along with the child's height, weight, and age, is used by MILO's platform to give unique recommendations to help the child become fitter.

We looked at the evolving digital lifestyles of our core target audience: parents of children aged 6-12. These largely millennial parents have digital embedded in their lives – with smartphones as their go-to device. However, technology is not always seen as a blessing by parents. Kids reject outside play for technology. Their increasingly sedentary lifestyle and lack of exercise is leading to real health problems, with childhood obesity increasing compared to the past years. While parents want their kids to be healthy, they simply don’t have the tools to prise them away from their screens. MILO wanted to create a solution for parents to get their kids active, by embracing technology rather than treating it as the enemy. Through technology we aimed to scale MILO’s commitment in making kids more active and building values through sport. This even presented an opportunity for the brand to create a new revenue stream.