Thousands of couples attended the Great Date Nights at ...



Take The Checkup/Date Nights @ Chick-fil-A Campaign

Executive Summary

A unique marriage enrichment campaign was undertaken in August of 2010 in two Florida counties. A creative collaboration between local churches, businesses, and marriage strengthening organizations came together to form the “Take the Checkup/ Date Nights @ Chick-fil-A” Campaign. Thousands of couples were reached, many of whom (45%) were in struggling relationships. Through the use of an online inventory, The Couple Checkup™, and fun Date Nights offered at Chick-fil-A restaurants, couples were exposed to several marriage strengthening activities. Follow-up assessment demonstrates significant improvements in overall marriage satisfaction, as well as key relationship areas, such as communication and conflict resolution. Couples’ satisfaction scores and comments indicate a high level of enthusiasm for this type of outreach.

Designing a Healthy Marriage Campaign

For this campaign, a key component was the development of a solid network of churches prior to the launch. In 2008, through the combined efforts of Christ Fellowship Church and the South Florida Association of Christian Counselors, the Palm Beach County Healthy Marriage Initiative was launched. This initiative helped train hundreds of Marriage Mentors and helped establish a network of 60 local churches interested in strengthening marriage.

With the successful network of Marriage Mentors in place, the “Take the Checkup/Date Nights @ Chick-fil-A Campaign” could now be supported and was officially launched on August 1, 2010. The Campaign consisted of five date nights and culminated in “The Great Date Night” event, an evening with notable guest speakers and performers, with teaching and encouragement on marriage and relationships. The Campaign was possible through partnerships with Life Innovations, Strong Marriages Florida, WinShape Marriage, Marriage Alive, South Florida network of churches, and ten participating Chick-fil-A restaurants in Palm Beach and Martin Counties (Florida).

Objectives of the Campaign

The Campaign’s objectives were to create awareness and opportunities for couples to strengthen their marriages by taking an online inventory and attending a series of date nights at local Chick-fil-A restaurants, and to offer couples future opportunities for marital growth through the networking and resourcing of area churches.

Target Population

This Campaign was designed to cover two Florida counties with just under 3 million residents. The anticipated exposure through the ten Chick-fil-A restaurants totaled over 500,000 people. Palm Beach County, on average, has just under 10,000 recorded marriages each year. Current statistics indicate a 58% divorce rate. In years past, the divorce rate has been as high as 62.4%. Consider that out of ten marriages, less than four will survive.

Description of Take the Checkup/Date Nights @ Chick-fil-A

The Campaign began by inviting the ten Chick-fil-A restaurants in Palm Beach and Martin Counties to partner with Strong Marriages Florida in a month-long strategic initiative. The restaurants distributed pre-paid vouchers (printed on receipts) for the online Couple Checkup assessment during the month of August. Each of the Date Nights offered in Chick-fil-A restaurants on the five Monday nights of August focused on a different theme: Communication, Finances, Personality Differences, Conflict Resolution, and Parenting. An interactive Date Night menu was created for each topic. Once a couple was seated with their food, they used the menu and begin to dialogue through the 6-8 questions (see Appendix A for a sample Date Night Menu).

Each of the restaurants had trained “Marriage Champions” available to help the couples if needed. These couples were not counselors but were equipped to provide support to the Date Night guests. Some of the Marriage Champions would go on to mentor couples in need.

Many of the restaurants offered special music that set the tone and atmosphere for the evening. Couples placed their order, then were seated at cloth-covered tables while the Chick-fil-A staff served them their food. One restaurant hosted a wedding on the last night -- complete with reception and dancing. In several circumstances, couples reported their marriage had been saved. Overall, the campaign focused on couples taking steps to strengthen their relationship and find simple ways to celebrate their marriage.

Marketing Strategy

The marketing strategy was leveraged by multiple vehicles:

● Trayliners and signage in the restaurants promoted the weekly Date Nights and described the Couple Checkup

● Radio and Television PSAs directed people to the website for more information

● Bulletin Inserts and Pulpit Announcements at local churches (with coupons)

● Word of mouth, real estate signs, email blasts, and banners

● Website featuring interactive trayliner at which offered a free Couple Checkup ($29.95 value)

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The Campaign was then reinforced by an end of month event hosted at a local church, “The Great Date Night,” which gathered almost 2000 people for a marriage celebration.

Methods of Marriage Enrichment

1. The Couple Checkup: Couples were encouraged to take a free Couple Checkup, an online assessment tool designed to identify the unique relationship strengths and growth areas of dating, engaged, or married couples. Based on the results of a tailored premarital or marital inventory, couples immediately received an extensive Couple Checkup Report on their relationship, including a Discussion Guide designed to help them learn proven relationship skills. Research has shown this process improves relationships by stimulating honest dialogue, increasing understanding, and empowering couples. The Couple Checkup is based on the widely used PREPARE/ENRICH® Program. Strong Marriages Florida integrated the Couple Checkup online widget into their website, and created a landing page at for couples to register and receive a voucher code if they did not have a restaurant receipt. (See Appendix B for a sample Couple Checkup Report page.)

2. Date Nights: The Date Nights were designed with help from David and Claudia Arp, authors of the 10 Great Dates book series. Working with the team from West Palm Beach, they drafted discussion outlines for topic-specific date nights. These were presented as “Date Night Menus” given to couples who came to Chick-fil-A restaurants on Monday evenings during the month of August. The Date Night Menus covered topics such as communication, conflict resolution, personality differences, parenting, and finances. Each discussion outline encouraged couples to review their Couple Checkup results and respond to the discussion questions.

3. Online Local Resources: Couples could go to the “” website and be informed of next steps and opportunities to strengthen their relationships offered through local churches or organizations.

4. Marriage Champions: Mentor couples were trained and placed in each Chick-fil-A restaurant to welcome couples and support them if they had any questions or concerns about the Couple Checkup or Date Night experience.

5. Final Great Date Night Celebration: Couples were encouraged to come back for a special night of marriage enrichment and celebration, hosted by Christ Fellowship Church, and sponsored by Chick-fil-A. Almost 2000 people gathered for this free Great Date Night Celebration. Couples received a goody bag which included a copy of the book, 10 Great Dates to Energize Your Marriage, by David and Claudia Arp.

Community Participation

● Over 100 churches participated in the Take the Checkup/Date Night @ Chick-fil-A initiative

● 400+ volunteers from various churches and organizations served over the month-long marriage strengthening campaign

● Over 3,500 people registered to “Take the Checkup” online

● 2,182 couples started or completed the Couple Checkup*

● Nearly 2,000 people attended the final “Great Date Night” celebration

● Hundreds of couples attended multiple date nights at Chick-fil-A

● Over 180 people responded to the follow-up survey

Couple Checkup Group Summary Data

Description of Couples who Participated

The Couple Checkup gathered data on each of the 2,182 couples who opened an account to take the online inventory. Most of the couples who participated were married (81%), but 7% were engaged couples and 12 % were dating couples. The majority of married couples were in their first marriage (76%), but approximately 24% had been married before. People ranged in age from 21 to over 70, with the average age falling between 30 and 40. Most of the people assessed were Protestant (75%), but some were Catholic (8%) and Jewish (1%). Participants were primarily Caucasian (81%), followed by Hispanic/Latino (9%), African-American (4%), Asian-American (1%), and

*3,500 people registered to take the Couple Checkup at . However, of these, 1,400 did not open a Couple Checkup account, the first step to taking the assessment. It is surmised that they did not have their receipt with the free voucher code. Halfway through the month, the voucher code was made available online to aid the establishment of accounts. Of the 2182 people who opened an account, 1482 actually completed the Couple Checkup within eight weeks. (Often one partner takes the assessment, but the other partner lags behind in taking it.) Of that number, 185 couples were dating, and another 96 couples were engaged. The research findings are about the 1,201 married couples who completed the Couple Checkup.

Native American (1%). About one third (28%) of the couples had been married from 1 to 5 years, while another third (32%) were married for 16 or more years. Most couples reported they had children (79%); with 35% raising children in a stepfamily. (See Appendix C for more detailed demographic information.)

Baseline Measurement: Pretest Assessment

The Couple Checkup created a Group Summary Report that describes the types of couples registered. Only the 1201 married couples who completed the Couple Checkup were included in the pretest group. The scales in the Couple Checkup provide a valid and reliable measure of baseline marital health.

Couple Types

The Couple Checkup categorizes couples into a Typology system of five types ranging from most healthy (Vitalized) to least healthy (Devitalized). These types provide a good measure of baseline marital satisfaction for the couples included in the group summary.

Vitalized Very High Marriage Satisfaction 22%

Harmonious High Marriage Satisfaction 7%

Conventional Moderate Satisfaction 23%

Conflicted Low Satisfaction 26%

Devitalized Very Low Marriage Satisfaction 19%

Baseline Strength and Growth Areas

The following chart reports the Strength and Growth Areas identified for married couples completing the assessment. The percentage represents the total percentage of couples that were assessed to have each topic as an area of strength or weakness. For example, Spiritual Beliefs were a strength for 74% of the couples, while Conflict Resolution was a strength for only 16% of the couples.

|Topic |Strength Area |Growth Area |

|Spiritual Beliefs |74% |15% |

|Family & Friends |54% |16% |

|Finances |43% |37% |

|Roles/Responsibilities |35% |35% |

|Sexual Relationship |28% |53% |

|Leisure Activities |18% |53% |

|Communication |18% |60% |

|Conflict Resolution |16% |63% |

Follow-up Survey: Posttest Assessment

A follow-up survey was sent out eight weeks after the campaign ended. The brief follow-up survey was presented online to couples. It included an 8-item posttest of Marital Satisfaction, which was compared to the baseline measurement using a t-test analysis. The survey also included general questions for couples about the activities they participated in and their satisfaction with the program. Finally, couples were invited to leave open-ended comments about various aspects of the program. Approximately 180 individuals responded to the online follow-up survey.

Representative Sample

It is important to note the follow-up sample was representative of the whole baseline sample, and did not reflect any sort of self-selection bias towards healthier couples. The table below summarizes the baseline Couple Types and demonstrates that couples who participated in the follow-up were similar to couples who completed the pretest.

|Couple Type |Pretest |Posttest |

|Vitalized |22% |29% |

|Harmonious | 7% | 4% |

|Conventional |24% |23% |

|Conflicted |27% |26% |

|Devitalized |20% |18% |

Activities & Participation

The following bar graph represents the activities in which couples reported (in the follow-up survey) to have participated in.

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Improvement in Marital Satisfaction

The couples demonstrated significant improvement in their marital satisfaction by participating in this program. Raw individual scores on the 8-item Marriage Satisfaction Scale ranged from a low of 8 to a high of 40. The mean score for Marital Satisfaction for the pretest was 28.8. Eight weeks later during the follow-up, the mean score had risen to 32.2. This represents a statistically significant improvement (p ................
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