It’s no secret that having a healthier workforce drives productivity up and healthcare costs down. But with approximately 68% of the U.S. population (and therefore the workforce) categorized by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as overweight or obese (34.3% and 33.9% respectively), the trend is 180º from ideal. So the pressure on workplace wellness programs to deliver positive results can only be on the rise. And while employee resistance to such programs can be challenging, there’s a surprising – and powerful – component to consider: personal body perception.

Just take a look at this posting from The New York Times’ The Well Column. It spells out the immediate challenge we face and the one looming ahead. But face them, we must.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/18/are-most-people-in-denial-about-their-weight/

Gatorade has made Cyto’s registered service mark, “win from within,” the theme of a multi-million dollar advertising campaign.  (They even used the same font!)

“Congratulations!” So begins the 2007 letter from our attorney advising Cyto Communications that its tagline, the brainchild of partner John Phelan, was officially registered with the US Patent & Trademark office.

Of course, we didn’t opt to register it for purposes of selling energy drinks.  And forever more, all whom we meet will credit Gatorade and its big-bucks, star-studded campaign as our inspiration. We daresay never once will they make the legalistic distinction between our respective “categories;” employee communications strategy… versus energy drink sales.

Trademark case law suggests that there is such a thing as a “reverse” trademark violation, where  the behemoth steps on the intellectual property of the smaller entity, but not surprisingly, the success rate of those with the smaller legal budget isn’t good.

For us, win from within speaks to corporate and organization leaders.  It’s a point of view.  It’s an expression of our belief in the strength of an organization’s own people in crafting a brand, managing change, or succeeding with their vision and mission.  Not so far off, we think, from what the folks at Gatorade would say they also mean by it.

So, despite the fact that a core Cyto “product” is creative work, and that to all who haven’t been living under a rock, Gatorade’s media buy and social media avalanche now have established de facto “ownership” for Cyto’s tagline, we’re guessing we’ll just have to keep explaining ourselves–and maybe catch a little wave… from “without.”

…and a cool graphic... from The Institute for the Future (IFTF), “an independent nonprofit research group. We work with organizations of all kinds to help them make better, more informed decisions about the future.”

Another intriguing NYT “Corner Office” interview with Anne Mulcahy, chairwoman and chief executive of the Xerox Corporation.

“You’ve got to be out there. You’ve got to be visiting your operations. You’ve got to be doing town meetings. You’ve got to be doing round-tables. There are plenty of avenues for getting feedback, but there’s nothing that substitutes for the dialogue that you can have with people on the ground, with your customers in terms of how they view the company. I think it is really powerful, and it’s something that I expect our entire management team to do, as well.”

“…your employees are volunteers and they can choose to wait things out if they don’t believe…”

And what’s the secret…?

“It isn’t a secret… It’s actually fundamental communications…”