Response Marketing for Wellness Brands

February 25, 2023

Table of Contents

 

“Leadership is a choice.” This quote, said from entrepreneur, speaker and author Seth Godin is a great reminder that anyone can lead if they make the decision to do so. A key part of leading is, of course, listening. In listening to the world around us over the past several years, wellness and self care continue to be key topics of discussion. With the size of the global wellness market anticipated to grow to almost $7 trillion by 2025, this gravitation to a more conscious lifestyle is set to continue growing. Brand leaders in this space don’t need to be innately related to the wellness industry. The leaders are the brands that recognize this opportunity to connect with people and implement a wellness marketing strategy into their marketing.

What is wellness?

The Global Wellness Institute defines wellness as “the active pursuit of activities, choices and lifestyles that lead to a state of holistic health.” While wellness can be a collective mission, it starts as an individual pursuit. This active pursuit involves recognizing and making choices that put people closer to an outcome of optimal holistic health and wellbeing.

Wellness and Happiness

The 2023 Health, Happiness, and the Wellness Economy empirical analysis by the Global Wellness Institute finds that there is a strong correlation between wellness, happiness and health. Adding to this, data found that spending in the following seven wellness sectors has a strong correlation to happiness:

Photo of a family of four sitting on a couch with the father holding one child upside down while the mother has her arm around the other child

Wellness and Health

Highlighting that people at any life stage can benefit from leisure and self care, the analysis also finds that many wellness sectors correlate with health outcome indicators at the country level, including:

Higher levels of spending on healthy eating, physical activity, mental wellness and wellness real estate did not have a clear correlation to health outcomes and the study reasons this: spending more doesn’t mean people are actually engaging in these aspects of wellness or reaping the benefits. We know that wellness matters to people – McKinsey reports that 79% of consumers believe wellness is important and 42% consider it a top priority. So, why do people purchase gym memberships, at-home gym equipment, healthy food, meditation apps, etc. and leave them untouched? This is where campaigns and initiatives to bolster use and inspire community engagement come in.

Wellness and Engagement Strategies

Response marketing can motivate people to sign up or buy and keep them motivated with the help of happy employees, creative product offerings and audience follow up. Take Orangetheory Fitness and their ever-anticipated October Hell Week of challenging yet exciting workouts. Orangetheory created “Hell Week” in 2013 as a fun way to keep members engaged at the start of the holidays, when gym goers are likely to veer off schedule. While the program changes slightly in nature each year to keep it fresh, it always includes the opportunity to earn a t-shirt commemorating the accomplishment of the program. With a special design each year, bragging rights and a symbol of an individual’s hard work, this t-shirt has become a coveted collectors’ item from Orange County, California to Auckland, New Zealand.

What is a wellness brand?

It’s time to consider what makes a company or organization a “wellness brand.” With consumers increasingly prioritizing wellness, brands that aren’t in the health and fitness industry can revisit their wellness offerings to play a role in a person’s daily life. At Orange Label, we define wellness brands as products or services that foster physical, emotional and social well-being. Whether your brand considers itself to be in the realm of wellness or you’re curious on how to integrate wellness into your offerings, our strategy, data analytics, media, social, content and design services are here to connect you to your target audience.

A woman sitting on a dock next to a lake drinking coffee and practicing wellness through meditation

Sectors in the Wellness Space

Personal care and beauty

Helping people care for themselves through the way they look and feel inspires physical and mental wellness. We’ve worked with clients in skin care, eye care, hair care and aesthetics space. View our work for the aesthetic side of Dr. Elisabeth Potter’s Texas-based practice.

Wellness tourism

As the Global Wellness Institute study showed, the correlation between tourism and mental/physical wellness can span across the ages and enrich life experiences. With so many options for travel and tourism in Hawaii, Orange Label helped 20-year ecotourism company Hawaii Forest & Trail update their brand look to reflect that expertise and unite it with sister company Kohala Zipline.

Traditional, complementary and preventive medicine

Traditional and preventive medicine, and the complementary and alternative practices that can go along with it play an important role in the population’s wellness. With a background in healthcare marketing, Orange Label has served clients that include, but aren’t limited to: Dameron Hospital, Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare, Dr. Elisabeth Potter and Daughters of Charity Health System.

In the complementary and preventive medicine space, Orange Label worked with established B2B mattress company South Bay International to bring their first direct-to-consumer sleep system, Ananda. By digging into quantitative and qualitative data, Orange Label identified markets that matched Ananda’s unique buyer and consumer demand to reach the target audiences in the right places via influencer endorsements, organic and paid social media, SEO marketing, programmatic display and radio advertising. Through designed visuals, wellness-focused messaging and a cohesive look and feel, Orange Label was able to connect people to a good night’s sleep.

Wellness real estate

The wellness real estate industry witnessed large growth during 2020 to $275 billion, the Global Wellness Institute finds, as people sought spaces that fit their needs at home. Orange Label’s work in this space ranges from a Silicon Valley complex that’s thoughtfully designed for people to live, work and play in a convenient location to Orange County homes that offer energy-efficient features, resort-inspired amenities and premium locations with close proximity to parks.

Outside of the home, 80% of people in a McKinsey survey who work in a hybrid remote and in-office work environment say they prefer retaining them going forward. With workplace wellness ranking high on people’s priorities list, Orange Label spread awareness for Bixby Land Company’s wellness-centered offices, which featured outdoor Bixby Retreats to work, eat or grab fresh air throughout the workday, and spaces that inspire creativity and collaboration.

A family around a table of healthy food. The mother slices vegetables while the father holds an onion and the child holds a carrot while looking at her cell phone.

Healthy eating, nutrition and weight loss

Empowering people to make better choices for their health on a regular basis, healthy eating and nutrition is an industry commonly associated with wellness.

Orange Label’s experience in specialty food and beverage options spans greatly over the years and for 20+ years has involved long-standing client Greenwell Farms. This Big Island, Hawaii coffee farm serves premium 100% Kona Coffee and provides complimentary farm tours for people to learn about coffee farming. Learn more about how we helped connect people to a seed-to-cup coffee experience in our Greenwell Farms case study. Nékter is another specialty food and beverage business that selected Orange Label to drive foot traffic to their stores and increase app downloads. Originating in Orange County, Nékter has expanded to locations across the US to provide convenient access to better-for-you food and beverage choices and this case study shows how we inspired new and existing customers through their seasonal, limited-time promotions.

Mental wellness

Data from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) finds that nearly 20% of adults suffer from some form of mental illness. Over the years, Orange Label has worked with organizations and health healthcare device companies to increase mental health in the addiction recovery space and mobility.

Spas/mineral springs

The global market size of thermal/mineral springs is forecast to grow at an annual rate of over 18% in the coming years, reaching $89.7 billion in 2025. Previous clients include a renowned wellness destination in Southern California which features mineral baths, a botanical garden and more.

Sustainability

Tapping into social wellness and responsibility, McKinsey data finds that environmentally conscious consumers prefer brands that are sustainable and use clean/natural ingredients –  even if it means paying more for the product. We’ve helped brands including South Bay International strategize and present their sustainability philosophy through an emphasis on digital pieces for prospects and completed branding guidance, strategy and design for Revolution Company’s sustainable plastic solutions.

Fitness

As we discussed, physical activity is a key player in the wellness industry, which is expected to grow to $1.2 trillion globally in 2025 after falling to $738 billion during the pandemic. Industries under the fitness or physical activity umbrella include sports, active recreation, mindful movement, equipment/supplies, apparel/footwear and related technology. With our active team and community involvement, we’ve worked with fitness and health-conscious brands on relevant partnerships and ways to drive traffic.

Workplace wellness

The Global Wellness Institute estimates that chronic disease, work-related injuries and illnesses, work-related stress and employee disengagement, deemed as “workplace unwellness,” accounts for a 10-15% loss of economic output every year. The treatment and happiness levels of employees (which leads to employee retention) are reason enough to implement a wellness program at work, and the numbers supplement it.

As customer experience plays a large role in marketing, we often feature leaders in workplace wellness in The 19 Marketing Podcast by Orange Label to share tips on how to create “I-want-to-work-there” company culture, train team members on emotional intelligence and unite everyone on a team, from c-suite level executives to interns, in a shared company vision.

A woman sitting in front of a laptop looks at her cell phone in her hand

Why is marketing important for your wellness brand?

When you have an innovative product or service that your leadership team believes in, that energy translates into momentum and motivation for the team. Getting people into the door or on your website is made possible through response marketing. Response marketing gives brands the platform to grab attention, generate engagement and build loyal fans. It’s the sustainable packaging that catches your eye, it’s the reason you go to that specific gym or workout class instead of a competitor’s, it’s the influencer post that introduced you to a product you now love. It’s the reason you’re on this web page. As the leading response marketing agency for wellness brands that grow when their customers do, we provide data-driven strategy to produce creative marketing that makes an impact.

Is wellness marketing important to consumers?

As people continue to prioritize wellness, they’re noticing the brands that are making a push for consumer wellness and the ones that aren’t. Feedback in the Ogilvy Wellness Gap study shows what consumers expect from brands when it comes to wellness:

Three benefits of a wellness marketing campaign

1. Providing value to your customers

What are your brand’s values? At Orange Label, ours are creative, energetic, team, fun and, what makes us unique, orange! When you keep your brand values at heart and incorporate them into your campaign, customers can feel that authenticity and identify with your brand. With consumers asking brands to take the lead on wellness, you can see which brand values align with a wellness value proposition. When done correctly, this initiative can catch attention, build brand loyalty and even win back customers.

2. Engaging with your audience

Once you’ve defined your brand values and wellness-related value proposition that only your brand can provide, you pursue your wellness marketing strategy in a variety of ways. One strategic initiative may be audience engagement. Tapping into trending topics and providing your take – for example, if you are a beauty brand company and you come across a new beauty hack, like washing your face with gold Dial soap. In this instance, you can give your take on the trend, recommend additional moisturizers to supplement the soap with (the trend says vitamin e and tea tree oil) or offer a discount or trial size of one of your own blemish control products. This quick content can showcase your social media savvy, tap into the conversation and help your audience navigate beauty trends.

4 adults in a fitness class celebrating with high fives

3. Creating a community

Humans are inherently social creatures. Studies have shown that socializing has both physical and mental benefits. For example, Medical News Today cites that social motivation and social contact can help improve memory formation and recall, and protect the brain from neurodegenerative diseases. With this in mind, brands have the opportunity to connect people together through their wellness strategy. An emphasis on community is something that athletic apparel retailer lululemon focuses on in their marketing strategy and branding efforts with a web page dedicated to community that includes training guides, online classes, stories and more. A quick Google search of lululemon events in your area, for example “Lululemon Orange County” will garner various events on websites like eventbrite, with opportunities including “Fitness Friday: Sunset Yoga Flow” in partnership with YogaSix at their San Clemente location, a community run event in Huntington Beach and a sponsored HIIT workout class in Irvine, all for free.

The power of a community such as this is that it allows people to relate to one another and your brand, holds people accountable and improves mental health. It’s not just limited to physical activities, however. Lego has done an excellent job of connecting customers to one another and their brand through their platform, Lego Ideas. This website, which has garnered nearly 230,000 followers on Twitter and Facebook, gets the creative juices flowing and encourages Lego-lovers to create, submit and vote on new lego sets, and participate in short activity challenges. Uniting Lego fans in this way takes a solo hobby and makes it social, further connects people to the brand and boosts mental health through play. By engaging with audiences through stories, holding events or giveaways or even creating a platform to share creativity, brands can connect like-minded people to their brand and, equally as important, to one another. “It’s really about building that community where they’re not just looking to me for advice, but also turning to each other,” wellness influencer Rosie Breen shares in the Ogilvy Wellness Gap Study.

Why partner with a wellness marketing agency?

Partnering with a wellness marketing agency ensures that your marketing efforts remain consistent, your messaging and campaigns are focused on wellbeing, your KPIs are clearly identified and revisited, and new ideas are brought to the table. As an Orange County marketing agency that works with wellness brands across the US, we maintain a pulse on the industry and provide an outside perspective, which is always refreshing when you work closely with your brand. Our Orange Label Approach™ and  View From the Field™ takes a holistic approach to your brand’s marketing, from a focused meeting with key stakeholders to audience interviews so that your marketing resonates with your audience. With 50+ years of marketing expertise, you get undivided attention, insights, results and industry leadership when you work with Orange Label. Learn more about our response marketing agency to see how we help brands take the lead in wellness and grow alongside their customers.

Written By: Ashley Ruiz

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