Growing the $3.4 trillion wellness industry was the topic under discussion at a recent gathering of 17 executives from leading wellness-related companies and organizations. The lively roundtable discussion took place at the French Embassy in New York City on November 19.
The group identified five key opportunities for growth in the industry:
Democratization
Wellness is no longer for a specific age, gender or economic group. The benefits of wellness are now being felt across all demographics, thanks in large part to the affordable options from providers like Massage Envy. Extending the appeal of your wellness business to a wider range of people makes sense for growth. “Consumers are more exposed, practitioners are more exposed, and it just creates opportunity for everybody in the value chain,” said Richard Dantas, CEO of Carol’s Daughter.
Millennials
Millennials spend money differently than baby boomers—they don’t necessarily buy big-ticket items like houses and cars, but they do spend on less-expensive luxuries like fitness, spa and travel. If you aren’t courting these customers already, you should be.
Workplace Wellness
As employers begin fostering stronger relationships with employees using wellness as a cornerstone, there is a huge opportunity for the spa and wellness industry to participate in that relationship and help build wellbeing programs that work.
Increased Points of Entry
The fact that consumers are exposed to spa and wellness virtually everywhere they go—from airports to hotels to main street—means that brands are able to connect with them in more ways than ever before. It also will result in them being more receptive to wellness approaches.
Building Trust
Giving consumers real evidence to support the benefits of wellness will go a much longer way to convince them of its importance than any jargon could. (A good resource for this type of information is the recently launched www.wellnessevidence.com.) Real people and real results are your best sales tools, not data points and corporate messaging.
“My audiences do not want to hear me roll off data points about what smoking does to you…they want to hear that they have a chance to make a change and that they can do something about it,” said Joe Cross, founder of Reboot with Joe.
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