Our industry is undergoing generational, technological, and geopolitical change as our fitness fabric is rewoven post-COVID. Consumers are smarter, expect more customisation and know they have a choice, so your USP may need modernising to be relevant in the new order.
More people are back engaging in live experiences and hybrid life is becoming the new highway to health. As we transition through the period of hybridised health and fitness offerings into a consolidation and partnership era, wellness is now touting a US$1.8 trillion value in the US. Headlines scream cold plunges and collagen, Ozempic and peptides.
The ecosystem
The last few years have been a battle of the ecosystem. With technology come preferences and then personalisation. Thanks to uber-personalisation, the new, agnostic age of open APIs and good, old fashioned choice, the customer now rules.
Personalised marketing
Gone are the days of corporate power-play advertising as the sole source of influence. Marketing power is in the hands of the user. This includes a continued focus on diversity and representation to reflect the broadening range of consumer identities. As long as it doesn’t get banned, TikTok budgets soar as younger generations are ushered in.
Brand values
The next generation has special radars for corporate BS, so don’t waste money telling everyone how great you are, have staff and customers do that for you. The rise of employee influencers enhances brand credibility and relatability internally. User-generated content is the new authenticity.
Don’t get niche-slapped
One-off collabs are being traded for more enduring relationships with brands: cue Chris Hemsworth and Centr; Jennifer Aniston with Pvolve. Who can you trust to carry your torch?
Five star service
It’s time to play the five-star game. With travel experience valued at US$651 billion, according to the Global Wellness Institute, it’s time to check the 250 boxes set out by The Fit Guide and introduce hospitality standards to our services, as health-conscious travellers weave their wellness routine into their exploration adventures.
The tech-tonic plates are shifting
The fourth Industrial Revolution means technology is accelerating. AI is at a tipping point and if you are not using ChatGPT, or one of its cousins, you are not harnessing the strategic and structural frameworks you could be using to save time that should be spent at the creative edge. According to an Adobe survey, 80 per cent of creative talent uses generative AI for strategic work, leaving more time for creative work.
Healthspan trumps lifespan
Longevity and living longer in good health are new priorities. There is no point in living longer if we drop off the cliff in the last decade, draining family and society resources and living a half-life that sucks.
There’s a pill for that (or an injection)
Diabetes and obesity drugs are now mainstreaming for public consumption in the weight loss game. The rise of GLP-1 drugs, at least in the US, has hit the market like the Super Bowl. Many health club brands have jumped on the “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ’em” bandwagon: you do the treatment and we’ll help you hold onto the new you.
In other buzz
While older generations blindly march towards Alzheimer’s (earned over decades) the next-gen was born with the wellness gene and are demanding a new outcome, way earlier.
Guts and butts
Gut health takes the gold medal in the personalised nutrition obsession. Getting jacked on nasty unpronounceable food narcotics is now being replaced by nature’s own caffeinated alternatives. Meanwhile, “science and data-backed” has triumphed over “clean, organic and green.”
What she said
Women’s health has been underserved and underfunded as long as women have been misunderstood. A significant portion of women’s lives are spent in one spin cycle or another: preparing to carry life (menstruation), carrying life (pregnancy), or moving beyond the ability to carry life (peri-menopause/post-menopause).
Watches, rings, and trackers are beginning to capture and add value to the nuanced world of women’s cycles.
The taboo around sex is in transition. Sexual health products are having a coming out party from behind the dark counters. Welcome back Woodstock and Glastonbury.
Cause a ruckus
We’re in an industry that’s been disrupted – are you focused on disrupting yourself? Upgrade that wondrous gift of curiosity and imagination. Don’t just stop at your why? Keep asking why not? Now go cause a ruckus!
Emma Barry is a speaker, author and chief of trouble at the Trouble Global consultancy
More: www.troubleglobal.com
