Experts offered insights on wellness at Ad Age's The Wellness Revolution
The rise of the wellness industry has left many companies scrambling to define the parameters of the category. Ad Age’s The Wellness Revolution, held March 7 in New York, offered attendees insights into how the marketing space is shifting to make room for the concept of wellness.
Below, five takeaways from the event, which featured leaders from Lululemon, Hilton, Walgreens, Ulta Beauty, Charlotte’s Web and other major brands and agencies.
Curiosity's Peyton Sutton (left) and Brooks Running's Amanda Neil speak with Ad Age's Brian Bonilla
The cross-industry consensus was that “wellness” is more holistic than “health,” comprising three major components: physical, mental and social.
“Particularly for the younger generation, this idea of social wellness has really been a part of the conversation,” said Amanda Neil, VP of brand strategy and marketing at Brooks Running.
She echoed the sentiment of Walter Geer, chief experience design officer of VMLY&R Health, who spoke during a session about the growth of health care as a revenue driver for ad agencies: “It’s not just what you’re putting out on the market, it’s how you’re treating your employees.”
Social wellness encompasses environmental and societal impact, leading many companies to roll out impact agendas and sustainability initiatives in recent years. The concepts of physical and mental wellness have also taken on a new dimension, aided by a growing consumer awareness that the three pieces are inextricably tied together.
Several brand executives warned against “wellness washing,” saying an overuse of the term will dilute the meaning altogether. “It’s something that we all as brands have to carefully consider and consider what are we influencing and what are the long-term implications,” said Sara Burnett, Panera’s VP of food beliefs, sustainability and PR.
Wunderman Thompson Health's Dania Alarcon (left) and VMLY&R's Walter Geer discuss the future of health care advertising
How wellness brands should be connecting with diverse consumers has become more important in recent years.
Dania Alarcon, chief medical officer at Wunderman Thompson Health, said that COVID-19 played a huge role in cementing wellness as a household topic for families of all backgrounds. She also addressed the importance of including marginalized individuals in all aspects of wellness campaigns rather than as a “touchstone at the very end.”
“We want to integrate multicultural perspectives from the moment that we’re starting to ideate on how we’re going to communicate, all the way through development,” said Alarcon.
Vlada Briks, Stella Rising’s VP of client strategy, said her team experienced an “aha moment” working on a campaign with its client Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine (CCRM) after receiving a report that indicated that 50% of the fertility treatment company's San Francisco-based patients were Asian American, yet this demographic had never been featured in CCRM's social media.
“That collaboration lets us get to those ‘aha moments,’ those insights, and from there, great things happen,” said Briks.
Artificial intelligence will soon have a permanent role in wellness advertising. Geer said that AI is most useful in eliminating time-wasting expenditures to “help create opportunities for us to move faster.”
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“It’s about getting something quicker and building off of it, versus it [artificial intelligence] doing your job for you,” said Michael McNamara, managing director, McKinney Health.
Both Geer and McNamara agreed that a gradual approach is best when introducing AI to the workplace. AI has already found a permanent role in the healthcare industry, according to Geer, with scientists developing tools that can identify tumors and lead to cancer diagnosis.
“If we move in at a slower pace and not try to pounce on people, then we’ll be able to move in effective ways and get people to trust it,” said Geer.
Ad Age's Jon Springer (left) speaks. From left, Sara Burnett, VP of food beliefs, sustainability and PR for Panera; Cecelia Girr, director of cultural strategy for Backslash TBWA\Worldwide; Surbhi Martin, VP of Greek Yogurt and Functional Nutrition, Danone North America
Emerging wellness technologies have given rise to sectors such as food innovation, material innovation and climate labeling.
“As wellness grows and becomes more precise, we’ll see this closer connection between food and data,” said Cecelia Girr, director of cultural strategy for Backslash, the cultural intelligence unit of TBWA. She remains hopeful that cultivated meats, precision fermentation and optimization of waste will be the future of food production.
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Previously, Panera set a goal to reduce carbon emissions by 15% by 2022, which it accomplished a year early. The chain helped to change consumer habits by providing dish-by-dish information on how menu items affect greenhouse gas emissions, said Burnett.
Material innovation is another sector generating buzz. Last year, Lululemon released yoga mats and bags made with Mylo, a mushroom-based vegan leather. “There will be pants someday made of algae,” said Nikki Neuburger, Lululemon's chief brand officer. “We will definitely be in on that trend.”
Social media marketing is still bullish, with many panelists attesting to the success of an understated niche of influencer marketing: the micro-influencer.
Lululemon’s ambassador program, which enlists brand enthusiasts to promote products in exchange for perks and commission, has consistently proven to be the company’s most effective marketing initiative, according to Neuburger.
Seedlip Founder Ben Branson speaks. From left, Ad Age's Phoebe Bain, Andrew Katz of Athletic Brewing, Dawn Maire of Starla Wines and Ben Witte of Recess
During a discussion examining the rise in non-alcoholic beverages, Andrew Katz, chief marketing officer of Athletic Brewing Co., said that micro-influencers have “really been at the core” of expanding brand recognition since the company's inception: “So yes, we do have influencers but the reality is that people who become evangelists for the brand are way better than anybody you could ever pay.”
Ben Branson, founder of Diageo-owned alcohol-free beverage brand Seedlip, agreed, recalling a run-in with a Shanghai bartender who had a Seedlip can tattoo on his back. “You can’t pay for that. Money can’t buy that kind of stuff.”
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Ad Age's Adrianne Pasquarelli and Hilton's Amanda Al-Masri discuss Hilton’s wellness journey at Ad Age Wellness Revolution
For many hospitality companies, improved wellness is no longer just a welcome byproduct of a positive customer experience, but a strategic imperative. Hilton has been making a big push in this direction in recent months. In the fall, for example, the chain announced a deal with Peloton to station a bike in all of its guest rooms.
“Hospitality and wellness has historically meant some brick and mortar spaces in our buildings,” said Amanda Al-Masri, who was hired as Hilton’s first VP of wellness earlier this year. “It has often meant spas, it has often meant fitness. It still means those things but now there’s a lot of crossover into our full-stay experience.”
Al-Masri added that Hilton has no intention to serve as an arbiter of wellness. Instead, the hotel chain will address guest needs as they arise through meaningful change to things such as the sleep and shower experiences.
“We know that the historical ways of working with wellness in hospitality are not necessarily the ways we need to communicate with consumers,” Al-Masri said. “We have white space, we have the ability to shift the paradigm.”
