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As competition grows fiercer across the health and wellness landscape, branding becomes more important.

Branding is the face of your business (strategically and aesthetically), the basis for customer engagement and employee engagement, and sets a business apart from competitors. Ultimately, branding is the sum of everything you do and stand for, and today’s modern consumers have expectations that extend beyond your outputs (your products and services), to the ways in which you do business. Which means that a snappy brand name, a nice logo and clever advertising are not enough to capture their interest.

Add to that the challenges and upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on society and consumers, and you have a situation where even the most seasoned brand marketing teams are asking, “How do we stay relevant in the world following this unprecedented global crisis”?

In this post, we explore nine trends that will impact the growth trajectory of health and wellness businesses in 2022. Some trends are more general and apply to all brands regardless of industry. Others are more specific to health and wellness. But all are integral to building a brand that people will love.

Nine Health and Wellness Trends in 2022

 

1. Acting On Brand Purpose

Brand purpose certainly isn’t a new topic anymore. But it’s here to stay, and arguably, more important for brands than ever before given events of the past couple of years.

To clarify, while a company mission exemplifies what you do, purpose defines why you do it. But don’t expect a purpose statement alone to attract the attention of today’s discerning consumers. For wellness brands across the board, the new directive is that your actions must speak louder than your words – with a generally defined goal of improving the well-being of all stakeholders.

Purpose-driven brands have a big intention that is inherently linked to the business, its objectives, and the way it operates.  Their beliefs and values are also clear. And this makes it easier for today’s more conscious consumers to get behind them and actively support them – with their loyalty and their advocacy.

What’s most important when it comes to purpose is that it is authentic and baked into everything a brand does. It must be embedded into the business and the organizational culture. Because if brands are faking it, consumers can see through it, expose it, and ignite a backlash.

Examples of brands living their purpose include:

• Nike, bringing inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.
• Tesla, accelerating the world’s transition to sustainable energy.
• Life Is Good, spreading the power of optimism.
• Dove, encouraging women to embrace and develop a positive relationship with their unique beauty by promoting self-acceptance and body positivity.
• Starbuck’s inspiring and nurturing the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.

Proof That Purpose Creates Value

There’s ample proof that purpose impacts business performance. Havas Media Group published an annual global report (300,000 people, 1500+ brands, 15 industries, 33 countries) and found that meaningful brands (those with an active purpose), outperformed the stock market by 206% over the last 10 years. They also found that meaningful brands increased their KPI’s by 137%.

2. Authenticity

Customer trust has hit an all-time low in the past couple of years. In the 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer, it was reported that only 34% of consumers trust brands they buy from. Creating an authentic brand – demonstrated through actions that align with brand values – is critical for modern businesses. Because in the absence of trust, customers start looking for other brands they can trust.

A Stackla report (via Social Media Today) on consumer content revealed that 86% of shoppers view authenticity as a huge factor in purchasing decisions. The same study also reported that 90% of millennials say authenticity is important in branding, noting that they prefer “real and organic” companies over those that are “perfect and well-packaged.”

Building Authenticity

Consistency. Across the entirety of the brand experience, ensure that messages and customer interactions are in sync with the identity, values and tone of your brand.

Being Real In Advertising. Customers see through photoshopped ads and picture-perfect models. They want real life (think Dove and ThirdLove, who have made it a point to shatter beauty stereotypes by featuring real women in their ads). They also want to know how you choose to do business. Where you source materials. Glimpses into your manufacturing processes (think Allbirds, Everlane and Patagonia).

Engage in Conversations. Which means developing a two-way dialogue. This can take place through social media platforms, sharing news, seeking feedback, asking and answering questions, listening and valuing opinions.

3. Diversity & Inclusion

Diversity, body positivity, and inclusivity are reshaping customer expectations. This is underscored by a survey by Accenture (even back in 2018) showing that 70% of millennials will choose inclusive and diverse brands over those that are not.

Edelman’s Trust Barometer study more recently showed that 60% of consumers claim they will now buy or boycott brands based on how they respond to calls for diversity and racial equality.

As stated by Richard Edelman, founder of Edelman: The results are unequivocal: Americans want brands to step up and play a central role in addressing systemic racism. This is a mandate for brands to act, because consumers will exercise brand democracy with their wallets. In the past, CEOs have spoken out on societal issues on behalf of corporate America; today, the CMO and CCO must join them as stewards of brand action.

Crucial is that if brands speak publicly about their diversity credentials, they need to make sure they embody them from the inside out. And continue to communicate transparently about how they are doing so.

Sarah Greenidge, founder of The Wellness Industry Charter for Racial Diversity, Inclusion and Access suggests that brands cover off on these five pillars to create greater transparency and meaningful change:

4. Health Tracking

As noted by Welltodo, “over the past 12 months, tracking, testing and tracing have become an integral part of our daily lives. In the fight against coronavirus, government-led campaigns have given new attention and value to the use of technology and science in understanding our bodies and protecting our health.”

Note these supporting statistics:

• Wearable device sales were up globally by more than 30% in 2020 (CNBC).
• The smartwatch market alone nearly doubled in size to $13 billion in the last three years (Euromonitor).
• 54% of US adults reported using a digital wearable to track at least one health metric in 2020, an increase from 44% the previous year (Rock Health 2020 Digital Health Consumer Adoption Report).

Born out of a growing desire (and the ability) to measure our lives, personal data on everything from fitness, hormone cycles, metabolic health, nutrition, sleep, and stress has increasingly been used to generate better understanding of our bodies. COVID-19 has simply acted as a catalyst in accelerating the trend, facilitating what Fortune recently described as The Second Coming of Health Trackers.

Important for brands is to help consumers to extract what’s most valuable in terms of guidance and recommendations, as integration of new technologies and features is needless if user utility and experience lags.

5. Service-Led and Subscription-Based

Spurred on by the global pandemic, a growing number of consumers are gravitating to credible, science-baked, service-led wellness as an enhancement to previously stand-alone wellness offerings.

This opens up opportunities for brand building that leverage consumer desire for a more comprehensive, supportive and sustainable approach to assisting them on their journey towards optimal health.

Accelerated by changes in behaviors and values that emerged because of COVID-19,  consumers are increasingly moving towards a subscription-style of living. This includes demand for more reliable and convenient methods of service and delivery, increased comfortability with digital services, and a greater desire for direct relationships.

The growth trajectory of a service-led subscription model is demonstrated by the following stats:

• According to Harvard Business Review, since 2011, the subscription economy has been growing by 200% annually.
• The 2020 edition of the Subscription Economy Index found that subscription companies continue to outperform their product-based peers by wide margins even during the global pandemic.
• Warc’s COVID-19 Impact Report found that 50% of all subscription companies across all industries have continued to grow as fast as they were before the pandemic, while 18% are seeing subscriber rates accelerate.
• And Deloitte estimates that 16% of 25 to 34-year-olds in the UK alone now have three or more subscriptions.

Successful health and wellness companies today need to consider adapting to this rapid pace of change, deciding to focus on growing and monetizing a loyal customer base versus shipping more products, argues Zuora Subscription Impact Report: COVID-19 Edition.

6. Health At Home

When the global pandemic forced people to shelter indoors, the healthcare system took a huge hit. And the need for at-home virtual services created the tailwinds to propel the trend into mainstream consciousness.

Forced to adopt almost overnight, consumer and business willingness to engage in new health and wellness behaviors rose exponentially:

• Consumers using virtual visits rose from 15% to 19% from 2019 to early 2020; jumping to 28% in April 2020. And, on average, 80% of consumers say they are likely to have another virtual visit, even post COVID-19 (Deloitte 2020 Survey of US Health Care Consumers).
• At-home health testing brands have seen their sales boom. Demand has doubled for about 75% of Everlywell’s tests, while LetsGetChecked demand rose by 880% from 2019.
• Research from McKinsey shows that between 40% and 60% of consumers are expressing an interest in a set of broader virtual health solutions, such as a digital front door or lower-cost virtual-first health plan.

The pandemic has created a $3.8 trillion healthcare opportunity (CMS Office of the Actuary) that health and wellness brands are racing to leverage, and investors want to back.

7. Elevating Consciousness

Consumers have formed new expectations around brand purpose. They’ve elevated the importance of not only the environmental impact of a business but its stamp on everything from racial equality and other human rights to mental health, body positivity and politics.

They’re demanding that the brands they buy from not only tackle these issues directly but enable them to become agents of social change too.

• Today, 80% of consumers want brands to solve society problems (Edelman Trust Barometer) – and want them to weigh in on all important and relevant issues.
• Nearly four in five consumers feel that brands have the power to connect people of different backgrounds and beliefs (Sprout Social) – deemed essential in creating meaningful and lasting change.
• And, once these communities have been brought together, they want brands to lead the charge on encouraging collective action, with 61% believing that brands are effective at mobilizing their customers (Sprout Social).

Important to note is that there’s no one-size-fits-all model. Instead, brands must take time to understand which causes unite their customers and how they can make it easier for them to participate in ways that are relevant and realistic (whether on their own or alongside other partners).

8. Collaborations and Partnerships

The power of collaborating to create and deliver new value is boundless.

Beyond coming together to create better products and services, brands are teaming up to show their audiences that they care, are committed to certain values, and represent new ideals.

And there are now instances where former competitors are positioning themselves as allies and partners – to achieve greater outcomes for people and the planet. Because no one product or company can offer the total solution for health and wellness.

Brand partnership or brand collaboration between businesses operating across distinct products, services or even industries is a growing trend that can give a brand a relevant point of difference and can add real value to consumers looking to maximize the wellbeing value that they get from their products.  

By combining brands, especially in diverse industries, the brand building impact can be exponential as seen with these three examples.

• Starbucks and Spotify. They came together to create fresh content for their audiences, cross-promote to their social media followings, grow their customer bases and bolster loyalty.
• Peloton and Verzuz. Indoor cycling leader Peloton launched a partnership with face-off musical platform Verzuz that grew to prominence amid the global pandemic lockdown.
• Adidas and Allbirds. This partnership between sportswear giant Adidas and sustainable footwear brand Allbirds placed purpose over profit. The goal is to create the lowest carbon footprint ever recorded for a sports performance shoe, and in the process, set a new industry standard in the fight against climate change.

9. Pervasive Health

Even before the pandemic, consumers around the globe were beginning to take a more proactive and preventative approach to managing their own health. Sixty one percent of respondents in a recent report (Balance UK Covid-19 Wellness Impact Report) said they now value health and wellness practices more than ever before.

Consumers seem to have an insatiable desire to be in the driver’s seat when it comes to their wellbeing. And they’re demanding the next generation of health and well-care focus on prevention rather than procedures and medications.

What this pandemic has so woefully and tragically exposed is that taking a preventative and holistic approach to our health has become even more valuable. And this is a shift in perspective that is expected to continue to influence the way consumers live, work and play.

In a future where consumers increasingly prioritize health and wellness, brands need to be prepared for the fact that almost every experience, product and service will need to be reassessed according to the extent to which it either enhances or diminishes people’s health.

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Since 1999, Trajectory has worked with clients across the health and wellness industry to create stronger brand-led businesses – identifying the white spaces, assessing what role brands can play in supporting attitudes and behavior towards health and wellness, accelerating growth through brand strategy and creative execution. Reach out for a no-obligation consultation.