Every Brand Is Now a Health and Wellness Brand

Both of these factors, combined with the fact that it’s quite common in periods of socio-economic instability for health to become a more prevalent concern and focus in our day to day, are driving an explosion of health and wellness related initiatives, products and product lines within brands across all industries. To some extent, every brand is now a health brand. This doesn’t imply that all brands have the same relationship to health: for pharmaceutical and Rx brands, purpose and product are almost juxtaposed; providers, payors (insurers), pharmacy retailers and healthcare technology providers carry out their health purpose at an ecosystem level; for lifestyle and wellness brands health is an adjacent purpose within a broader value proposition.

However, it’s becoming evident that health needs to be a key consideration for brands across all industries as they develop new playbooks to differentiate in the years to come. This shift is the springboard for transformation and differentiation opportunities within established healthcare sectors.

Not only are consumers thinking more and differently about health, so are organizations. The impact of the pandemic on the workplace has opened many businesses’ eyes to the value that safety and mental health have to the human capital that drives their operations forward. Just like governments are strategically investing in vaccines to create the aperture for future economic recovery, corporations are investing in health support to reduce employee absences and resignations and enhance productivity, inspiration and loyalty.

Health technology brands focused on the IoT enablement of physical and mental wellness tracking and documentation throughout the productivity ecosystem that exist within various industries, such as logistics, retail, travel and hospitality, can benefit immediately from this re-propositioning of healthcare as a business opportunity, but so can insurance providers that partner with businesses to deliver better employee plans and programs: a recent study by Ginger found that 96% of CEOs think they are doing enough for employee mental health, yet only 69% of employees agree. [2]  Insurers have a great opportunity to reconstruct their value proposition around the support of health in the workplace beyond physical wellness.

Health literacy and alternative wellness are more popular among younger consumers. A recent GlobeScan report shows that 33% of Gen Z sought out information related to health lifestyles very often and 35% of them did so often, while only 13% of Baby Boomers did so very often and 28% of them often. [3]  Eventually, this trend will inform an expectation of frictionless access to health-related information and experiences similar to what we see in other sectors like retail or entertainment. This will have a series of repercussions, such as a loosening of the regulatory environment that often acts as a barrier for healthcare brands in the delivery of engaging customer experiences, the emergence of more ‘on-demand’ healthcare plans and a big rethink of brand identity and brand trust within pharma, where consumers today tend to have a deep relationship with the product, rather than with the company.

In health, fake news can have huge consequences. As the delivery of information will become fast-tracked, health brands will need to champion responsible information and use responsibly the increasing amount of data consumers will be willing to exchange, offering to them more precise treatments and bespoke, trustworthy and simplified interactions in return. While younger consumer expectations will drive the ‘fast-tracking’ of the health journey, healthcare brands – especially providers and health technology companies – will also need to step up to support the aging population that is less digitally-savvy and expects to be engaged in a different way.

Ultimately, while in other industries digital transformation tends to embed convenience in the customer experience by removing the need for human intervention through automation, in health and wellness technology will enable and improve existing human interactions between doctors and patients.

While telehealth exploded over the last couple of years – it was used by only 2% of patients in 2019, primarily for urgent care and behavioral health, and now, after a peak during the first lockdowns, it has normalized at 36% of patients for a much wider range of purposes  - it will mostly offer an opportunity to simplify regular touchpoints and intermediate steps that allow patients to be better prepared and ask more specific questions during in-person visits. This, combined with the insights that new wellness devices and applications are going to deliver to doctors, will make time spent with practitioners even more valuable: a doctor’s hand is the first one that touches us when we are born and often also the last we touch before we pass and the value of that physical interaction will never be replaced.

The first things all brands need to consider is where they fit in the health ecosystem, recognizing that they may fit into more than one category and evaluating the synergies that can help them fill the gaps.

Once comfortable with their positioning in the ecosystem, brands need to consider how their role in the health journey can open up new opportunities: look closely at their value proposition, understand the competition and seek solutions to unlock product and experience innovation.

Lastly, they need to develop robust insights on their end customers: this will help them position their products, identify the appropriate promotional scenarios and also consider potential acquisitions or brand extensions that may reinforce their brand as the go-to solution for their customers.

Matt McNally, Global President, dentsu health 

Kent Groves, PhD, EVP Global Head of Strategy, dentsu health 

Greg Reilly, EVP Global Client Lead, dentsu health

Christina Martucci, VP Strategy & Commerce, dentsu Canada