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With nearly a decade of healthcare design experience, our design team lead Séamus Spencer focuses on women’s health and improving access for marginalized communities. Caleb Ng brings three years of healthcare design expertise grounded in empathy and impact. Together, they discuss what’s changing in wellness marketing—and what brands need to do to stay relevant during social and economic uncertainty. Spoiler alert: it’s all about trust.
Séamus: We know that consumers have been experiencing economic uncertainty cyclically for years, and the most recent period has impacted the way most people spend money. What changes are we seeing in consumer buying habits in the wellness space as a result?
Caleb: I think it’s important to point out the contradictions that describe our current point in time. We’re faced with flip-flopping decisions on tariffs every other week…or day…so the threat of recession has people being more careful with their money.
Séamus: I was surprised to see that average spending hasn’t dropped, but it has changed. People are changing what they buy, not necessarily how much.
Caleb: Yeah, there’s been a rise in a sort of “YOLO economy.” You see it in the rise of buy-now-pay-later services like Klarna, Afterpay, Affirm, and the resurgence of PayPal. People have been seen using these services for temporary indulgences such as Coachella or even shorter-term delivery takeout, even though we know taking on debt for temporary services and indulgences is never a good idea. But when we think about this “YOLO” mindset in the area of wellness and health, it shows a direct contradiction. Consumers will invest in short-term experiences rather than investing in their long-term health. There’s an opportunity here to reframe the idea of a “YOLO” economy or mindset. The potential is in highlighting that you really do have one life and shift away from the mindset of f*** it, and instead look for products, services, and goods that focus on stewardship and longevity. It’s just up to those brands to position themselves that way.
Séamus: So as brands have to adjust rapidly to these changes, both the social and the economic, they’re having to completely re-think their marketing and communication strategy. Are there any campaigns or brands that stand out to you?
Caleb: GoodRX is a great example. They don’t have the largest following or impact yet, but they’re a new name trying to take on prescription medication pricing.
Séamus: Yes! I only know about them because I’ve had my doctors or pharmacists mention them. I’ve seen some ads, but most of what I know about them comes from people as touchpoints. What do you think they’re getting right?
Caleb: It’s all about communicating their mission and values. “Good” is in their name so they’re very clear on their mission, which is cutting out the price-gouging middlemen of pharmaceuticals and instead focusing on providing medications at better prices. Their message has stayed consistent, and through their channels they’ve mainly been posting content keeping up on the current industry, and helpful information for consumers.
Séamus: I think about the brand Prose too - they make custom hair care based on your hair type, skin type, and they even take the kind of water you use into consideration. And people are wanting this highly customizable product more and more, but there’s this trade-off of information and privacy concerns that bring up a consumer’s trust in a brand. You and I talk about trust all the time - it’s a key factor in consumer buying decisions, and we also know that “wellness” as an industry has some trust issues. In times of uncertainty, how can a brand build trust with their audience and encourage brand loyalty when the market is so crowded?
Caleb: Trust is hard because it takes time to build. You have to prove it over and over again, and you can lose it so fast. Really, you have to make sure that your brand is showing clarity, consistency, and action. For example, brands right now are having to make decisions about increasing costs, and how they communicate that to their consumers. Some brands are going so far as to offer discount codes that reduce the cost of things like rising material prices and tariffs. Clear communication and alignment with brand values, as well as consistently being vocal, builds trust over time in a meaningful way.
Séamus: It’s easy to lose that trust overnight. I can think of a dozen cases where I’ve stopped using a product for good because they lost my trust - either the quality of the product changed, or they stopped following the values they had originally shared. And so much of that also has an emotional connection, right?
Caleb: Totally. I think of emotion as the first main transaction between an ad and the consumer. Before I’m ever going to sell you something, I’ve gotta make you feel something. It’s the idea of building rapport and a relationship with the customer before anything else.
Séamus: I think about this a lot with the work we do as designers. Often, it’s up to us to guard these brands in a way. And when you think about a full campaign, it’s about every touchpoint. Every social post, email, subway ad, billboard. They all have to communicate one message together.
Caleb: Right. As a designer, my main goal is to always be intentional in all of my design choices. Going back to clarity, consistency, and action. I try to make as many decisions as possible that keep my designs rooted in something within that brand’s mission statement and goals. Are they a brand built on their people and history? Are they a brand focused on efficacy and high quality? That should always come through in the design. As we work with the brand, these decisions make them truly genuine and ensure they’re aligned with the brand’s core values.
Séamus: That’s such a good way to think about it. Because at the end of the day, whether it's an ad for a supplement or an ad encouraging someone to get a mammogram, it really makes a difference in someone’s day-to-day life. And everything we’ve mentioned - trust, emotion, consistency - is repeated every single time someone sees an ad and makes a decision on whether or not to buy that product or use that service.
Caleb: It’s all about tying the visuals and messaging back to the company’s goals and values. Why do people buy Apple products? It’s a lifestyle. It’s customizable, it's unique to them and the way they live. Wellness products and services are no different.
