The Wellness Connection

by Danny Summers

In recent weeks I have seen more than one article expounding on the growing consumer trend of prioritizing Wellness. A quick search or simply being alert to watching messaging in almost any media and you will see this first hand.

I know there was a growing awareness or interest in Wellness prior, but I am confident the Covid era has accelerated it even more today. One such article I saw a week or so ago was from AdAge magazine where they were promoting a day-long conference called "The Wellness Revolution Conference" where they will spotlight the intersection of health and marketing. They included several major brands bringing Wellness to the forefront of their marketing campaigns in the coming months. In the same announcement, they quoted a report from McKinsey & Company from last fall. McKinsey & Company is a global business consulting (and research) firm. The title of that report was...

"Still feeling good: The U.S. wellness market continues to boom."

I followed the link and read some of the McKinsey report. Here's a few statements that stood out to me:

• "Overall, around 50 percent of US consumers now report wellness as a top priority in their day-to-day lives, a significant rise from 42 percent in 2020.
• Our latest survey—which reached more than 2,000 US consumers—reconfirms the existence of several trends and shows growing consumer interest in wellness across six dimensions: health, fitness, nutrition, appearance, sleep, and mindfulness."

Here's an illustration showing the six dimensions in the McKinsey Report:

As I read the words in bold above, I instantly thought "the activity of Gardening fits right in." It's easy for us to recognize the benefits of garden-grown vegetables for nutrition and health. It's also easy to understand the benefits of being in the garden or around plants to help relax and unwind (that's the mindfulness part). But there certainly is opportunity to promote Gardencise as an alternative to expensive exercise gym memberships – plus its right in your backyard. And with Gardencise, just like exercise, you will certainly have more restful sleep.

OK, so maybe I have not yet figured out the appearance part of this message, but there has to be one. Oh yes, the appearance of our Gardens will certainly be better! But are they referring to our appearance? I can see with better health, fitness, nutrition, mindfulness and sleep we would (or should) have a better appearance.

If major brands are going to be pouring big budgets into a wellness message for their products, isn't it an easy reach to offer your spin on this approach as well? You already have at least 5 of the 6 dimensions covered with the wonderful natural plants you offer! We can work on the appearance part as the 6th dimension (please share to The Group's Marketing eList this week as you figure that out).

By the way, you can read more on the two sources I mentioned... AdAge Wellness Revolution Conference announcement HERE and McKinsey & Company's Consumer & Retail Practice Research Report HERE.

As you read more details of the McKinsey & Company Report and the areas (products and services) outlined to meet the need of each of the 6 areas, NO WHERE is PLANTS or GARDENING listed. Another part of their report states, "Many consumers find current wellness products or services insufficient to meet their needs, particularly for sleep and mindfulness." They also said, "Consumers increasingly value and seek out products and services that can address needs across several wellness dimensions."

Plants and the Garden can cover at least 4, if not 5, out the 6 dimensions!

If Wellness is a top priority for around 50 percent of the US consumers, it is very clear that we have a unique opportunity to market our products as a source for Wellness. The questions is... how do we build a message that captures their attention and how do we reach these consumers?

I hope you now see the opportunity you have with The Wellness Connection!

Happy Spring and Happy Sharing!