A key GM Moving ambition is to deliver powerful public narrative and communications that drive culture change, system change and behaviour change, engaging and resonating with system-wide and community audiences through positive narrative, imagery, language and stories of change.
Together, we can Keep GM Moving.
The way we market and communicate about physical activity and sport is critical to the behaviour change process.
Leading a healthier lifestyle can help us to feel happier and provide a sense of wellbeing and self-confidence that has benefits throughout life. But we know, often from experience, how hard it is to make even simple changes in life stick.
In the modern world there are many reasons to live an unhealthy and inactive life; convenience food, sedentary jobs with long hours, the types of transport on offer and even the entertainment that is cheapest and most easily available are all designed to keep us sitting down.
When this is the case it does not seem fair to blame individuals for losing fitness. Our marketing insight research told us that inactive people fondly remember a time when they were active, but lifestyle transitions and the systems that surround us so often get in the way and discourage us from being active.
There is no silver bullet when it comes to supporting people to be more active.
But that does not mean we should give up hope. Good, consistent and repeated simple marketing content about the ways people can build more activity into their everyday life with messages about the benefits of moving more can help to nudge people away from the sofa to lead happier and healthier lives. And while it is difficult, it isn’t impossible.
Starring people from six of the 10 Greater Manchester boroughs, the 'Keep Moving' campaign launched in September 2021 as the region returns to routine after the summer break and the lifting of lockdown restrictions.
Keep Moving shows people how simple it can be to find a few minutes here and there to build movement into regular daily activities. So while making a brew or cooking up a storm in the kitchen, it’s easy to find just 30 minutes to move more.
The campaign’s central message is that moving more doesn’t have to be chore and can be slotted into everyday activities. Thirty minutes a day can be fun, social and bring loads of benefits, like feeling happier, more confident and sleeping well, as well as helping towards long-term health.
You can follow the campaign @KeepMovingGM; please follow us and re-tweet its content. If you want to share the campaign video advert, any of the posters or digital content (and we’re sure you will) you can request them at [email protected] and we will share them as soon as they're available.
The Greater Manchester Way campaign aims to inspire people to consider walking in their everyday lives.
It’s about helping people to connect with the idea that walking has a lot more to offer, and highlighting the multitude of benefits that walking can bring. By showing the real reasons people walk, and what they get from it, we want to help people to help people to choose to be more active.
The Greater Manchester Way embodies a pioneering spirit. There are so many different ways to walk in Greater Manchester, but we want everyone to find their own way, and see where it can take them. Resources available to help you include: