High potential for health, wellness products

Health and wellness businesses will be among mega-trends in the coming three years. Local marketers and advertisers must gain a better understanding of behavioural changes of three highlighted groups - obesity, stressed adults and "nowism" - because of their high purchasing power, according to the latest research by Mindshare, a global media and marketing service network. Nowism is about what you are feeling at this moment.

"By 2015, health and wellness trends will be one of the indicators of a positive development of the economy and better quality of living. So we conducted research in this regard with our tool, called 3D, in combination with in-depth interviews and other secondary sources such as www.trendwatching.com, Euromonitor, the Futures Company and Gfk," Pathamawan Sathaporn, head of business planning at Mindshare, said yesterday.

Last year, total sales of consumer health products and services in Thailand was estimated at Bt61.2 billion and could reach Bt77.6 billion in 2015, mainly fuelled by the increasing growth in sales of vitamins and dietary supplements, herbal/traditional products and over-the-counter products.

Mindshare focused its study on eight groups with high potential buyers in particular product segments. In the health and wellness business, targeted groups were: obesity, stress, ageing population, independent singles, nowism, back-to-basic, product blurring, and technology.

Rerngrith Jindaporn, the director for business planning, suggested that marketers and advertisers of consumer health products should focus on the obesity, stress and nowism segments because this group has high potential to purchase such products.

Rerngrith added that the obesity group was becoming mainstream because of unhealthy lifestyles in urban areas and lack of exercise. The study found that only 26 per cent of adults exercised regularly last year, against 30 per cent in 2007. This group also enjoyed eating. Though they were at risk of health problems such as high blood pressure and heart disease, they are still happy with their living.

However, he said that healthcare marketers should develop a brand as their friend and use via word-of-mouth communication to this group to promote their products and boost sales.

The second highlighted group is displaced adults. According to Grant Thornton Thailand, Thai senior executives ranked as No 5 as being most stressed among 39 countries surveyed, behind Greece, China, Taiwan and Vietnam. Key stress areas for adults are: finances, career/work, political instability, family issues and environment. Meanwhile, the Thai Health Promotion Foundation's survey also found that local teenagers tend to be highly pressured and stressed. One-third of those teens intend to use diet pills or undergo cosmetic surgery to become slimmer and more beautiful.

Importantly, this group, particularly adults, has high purchasing power and will spend more money on healthcare products if they feel that it will give better results. To convince this kind of customers to buy to products, Rerngrith cited that marketers must position the brand as a professional partner.

The third one is "Nowism." In consumer health products and services, this group tends to buy instant beauty such as cosmetic surgery or supplement products with quick fixes. So marketers should make sure that the products are able to deliver convenience and modernity. Mindshare's director suggested that advertisers could use celebrity marketing to appeal to this group to make a purchasing decision.

"Discovering a key influencer will be beneficial to stimulate customers' decision-making process," said Rerngrith.

Forecast sales of consumer

Mindshare points that consumer health products remain a mainstream in business as it will enjoy a positive growth to Bt73.5 billion in sales by 2015 from Bt61.2 billion last year.

Categories 2013 2014 2015

Over-the-counter 16.92 17.73 18.57

Sports nutrition 0.43 0.48 0.52

Vitamins/dietary 39.46 42.51 45.46

Weight managment 8.21 8.54 8.85

Herbal/traditional 28.26 30.47 32.62

Allergy care 1.01 1.05 1.09

Paediatric 1.56 1.68 1.82

Total estimated sales 65.15 69.39 73.54

Bt billion

Source.- Euromonitor and traders