Why—and How—Your Brand Can Harness the $7 Trillion Wellness Trend

Far from a fringe topic, people’s physical, emotional and mental well-being should be a consideration for brand and marketing professionals across industries.

Wellness is no longer just a buzzword.

These days, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone not interested in discussing how to get—or stay—healthy. The conversation has shifted from something only fitness fanatics or mental health practitioners regularly discussed to become a topic on everyone’s mind.

As consumers focus on staying healthy, wellness is becoming more mainstream. Consider that 122 million (44%) of 2022 holiday shoppers said they planned to purchase a health and wellness tech product as a gift this year, according to research from the Consumer Technology Association.

Also take for example this year’s CES, which created a dedicated portal for the event’s wellness and well-being innovations and touchpoints. “Health and wellness as a category has had a growing presence at CES and now the Digital Health Studio is a very prominent part of the overall experience,” says the portal's main page. “We’re starting to see the lines between regulated medical devices and health, wellness, lifestyle devices converge.”

Let’s not overlook mental and emotional health as part of this trend.

Though it used to be a bit of a taboo subject, these well-being aspects became part of our day-to-day conversations once the pandemic arrived. That trend has only continued to grow in the three years since–and these topics are in the forefront of your consumers’ and employees’ minds, no matter your industry vertical.

Wellness Projected to Become a $7 Trillion Industry—and Impossible for Brands to Ignore

So, what does all this mean for brands?

They need to recognize that resistance is futile when consumers (not to mention employees and people in general) really want change.

Wellness isn’t a flash-in-the-pan trend that is going away anytime soon. In 2021, McKinsey estimated the global wellness market at more than $1.5 trillion, with annual growth of 5% to 10%. This figure is projected to grow to almost $7 trillion U.S. dollars by 2025, according to Statistica. That translates into huge growth and innovation opportunities for savvy marketing professionals and brands that are dialed into the specific and changing needs of their audiences.

As brands start building wellness considerations into campaigns and experiences, marketers need to consider how screen time, their products and services, and also the cultures they weave into their brands support their communities and answer consumer, employee and partner needs.

We see this type of thinking from brands like Peloton, Nike and Orangetheory Fitness, two brands known for their strong user communities – but your brand doesn’t have to be in the wellness industry to integrate well-being into your communities and campaigns.

Community Is Key for Brands’ Foray Into Wellness

As we consider how to ensure we’re thinking about the well-being of our customers, putting community at the center of all we do becomes increasingly important. Building an engaged community that becomes the heart of all your marketing efforts is something brands can no longer ignore. 

How does wellness relate to community? As people realize that their well-being is at the core of their happiness and success in all aspects of their lives, they gravitate toward brands that offer them the opportunity to connect deeply through community and experiences. 

With mental, emotional and physical well-being becoming a priority for consumers, empowering them to better understand their bodies also becomes a priority. Many of the health-related innovations showcased at CES provide insight and data that empower people to better understand themselves and make the best decisions for their well-being.

A few examples: 

• The Evie ring, the first-ever medical-grade wearable focused on women’s wellness 
• Somalytics and its eye-tracking sleep mask
• Loba’s smart pill organizer 

Incorporating Well-Being Into Experience Design

The most impactful events and brand experiences spark moments of connection that foster lasting communities, so designing these moments with your audiences’ wellness needs in mind can help you more powerfully connect and leave a lasting impression.  

Designing experiences with well-being in mind can be as simple as providing breaks for conversation and collaboration or offering ways for audiences to stretch and move throughout the day.

Invite a yoga instructor to provide a class for event attendees, for example, or integrate a gamified on-site fitness challenge into the agenda. Incorporate moments of interaction and connection that allow people to think more deeply, decrease stress and improve attention and retention. 

A focus on well-being can also help you create more inclusive environments. As you design brand experiences and experiential marketing campaigns, consider ways to integrate accessibility offerings for both in-person and virtual attendees and how you can promote diversity of thought by making space for difficult (but important!) conversations about mental health, burnout, implementing effective DE&I initiatives, and other challenges.

Embracing the Intersection of Wellness, Experience & Community   

Because wellness isn’t just a buzzword and the focus on well-being isn’t a passing trend, brands must weave their initiatives into the very fabric of everything they do to ensure both relevance and authenticity. This requires marketers to put people first–by first understanding them and then giving them opportunities to connect and gain value. 

Put simply, focusing on your audience members and then thoughtfully integrating wellness into dynamic brand experiences and campaigns gives power to your audience. Through engagement opportunities and interactive touchpoints, marketers can empower their audiences to meet their needs, answer their questions and make choices that foster greater connection. 

By giving power to the people, brands can build communities that thrive–and ultimately, support their bottom lines through impactful experiences that consumers won’t forget. 

Learn how to further take advantage of macro trends including wellness and community through Spiro's thought leadership program, n•Spiro™.