The wellness revolution has already generated significant growth across multiple categories that haven’t traditionally played in the healthcare space. Startups and established companies alike have raised their profiles by telling brand stories through the lens of wellness. Whether it’s a cosmetic company only using ethically-sourced ingredients or an athleisure brand venturing into health-monitoring wearables, the wellness trend has spurred innovative ideas for solving age-old problems and has welcomed new players into a flourishing arena.
Despite the enormous scale and opportunities in wellness in 2018, the industry is still using the same tried-and-true collection of verticals- food, beauty, and fitness, defining burgeoning wellness industry that reaches far deeper into the culture, society, and economy currently. Marketers are realizing the huge opportunities for brands, revamping the context of wellness while simultaneously creating better and more positive experiences for customers who have moved beyond ‘health’.
Wellness in healthcare
After years of distancing itself from the shadow of pharmaceutical, it turns out there’s a huge, untapped potential for re-imagining traditional healthcare experiences more holistically. Rethinking the service design for healthcare can transform the experiences for both patients and providers, whether it’s creating more efficient hospital check-in processes (with lessons learned from high-end retail experiences) or utilizing electronic health records for doctors to better engage with patients and therapies.
Wellness as a lifestyle
For a majority of consumers, wellness is focused on lifestyle. In most categories, smaller, emerging brands are finding opportunities, flourishing over the behemoths. In fact, companies like Nestle and Kraft have already admitted that the demand for healthier and well-maintained options has increased over the past couple of years.
The anti-aging sector, in particular, is booming. Orbis Research reported the global market for anti-aging products and services was worth $250 billion in 2016 and is estimated to top $330 billion by 2021. Creams, supplements, sprays, anti-wrinkle treatments a, d sleep aids appear to be the major areas of opportunity. Outside of aging, ingestible beauty products for nails, hair and skin are rising in popularity.
Recently, the food and beauty worlds collided spectacularly when cosmetics brand Bobbi Brown introduced its twist on the protein shake: edible, collagen-infused dessert packs.
Meanwhile, the largest growing fitness trend appears to be at-home workouts with expensive equipment, including the internet-connected Peloton bike, alongside live streaming instructor apps. The combination of personalization, convenience and access to instructors creates an experience that becomes worth the cost of the equipment.
Brands have an opportunity to design, service ecosystems and create customer experiences that can make positive contributions to the wellness journey.
