America’s Wellness Team
Denigrating health statistics have become the norm in the United States since the 1980’s. Every age grouping from kids through seniors across all ethnic groups has experienced declines in health and wellness. The business of health and health care has grown enormously. Today, the health care industry is approximately one-seventh of the U.S. economy or $1.5 trillion. Unfortunately, 85% of this figure is devoted to illness or sickness with the remaining 15% representing current annual expenditures on wellness related products and services.
The wellness industry has quickly emerged as a growth industry with current annual sales of $200 billion. If current wellness trends continue, the industry will be approaching $1 trillion in sales by 2015. The Wellness Industry is in the early stage (early adopters) of the classical product life cycle given that less than 15% of the population is even familiar with the wellness concept.
Since the early 1990’s an isolated segment of Americans have aggressively pursued wellness and prevention to combat disease. As more and more wellness success stories are evident. More Americans will be attracted to a lifestyle of wellness. Thus, creating the demand for a variety of wellness related products.
There are clear differences between the healthcare industry and the emerging wellness industry. Typically, consumers in the healthcare industry become customers when their bodies fail them in some way and the onset of chronic illness is eminent. Wellness consumers voluntarily choose to become wellness patrons given the drive to enjoy a healthy lifestyle, minimize conditions associated with aging, and avoid preventable illness. Diet is equally associated with sickness and wellness. Two diseases have climbed recently as a result of Americans’ consumption of too much food and nutritionally deprived foods. According to The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), more than 61% of the U.S. population is overweight and of this figure, 27% of these Americans are clinically obese. Both overweight and obesity are classified as disease by the CDC.
Three key factors contribute to the poor dietary patterns of Americans:
• Americans are huge overeaters
• Most Americans unfortunately are not getting enough of the key nutrients that are required to keep healthy and strong.
• The casual lifestyle that many Americans enjoy reflects a Live to Eat attitude versus an Eat to Live attitude.
GOALS: The goal of AWT is to assemble a team of committed Consumer Brand Marketers, Retail Grocery, Pharmaceutical firms, and Foodservice and Hospitality Industry members to collectively communicate the action required to achieve state of wellness. Most consumers are interested in good health. They are clueless on just how to acquire it. The aforementioned business sectors have all been the target for critics who’ve challenged the integrity of an offering(s). For example, the Foodservice & Lifestyle industries are repeatedly attacked for menu offerings that are high fat, too sugary, cholesterol and calorie burdened. Although many leading industry concerns have begun to address the health and wellness issue, they like other related industries unfortunately haven’t simplified the message or the wellness approach in a manner that’s easily understood or actionable. AWT’s goal is to change this.
The tobacco industry, though completely dissimilar to the aforementioned industries is a glowing example of how an industry has taken a product (tobacco) with multiple easily identifiable negatives yet encourages teens not to smoke given the health issues associated with smoking via an aggressive campaign. Comparatively, our industry has a strong untold messages that unlike the tobacco message, consumers will welcome and will understand. Health and wellness can be addressed forthrightly given the viable alternatives that exist and a clear umbrella strategy that allows industry leaders to simply tell their story
STATUS: The AWT concept and explanation will be rolled out at a press event on April 18th at The National Press Club in Washington, DC. At this event, the founding AWT members will be announced and presented..
ACTION: Explore with your management how your organization’s message can be better communicated and enhanced through an association with AWT.
