The miracle board from Hak | MarketingTribune Food and Retail

Wageningen University & Research (WUR) brought together scientific insights, on the basis of which the design was determined. DDB Unlimited developed the idea and is responsible for the campaign.

Challenge

For many parents it is a recognizable challenge: how do you get your child to eat enough vegetables? In practice, it appears that children do not exceed an average of 73 grams of vegetables per day, while the health guidelines in that age group (4 to 8 years) recommend between 100 and 150 grams of vegetables per day. Reason for HAK – traditionally on a mission to help the Netherlands eat more vegetables – to look for creative solutions for this.

Taste with our eyes

Dr. Betina Piqueras Fiszman, researcher at Wageningen University & Research (WUR), who helped bring together various scientific insights: ‘Before we even took a bite, we already’ tasted ‘it with our eyes. How we present our food has a major influence on our eating experience and also on how much we end up eating. ‘

Intelligent design

The Helping Board does not look like a typical children’s board, and that is exactly the intention. Children mirror themselves to parents and copy their behavior more easily if they eat from a similar plate. The rest of the design also makes use of properties that – unconsciously – aim at greater vegetable consumption. For example, the large format and a floor provide a ‘smaller’ impression of the amount of vegetables. And because of the color scheme the vegetables are experienced more tastefully.

Most parents said it was easier than normal to get the children to eat more vegetables

Nicole Freid, Hak’s Marketing and Innovation Director, hopes that parents and their children will simply start using The Helping Board: tested were positive. Most parents said it was easier than usual to get the children to eat more vegetables. Children also responded enthusiastically to the fact that The Helping Board looks like a really grown-up people board. In addition, the parents also became more aware of how many vegetables they actually have to scoop up to reach the prescribed 100-150 grams / day. We are very curious about the user experiences that we will be collecting in the coming months. ‘

Innovative solution

Luuk Simonse and Leendert-Jan de Ronde, creation at DDB Unlimited: “Changing children’s behavior is quite a challenge. In the search for an innovative solution, we discovered that there is still a lot to improve in the way we present vegetables at the table. We have therefore incorporated the scientific insights into influencing into the design of the board. In this way we have created a tangible product that is available to everyone. ”

Credits

Client: HAK

Concept and creative elaboration: DDB Unlimited

Research: Wageningen University & Research

Product design: Waarmakers Studio

Production plate: Royal Goedewaagen

PR: Creative Venue and Happy Life PR