Wellness Is Everything and Everywhere: Is That Hurting Credibility?

These days, there’s no place to hide from wellness trends. Petco turned heads pre-pandemic by reimagining itself as a health and wellness retailer. Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty cosmetics brand comes complete with a mental health and wellness initiative. Hair care brands now offer supplements as part of a wellness routine and supplements brands offer sexual wellness. Even MetLife got in the game and launched Upwise, which fosters financial wellness by addressing the emotional barriers to progress. The list goes on.

In most ways, this is great news. Not only is attention to personal health and wellness more normalized, but consumers have become much more informed and don’t accept blanketed claims without substantiated proof. But, this new informed consumer also means brands leveraging wellness have to work harder and become much more transparent in their business practices. Everything needs to work to build credibility. No more usage of words like “clean” and “sustainable” unless they can prove it. More commitments to having a social impact or to causes like helping to end single-use plastic. Only inclusive brand experiences that speak to everyone.

As more brands (especially in the beauty space) embrace wellness and categories blur into each other, credibility has truly become the most valuable currency.  Here’s how you build a wellness brand with credibility to spare.

Leave no doubt

The wellness industry is filled with terms – “self care”, “natural”, etc.— that have become a catch-all for products that suggest effectiveness without needing to prove what a product actually does. It relies solely on the emotional benefit without showing the actual benefit. Anything can be “self care” nowadays—skincare, makeup, vibrators—but customers need to be shown exactly why they need to use something—what it will do for them, what results they will see, which others are using it and what results are they getting. Wellness brands need to clearly communicate how a product will improve customers’ lives or experiences and how it ties into their lifestyles. A great example of this brand philosophy in action is ASystem, a series of supplements that go to huge lengths to detail their ingredients and prove that their products are science-backed and credible, with insights and all the information you might need accessible directly on their site. But above that, they also incorporate psychology as a way to help people maintain their wellness habit and are aesthetically appealing to consumers with a form that draws you in as much as the function. These are supplements that you want to pull out of your bag to start a conversation or have someone notice, in addition to being effective.

Tell a personal story

Given that Gen Z has the highest BS meter of any generation, they can tell right away if a brand is simply copying another brand, or saying what they think they need to say – especially on social media. So any brand storytelling needs to be specific and personal to you if the goal is to get consumers to believe in your product and fall in love with your brand. Gen Z isn’t going to use a brand they wouldn’t be friends with. You can’t be afraid to be vulnerable or a little exposed to earn credibility. Know what you stand for as a brand, and then reflect that in all your touchpoints—from your packaging to your messaging. Even if you’re not a celebrity, influencer, or a skincare expert, you should still have a compelling connection to the problems you’re trying to solve. Maybe your demanding job with harsh environments and stressful situations played hell with your sensitive skin and led you to launch a premium skincare brand. Or you’re a working mother who still wants to feel beautiful no matter where your life takes you which led to you launching a more adaptable beauty brand. These are the types of authentic stories that really resonate with consumers and make a brand unique and inspiring. Don’t just say who you are, show who you are.

Take wellness seriously, but not too seriously

Historically, the wellness category used to be really serious—you couldn’t be active and happy when you were talking about wellness. You had to be calm, serene and floating on a cloud. Being trustworthy and credible meant projecting a staid demeanor.

Coming out of the past few years of the pandemic, this is starting to change. While people have more anxiety than ever, they are also looking for ways to meaningfully connect and reconnect with others and society. They want to feel joyful and uplifted, not quiet and reclusive. As a result, the brands that offer connection in their visuals, brand experience and messaging will earn more credibility. People are going to need support in feeling happy again. They are going to need to feel confident in connecting with others at work and at play, and feel psychological and physical safety in order to perform at their best every day. If wellness brands want to be a part of the solution, they’ll need to show up in ways that are more empathetic, emotional and interesting.

Our world is changing so rapidly, and consumers' tastes and preferences are as well. So, wellness brands should be constantly evolving too, thinking about how they can be more credible. In fact, transparency, safety and effectiveness are actually table stakes to today’s wellness consumer that will only tolerate ecommerce experiences that feel more personalized and marketing that speaks directly to them. While more brands may be adopting wellness messaging, it’s those wellness brands that offer a unique aesthetic and (more importantly) focus on proving their worth that will find a lasting audience.

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Anna Kavaliunas is the Chief Strategy Officer of branding and marketing agency SMAKK, helping to guide clients through a rapidly evolving online landscape, using a wide range of digital strategies to better communicate each brand’s unique value. This includes advising on storytelling, messaging and branding strategy and delivering campaigns that both drive engagement and promote a vision for a better world.