A new month, a new blog and with April being International Stress Awareness Month, we wanted to explore how health and beauty brands are using ‘stress’ to create products and support consumers in their self-care and wellbeing journey.
The modern world is moving quickly, and as individuals we are too. This means that stress has become an almost ubiquitous companion (an unwanted one, we might add), affecting people of all ages and backgrounds. However, amidst this challenge, a noteworthy trend has emerged. Brands are increasingly recognising the importance of supporting consumers in managing stress. From innovative relaxation aids to mindfulness-promoting products, companies are listening and offering solutions aimed at alleviating the burden of stress in everyday life.
This blog delves into the brands developing products that aid in stress relief and promote holistic wellness, or simply talking about the topic in their comms in a way that resonates with their customers. We’ll see which brands are doing it right and what brands like yours can learn from them.
It’s fair to say that in the last few years, self-care and wellbeing has become an important topic – for both brands and consumers. In a
recent survey conducted by The Mental Health Foundation, they found that over 74% of adults have felt stress at some point in their lives. It’s numbers like these that have led to more people wanting to focus on their mental and emotional wellbeing and seeking out advice and products that help them to achieve just that. And while you might think that it would be slightly older consumers most affected – higher positions in their career, larger mortgages, etc. all contributing to their stress levels – it’s across all ages. In fact, in our Future Of Beauty Research, consumers across all generations said they
would prefer to “feel good, rather than look good”, but it was younger consumers who felt this most strongly, with 71% of Gen Z agreeing with that statement. With this, I will look at brands who are creating ‘waves of tranquillity’ for their consumers and why they have been successful in achieving this.
“Everyday brings a choice: To practice stress or to practice peace – Joan Borysenko
Aromatherapy Associates
You may already be familiar with Aromatherapy Associates, and may even have an oil or two around the house. Founded in 1985, the brand champions and celebrates the benefits of essential oils in wellbeing and health, with products that focus not just on the physical, but also the emotional needs of the consumer, and it’s a philosophy that’s working well.
How do they get it right?
- Adding Value with Online Tutorials: With wellness at the core of the brand’s ethos and identity, they actively promote wellbeing across all their touchpoints. Rather than simply showcasing their products on YouTube, the brand has worked hard to curate a number of different content series, including the ‘Destress’ series and ‘How to Love Who You Are’ that focus on activities such a stretches & breathing. While the products do feature, they’re almost secondary to these activities, with the result being a video featuring tips that users can try themselves, while finding themselves part of a wider movement or community, and not feeling like they’re just being sold to. With many users using YouTube as a platform to discover or learn something (for example, 75% of Gen X users watch YouTube as way to learn something new), this is a great way to engage the consumers, all while building brand awareness and creating brand loyalty.
- Clear comms theme on social: Much of their social media promotes the idea of relaxing to create positive physical and emotional wellbeing, especially on Pinterest. With boards such as “Mind + Skin” and “Mindful moments”, it shows the consumer positive affirmation through quotes, while demonstrating how the products are used to achieve better “Mind, Body and Soul”. This clear focus is yielding great results and outlines the importance of using the fundamentals of your brand to create clear communication pillars for your social content.
“Sometimes, the most productive thing to do is to relax” - Mark Black
Tropic
Any ‘The Apprentice’ fans here may have heard of Tropic but for those who are haven’t (where have you been?!), Tropic is an award-winning, eco-friendly skincare & makeup brand who’s goal is to feed your skin with nature’s goodness while also helping to feed the environment.
How do they get it right?
- Partnerships that are on point: They partnered with ‘Inside Out Wellness’, a wellness service that used skincare, yoga and ayurvedic coaching to promote healthy physical and emotion wellbeing. They believe that self-care routines should make you feel good inside and out and combining this with activities that promote de-stressing is a great way to engage customers into seeking a wellness journey. How do they talk about dealing with stress? Both brands collaborating and partnering together that share the same beliefs helps to authentically reinforce their positioning i.e. self-care and relaxation is important for your health therefore, it makes it feel more credible to consumers, rather than just a marketing gimmick. This in turn makes the consumer interested and therefore wants to know more.
- Don’t just say it – do it!: If you follow Tropic on socials, you will see lots of wellbeing posts that instantly make you feel zen. Well, Tropic recently launched Wellbeing days in which they see staff being treated to hand massages and some ‘me time’ the key message was to have some self-care and treating yourself to activities that make you feel good about yourselves. The key point here is they aren’t just saying, they’re really doing it by showcasing their wellbeing days and not being afraid to show what happens behind the scenes with staff. This is a very simple, yet effective way to authentically reinforce your brand message but also motivate and inspire the consumer at the same time.
Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes..... including you - Anne Lamott
faace
Next up is another brand that got a leg-up via a BBC reality show. This time, fresh of their appearance on Dragon’s Den, it’s Faace. Bursting with personality, Faace describe themselves as the ‘hormonal’ skincare experts, with a stated focus on releasing a range of products that “does what it says”.
How do they get it right?
- Faace Feed: Firstly, we love the name but essentially, this is the brand’s way of saying blogs. One that caught our attention was how stress can affect your social life. They analyse stress and the importance of looking after mental health but give advice on how consumers can help embrace relaxation. From sound therapy to massage balls to my personal favourite ‘happy Meal’ and nope we are not taking the famous Maccie D’s but foods high in amnio acids they use professional nutritionist and facilitators to inform you of how one can look after themselves better and ultimately, reduce your stress levels. The messaging is simple, by talking about how to deal with stress and giving the consumer ways to practice this, they will in result, enjoy better wellness and have loyalty to the brand.
- Not afraid to speak about ‘uncomfortable’ topics related to stress: Faace is a brand that is very fun but also very open. They cover a lot of topics, from ‘describing periods’ to ‘lack of libido’ they aren’t afraid to talk about the issues faced by consumers, and that includes being open and honest about stress. And, when you consider that simply talking about stress has been proven to help people recover by 42%, that’s a huge point. It’s one that Faace don’t shy away from, discussing stress and how you can overcome it, whether it’s through their product descriptions, blogs, social content, etc. We know from our own research that consumers want to hear brands talking about the real issues they’re facing in their life-stage, rather than ignoring them – whether that’s stress or other things such as menopause, aging or other aspects of our mental health & wellbeing. By talking about these issues head on, your letting your consumers know they are not alone which fosters a sense of community and again helps to drive brand loyalty.
What can other brands learn?
Regardless of your target audience or products, whoever you are there’s a strong chance that at some point you’re going to be talking to customers who are feeling stressed. So while not everyone is sharing stress-relieving pillow mists, there are some tips all brands can use when it comes to talking about stress:
1.
Be authentic and genuine: Brands need to ensure their stress related products and wellbeing components are authentic and strategically planned to avoid being disingenuous. Do your research, find out what causes stress in your consumers and relate how your product can help your customer. Simply saying ‘and relax’ doesn’t always sell over the demographic so make sure your marketing and products are relatable but also support your consumers wellbeing and stress-free journey
2.
Provide Solutions: This might sound simple but at times it can be a tricky task to navigate. Can your brand create a blog with an industry professional to help your customers find a method that helps combat stress? If your brand has created a product to help combat stress, how are you are part of the customer’s journey? Whether this is through supporting them with relatable content, brand partnerships or tutorials, make sure your solution resonates with your consumer and leaves them wanting to come back to your brand.
3.
Building Customer Trust: It’s part of human nature to trust, or not trust something or someone. And while it’s important for all of us, for some generations it is even more key when it comes to which brands they buy from. For example,
in our recent digital masterclass, we revealed that trust is 30% more important to Gen X’s buying decisions. So, what can you do to build that trust? Reach out to your consumer to ask them to leave a review and potentially, reward them for this, provide resources such as blogs, masterclasses or events that build a relationship with your consumers. Things like this will help your customers come back and they will feel heard and safe.
Sounds good? Great, now go and put this into practice and make sure you are thinking about combating stress in your brand in a way that leaves your consumers nice and zen.
Posted 3 April 2024 by Chloe Ching