What Is Wellness Marketing and PR? How Food, Drink and Natural Lifestyle Brands Can Give Their Communications Strategy a Glow Up

On paper,  the business of “wellness” is exactly what it sounds like: It’s a sector focused on products and services that empower individuals in their pursuit of self-improvement, particularly their physical and mental well-being. In practice, however—and especially in marketing and PR—wellness is a term much broader and more complex than first meets the eye. 

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Just look at all the different micro marketing trends that reveal the myriad ways we pursue wellness: From crunchy parents and almond moms to clean girls entering their grandma era, the granola lifestyle once brushed off as hippie esoterica is everywhere these days. 

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That’s great news for food, beverage, beauty and lifestyle brands looking to tap a vast total addressable market of shoppers with health and wellness marketing. 

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What Is Wellness Marketing?

Because wellness is so broad and so deeply tied to our most basic human needs, there’s also a lot of white space in which brands can position themselves. 

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A brand’s wellness marketing strategy might be rooted in different identities, from gender to socioeconomic status to consumers’ relationship to the environment. Or a brand might differentiate itself from its competitors in terms of product quality, manufacturing processes or regionality.

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For example, many natural products companies position themselves against big, industrial-scale global competitors on qualities such as:

• Minimal processing of ingredients
• Environmentally friendly production processes, sustainably sourced raw ingredients, packaging etc.
• “Clean” ingredient lists that can be safely used by individuals with allergies or other sensitivities, health limitations or physical disabilities 
• Protective stance toward animal and human rights
• Third-party certifications such as “organic,” “cruelty-free” or “all-natural”

The natural products sector has been steadily growing since the middle of the last century into a $200 billion market within the $5.6 trillion global wellness industry. Today’s intersection of natural products and wellness has its roots in the same 1960s counterculture that set the stage for today’s legal cannabis markets and the psychedelics industry.

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The rapid growth and expansion of the natural products industry presents exciting new challenges for marketers and public relations professionals building strategies for product subcategories like:

Building Strong Wellness Messaging for Your Brand

There’s a lot of money to be made in the wellness industry and in the natural products space. But as wellness marketing grows more popular, it also grows more competitive. It’s increasingly challenging for brands to claim market share, even at the intersection of wellness and other industries. That’s one reason it’s so important to dig into your brand’s wellness messaging to identify your true points of differentiation and distinction. 

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From there, you can build an annual marketing plan and your wellness PR strategy with a strong sense of what sets your brand apart and who your audience is. Consumer education tactics can be a powerful way to teach your customers why your brand matters and exactly what you have to offer. For example, content Grasslands developed for a cannabis industry client: The History of Cannabis Quality Testing in New Jersey takes lesser-known industry insider information and turns it into a case for why consumers should care about cannabis product testing.

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In addition to building a strong sense of Expertise, Authority and Trust (EAT) through consumer education, you can also win customers with a distinctive brand voice and tone. Dr. Bronner’s, for example, draws a clear throughline in its messaging between brand authenticity and cultural touchstones like the Whole Earth Catalog and 1960s psychedelia. Meanwhile, Dave’s Killer Bread puts an irreverent twist on the earnestness commonly found in wellness messaging with an intentionally ironic brand identity.

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Wellness Marketing and Natural Products Marketing Restrictions

The very qualities that draw customers to wellness branding and natural products are the same ones that can trip up brands and marketers. Your target audience just wants to solve basic problems and live in accordance with their values by, say, getting the right nutrition for their age and lifestyle, or lessening their negative impact on the environment. 

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That said, brands have to be very careful about the promises they make, or they risk running afoul of global and federal advertising restrictions on wellness marketing.

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For example, the World Health Organization has set standards for current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP or GMP) to ensure “that medicinal products are consistently produced and controlled to the quality standards appropriate to their intended use and as required by the product specification.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has explicitly defined what health claims brands can legally make with or without FDA approval. Similarly, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has created legal definitions of terms like organic, genetically modified and cage-free that brands must adhere to. 

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In addition to these regulations on what brands can and cannot say about their products, there’s also consumers’ own high standards to contend with. 

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Online backlash and cancel culture can quickly go south for brands that haven’t invested in media training and a smart crisis communications strategy, especially if they’re courting younger demographics like Millennials and Gen Z. These cohorts strongly value purpose-driven brands that align with their values—and they are both media savvy and extremely online. That’s a combination that can quickly turn shared media from a positive to a problem to solve. 

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That’s true of other demographics too. Parents crowd-source advice on everything from child-rearing techniques like sleep training and baby-led weaning to the safest formula brands, baby wipes and car seats. But it is also a space that can be rife with influencer snap judgments, especially if a brand disappoints the audience that so carefully vetted its products. 

Owned Media for Wellness, Food, Beverage and Lifestyle Brands

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One of the best ways to navigate the dual challenges of crafting strong wellness brand messaging and staying within the bounds of wellness marketing restrictions is to capitalize on owned media. Owned media is comprised of all the marketing channels that your brand owns and fully controls, including:

• Web copy
• Blogs
• Graphic design assets
• Webinars
• Trend reports
• Sales collateral
• Training materials
• Internal communications and documentation

Your owned media channels are still subject to oversight and regulation by the World Health Organization, FDA, USDA, Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and other agencies, of course. But within the confines of those legal and marketing guidelines, you have full control of your brand messaging, voice and tone, and product differentiation. 

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Your owned media channels are often the first place prospective customers will go to verify that your brand is, in fact, legit. And this is where all the work you’ve done to develop a powerful brand with plenty of distinction will pay off.

Why Food, Drink, Lifestyle and Wellness Brands Need to EAT Right

If you’re trying to build up a sense of Expertise, Authority and Trust (EAT), there are few better avenues than owned media. If you can convince your target audience that you are a genuine subject matter expert and an authority figure they can trust for genuinely helpful information, you’ll have earned their loyalty. And with owned media, you have a home-turf advantage.

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Your owned media channels are the place where customers expect to hear you sell, sell, sell, through compelling branding as well as consumer education. You can use content marketing copywriting like blogs, white papers, case studies and web copy to show your work and back up your claims. 

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Take the natural drink brand Poppi, for example. You might initially feel drawn to Poppi’s colorful cans and fresh brand design on a crowded grocery store shelf—or maybe you caught their “future of soda” Super Bowl ads. But it isn’t until you pop onto their website that you can learn more about the brand’s actual selling points, like their inclusion of prebiotics and apple cider vinegar in a soft drink.

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Owned media is also a chance to capitalize on the power of search engine optimization (SEO). It behooves brands to help online search engines find their owned media channels. If you do your digital marketing work well and strategically use SEO wellness keywords and keyword phrases, you can earn one of the highest ranking spots on a search engine results page (SERP), which will help raise your brand awareness—and improve your perceived legitimacy in the eyes of would-be customers.

Marketing Automation for Wellness, Food, Beverage and Lifestyle Brands

In addition to developing strong owned media as part of your annual marketing plan, wellness brands can also use marketing automation tactics to take their content strategy further. Marketing automation refers to tools like:

• Chatbots
• Welcome email upon subscription
• Birthday discounts or email acknowledgements
• Reminder emails to reinforce purchase cadence
• VIP offers and loyalty rewards
• Re-engagement offers triggered after a period of inaction
• Surveys and feedback requests
• Back-in-stock announcements
• Review and testimonial requests
• Product launch e-blasts
• Shopping cart reminders
• Event invitations
• Price drop announcements
• Lead prioritization, scoring and management
• Inbound marketing support 

Brands in many industries have found clever ways to amplify and reuse owned media content without substantial increases to financial or human capital. That’s one of the big appeals of AI for content marketing, after all. But the real value of marketing automation is the ability to connect with new and existing customers in ways that feel more personal, authentic and immediate than owned media alone.

Marketing Segmentation for Wellness Brands

In particular, wellness brands can benefit from the power of audience segmentation through marketing automation. Because wellness products and services often fall into an intersection between business sectors, or are targeted at multiple consumer subsets, segmentation is the key to making sure everyone you’re talking to feels individually seen.

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Segmentation for the wellness industry and food, beverage and lifestyle brands often starts with identifying and personifying all the consumer demographics who might be drawn to your brand. For example, you might target: 

• Health-conscious consumers: “Read the Label Rhonda”
• Environmental and sustainability advocates: “Ecological Eric” and “Climate Change-Concerned Claire”
• Plant-based shoppers: “Vegan Vince and Vegetarian Veronica”
• Fitness enthusiasts: “Athletic Andy” and “Fit Girl Felicity”
• Baby Boomers nostalgic for the Whole Earth catalog: “Sixties Sharon and Steve”
• Millennials and Gen Z who reject trad advertising: “Clean Girl Carly,” “Greta Thunberg Follower Greg”

Earned Media for Wellness Brands

Earned media, true to its name, is made up of marketing and PR channels where brand leaders can earn coverage through op-ed commentaries, as subject-matter expert sources, or in collaborative partnerships with third-party communication networks, platforms and publications, including:

• Broadcast: TV, radio, podcasts
• Digital: Online articles, blogs, gift guides
• Print: Newspapers, magazines
• B2B trade publications
• Customer reviews and testimonials
• Speaking engagements at conferences, trade shows and expos

Earned media is where marketing, public relations and journalism intersect. As with owned media, earned media is an opportunity to increase your brand awareness. Unlike owned media, however, earned media requires your expertise to pass muster with reputable third parties—contributing to the valuable sense of trust in your EAT goals. 

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Grasslands’ team of PR professionals use tactics like proactive pitching, newsjacking, desksides and social listening to place your brand leaders where your target audiences are most likely looking. The best PR strategies also require strong media relationships and a deep understanding of what journalists need to produce quality articles, as well as what audiences want to read. 

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Unlike owned media, earned media just isn’t a place where you can be self-promotional or have complete control over your messaging. In exchange, however, you can borrow some of the legitimacy and prestige of valued media brands from Natural Products Insider to Fortune, Real Simple and Forbes.

Professional Bios and Company Boilerplates for Wellness Brands

The first step to crafting your brand’s wellness public relations strategy and diving into earned media is developing strong executive bios and a refined company boilerplate. These assets might be the first introduction that journalists and future customers have to your brand and the leaders who drive it forward—so it’s important for your team and company overviews to be strategic, polished and pithy. 

Look for a marketing and PR partner that deeply understands media industry standards, like the word-count pricing tiers for news releases and how to craft company information that conveys all the value your brand has to offer and subtly bolsters the legitimacy of an author’s credit in an op-ed or a conference program. 

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Crisis Communications for Wellness Brands

With greater brand awareness also comes greater exposure to potential gaffes and bad press. Crisis communications strategy is how you can protect your brand from any skeletons tumbling out of the closet, messaging missteps or events far beyond your control that might affect your brand. 

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In highly regulated industries like wellness, natural products, cannabis and psychedelics, and in deeply personal wellness CPG categories like skincare, supplements and homecare products, there’s simply more room for error—so it’s a good reason to be prepared. 

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The classic crisis comms example is the way Tylenol maker Johnson & Johnson responded in 1982 after an unknown assailant injected cyanide into a number of the brand’s capsules in the Chicago area. J&J company leaders immediately worked with law enforcement and government agencies to not only recall products on the shelf and respond to public concerns, but also to develop new, tamper-resistant packaging.

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Not every PR crisis is a life-or-death situation like “the Chicago Tylenol murders.” That said, customers can feel a deep level of betrayal if it appears they’ve been misled by a company they trusted to feed their families and tend to their health. 

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Fraud is a serious enough problem in the $52 billion organic food industry, for example, that in 2023 the USDA announced the first update to its Strengthening Organic Enforcement (SOE) regulations since 1990. The strengthened rules are designed to crack down on high-profile instances of non-organic crops being purposely misclassified by farmers and importers.

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Media Training for Wellness Brands 

One of the best tools wellness executives have to avoid a PR crisis in the first place is media training. PR professionals know exactly how to prepare public-facing company representatives for interaction with members of the press. Media training sets up your team for reputation management success in a number of ways, including advice on how to:

• Stay on message
• Navigate “gotcha” style interview questions
• Appear poised and prepared on camera or on stage at conferences
• Maintain strong media relationships
• Utilize media appearances for echo strategies and newsjacking

Thought Leadership for Wellness Brand Executives

Thought leadership is another core component of any earned media or wellness public relations strategy. Thought leadership is a huge opportunity to build the EAT quotient not only with potential customers but with your industry peers and potential investors. Thought leadership typically takes one of two forms: 

• Op-eds and commentary articles in trade publications or mainstream media outlets
• Speaking engagements at natural products conferences, trade shows and expos

Thought leadership columns, aka opinion-editorials, are a chance for the public faces of your brand’s leadership team to share their expertise and insights in trusted magazines, newspapers, digital publications and other media outlets. 

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The trick with op-eds is that you cannot be overly self-promotional. This isn’t a news release for your latest product drop or an expanded version of your curriculum vitae. Instead, it’s a chance to offer valuable advice or weigh in on broader cultural conversations like, say, key areas where food labeling needs more oversight, or the perils of greenwashing.

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Thought leadership and major awards like the Clios, Ad Age A-List and the MarComs are a great opportunity to develop echo strategies that will resonate throughout your PR strategy. These tactics can also bridge the gap between your brand narrative and hot topics in the broader industry and cultural discourse. 

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Thought leadership speaking opportunities and op-eds also serve as social proof of your leadership team’s expertise that you can use to further reinforce your earned and owned media strategy before, during and after a marquee appearance.

Strategic Partnerships for Wellness Brands 

Another potent form of social proof rests in strategic partnerships. A complementary component of earned media strategies, strategic partnerships are a chance to bolster brand awareness in adjacent sectors. Wellness and hemp CBD, for example, have increasing overlap—particularly for demographics like stressed-out parents or people with medical conditions who are more focused on functional relief than a mind-altering high. 

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Strategic partnerships can take many forms, from crossover brand activations like Charlotte’s Web CBD products getting picked up by Kroger. They can also look like collaborating on event marketing opportunities like sponsoring conference-adjacent gatherings like The Grasslands Party or activations on the tradeshow floor. Even Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods could be considered a strategic partnership on a grand scale—one that elevates each brand and enhances it in advantageous ways.

Paid Media for Wellness Brands

Paid media is a huge opportunity for many wellness brands, especially in niche markets like natural products and functional foods, drinks and supplements that operate on tight trend cycles. From paid influencer marketing agreements to sponsored ads on social media platforms like X and search engines like Google and Bing, there are more paid media opportunities for wellness brands than ever. 

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Of course, that diversity of opportunity makes it especially important to be strategic about how paid media can complement and support your brand’s marketing strategy. Spray-and-pray is a term used for an outdated and indiscriminate form of e-mail blasts, but just as undesirable is taking a spray-and-pay approach to your sponsored ad campaigns. 

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Paid media is also a place to be very mindful of wellness marketing restrictions and advertising laws. If you don’t target your audience carefully, you might waste money at best on demographics or geographic locations that aren’t relevant to your brand. At worst, you could run into trouble for targeting health ads to minors, or advertising supplements as food products.

A Journalism-Minded Approach to Wellness Messaging

Whatever your brand’s best-fit blend of owned, earned and paid media might be, forging strong media relationships and understanding how journalists do their jobs will go a long way to the success of your wellness marketing and PR strategy. 

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It doesn’t matter how fluent you are in the specific language of your industry if you don’t know how to translate that wellness, food, beverage, lifestyle or natural products lingo into a narrative that will resonate with both the media and your audience.

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Even when you’re working on owned media initiatives that don’t require direct contact with editors and reporters, it’s important to keep the storytelling techniques of good journalism in mind. After all, your goal is to craft messaging that will command your audience’s attention and provide the information they need.

If you’re wondering what to look for in a wellness PR agency, it’s one that knows exactly how journalists hit that mark day in and day out.

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‍The Grasslands team is always ready to talk through your brand’s unique needs and pain points to find a custom solution. But if you aren’t ready to start that conversation yet, check out our PR and marketing services to learn more about how we transform brands with our proven process.