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As a health + wellness-focused branding and marketing agency, our Trajectory team is always on the hunt for what’s new and next as it relates to the wellness market and to wellness marketing. So we were like little kids getting holiday presents when this article showed up in our inbox from our colleagues at Contagious I/O. It’s called Wellness Marketing — and it reinforces the extreme optimism about the future of the sector…

As the wellness market continues its explosive growth, brands with no direct connection to wellbeing are tapping into the sector in order to be more relevant to consumers and reach new audiences.

If you’re reading this post, you should read the article. It touches on the landscape, the factors driving the rise of wellness, the business opportunity, the benefits and key considerations for brands. It also shares a number of cross-category examples of brands integrating wellness marketing into their propositions (and finding new sources of revenue) — from American Airlines and Casper, to Montreal Museum of Fine Arts/Museum Prescriptions, Mercedes-Benz/Energizing Comfort System, Ibis Hotels/Relax We Post and Scott’s Miracle-Gro/Lunarly, among others.

Wellness Marketing — A $3.7 Trillion Opportunity
We’ve written before about the $3.7 trillion dollars huge wellness market. Today’s proactive wellness culture spans multiple categories beyond traditional health, beauty and fitness – diet, energy, sleep and rest, activity and exercise, mindfulness and emotional outlook, mental health, social engagement, and work-life balance (Hartman Group, 2017).
As people worldwide continue to embrace and take control of their own health and wellness, these trends will continue to expand. Brands that ultimately win will be those whose efforts go below the surface, through wellness marketing that helps the greatest number of people to live balanced lives in body, mind and spirit. Scott’s Miracle-Gro/Lunary being a great example of this.

Tips To Deliver Wellness Marketing Value
Following above, here are a four tips to create a stronger wellness marketing program that can connect with today’s health and wellness consumer – by telling and demonstrating a brand story through the lens of wellness:

1. Lead With Empathy
This most fundamental idea would typically be referred to as purpose. The brands core reason for being – its “why” which guides its “what” and “how.” But empathy better captures the sentiment of what we mean. Because empathy – the capacity to understand or feel what your prospective customer is experiencing from within their frame of reference – is the most important starting point to cultivating a relationship. If you want to be the brand on the side of your customer, lead with empathy.

2. Deliver Destination Benefits
Empathy lends itself to a deeper understanding of your ideal target customer. Which gives you the ability to better recognize and understand their desired emotional destination. Wherever their there is, be the brand that helps them get there. The one they turn to to help them realize their hopes and dreams.

3. Tout Your Differentiation
People don’t simply pick up on your brand’s distinction. You need to help them see it and experience it. Once you’ve honed in on your differentiation, use every moment you can – culture, design, language, media, experience – as an opportunity to uniquely move your customers to their desired health and wellness destination.

4. Be Honest
The wellness ecosystem is built to empower consumers. As a result, if a brand misleads or disappoints a consumer on his or her wellness journey, the offending brand probably won’t see that consumer again. And these misdeeds will be communicated with light speed across social channels. As consumers increasingly choose brands that align with their values, it’s crucial that brands are transparent about the origins and qualities of their products. When it comes to wellness, consumers expect their brands to be healthy, too.

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Since 1999, Trajectory has specialized in working with organizations across the health and wellness continuum. If we can share our expertise and assist your business-building efforts in any way, reach out.