Business Situation
Former San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro made health and wellness a major policy focus during his tenure. Through the SA2020 master plan, policymakers combined the mayor’s priorities with public input to develop action items. That led to creation of the nonprofit Mayor’s Fitness Council (MFC) in 2010. With a variety of health initiatives, the MFC needed a solution to give this effort a single voice on a website that was easy to navigate. The MFC hired a consultant and launched its first website in November 2012. During its first year, the website failed to gain traction as it was fraught with technical and design errors.
Solution
In fall 2013, esd was tapped to redesign the website FitCitySA.com, launch a web-based fitness contest, Million Pound Challenge, and create a mobile app. esd’s work increased page visits, while the mobile app helped to generate a PR story that resulted in multiple media hits. To promote the app, we recruited Community First Health Plans to help launch it to its 120,000 members and promote on its Facebook page and newsletters. We also held a press conference, which led to stories about the app in all major San Antonio media outlets.
86.87 percent increase in page views compared to the same 10 months under the previous design
