Consumers are redefining wellbeing. Can you keep up?

“New normal,” that tiresome early pandemic phrase, is beginning to take on new meaning as we begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel with vaccinations happening across the country. Even post-vaccine, life will be different for many reasons. As we outlined in our last issue, and as I explored in my latest column for Strategy (see below), routines, habits and lives have changed and likely won’t go back to our “old normal” at all. So whether we’re talking luxury wellness retreats, the struggles of motherhood or feeling overwhelmed and overcrowded at home, consumers are looking for new solutions. Can your brand come up with creative ways to serve your audience?

 

Wellbeing from around the web

Lexus steers toward wellness with luxury road trips

Lexus launches “retreats in motion,” a wellness retreat in partnership with media brand Mindbodygreen, that includes two nights each at two hotels, plus the loan of its luxury 2021 IS Sedan. Driving between the hotels is a key part of the retreat.v

The takeaway: As long as you’re interested in taking care of your consumers—and if you’re not, you might want to rethink your strategy—you’re a wellbeing brand. Luxury car brand Lexus has positioned their newest vehicle as “a destination and a sanctuary” to give consumers a COVID-safe way to experience all it has to offer. They’ve created a wellness retreat concept, and have assembled an all-star line up of media and hospitality partners to deliver it. With whom can you align to build a wellbeing experience around your brand?

 

Motherhood: A joy. A job. A pre-existing condition?

The pandemic has been hard on everyone—but articles from around the world confirm that women and specifically mothers are struggling the most. This article takes a deep dive into the lives and daily struggles of Canadian mothers during the pandemic.

The takeaway: Women and mothers have traditionally had a disproportionately high influence on family buying decisions. The pandemic has had a disproportionately high impact on women, too. If you want women to engage with your brand, you need to understand their current struggles and stand with them. Publishing more content around the struggles of motherhood is tempting, but ultimately, simply standing in solidarity isn’t helping your consumer. How can your brand help make women’s lives easier?
Start by tapping into consumer insights as well as relationships with key influencers and stakeholders, and build your narrative strategy from there. Read our KIND Snacks case study to see this approach in action.

 

Wellbeing trend: Making home the heart of health again 

My most recent column for Strategy Online asks the questions marketers need to consider if they want a place in consumers’ already crowded pandemic-era homes.
Read the column.

 

Felicity Gives Back: Moderating marketing panels at DX3

Earlier this month, I moderated two panel discussions at DX3 Canada, the country’s largest conference and trade show dedicated to retail, marketing, and technology.

The first panel discussion was The Slow Down and answered the question: What does it take to run a “slow” business, when there’s so much pressure to speed up?

The second was on sustainability and asked the panelists how both consumer and stakeholder expectations of brands and sustainability have evolved in light of the pandemic.

In case you missed it, you can access these talks and others on the DX3 website:
The Slow Down with Ashley Freeborn of Smash + Tess, Kelly Go of Auro Chocolate and Skyler Mapes of EXAU.

The Sustainability Imperative with Stuart Lombard of ecobee, Rena Nickerson of SodaStream International, Ltd., Sahir Zaveri of King Children and Courtney Chew of OCIN.

It was such an honour to learn from these brazen entrepreneurs and leaders!

 

Feeling inspired?