In such a stressful political, social and economic environment, the health and wellness sector may be at risk of being neglected. Yet at a time of such overwhelming pressure wellbeing is a category which continues to grow despite market challenges.  

Sasha Laman, Vice President of Global Marketing at Juice Plus+ admits that many might perceive now to be a strange time for the company to completely rehaul its branding. However, making health and wellbeing more simple, accessible and achievable has never been more important.

Juice Plus+ is a brand that has been around for almost 30 years. Laman describes the brand as a “best-kept secret” as its consumer-to-consumer direct sales model means the brand has grown predominantly on word-of-mouth recommendation from its over 200,000 plus partners across 26 different markets.

The brand doesn’t sit on retail shelves and Laman admits that “advertising isn't something we’ve done a lot of until recently.” Yet the rebrand aims to accelerate the brand's steady growth and achieve its goal of becoming “the number one global direct sales company in plant-based nutrition.”

Back to basics

The rebrand sees Juice Plus+ completely overhaul its look and feel in order to appeal to a wider, younger audience. Laman describes it as “more than a logo change. It’s a brand new visual identity across packaging, website, social channels.”

To achieve this the brand decided to go back to basics and focus on the product, vegan suppliments and vitamins made up of natural ingredients and fruits and vegetables. Each of the visuals contains vibrant shots of the fruits or vegetables that make up the product. “We let nature be our creative inspiration and didn’t try to overcomplicate things,” says Laman. Where plant-based continues to be a huge trend in the health and wellness industry, Juice Plus+ is at a natural advantage with such ingredients already at the heart of its products.

Laman shares that “the health and wellness industry at times can really overcomplicate what it means to ‘live healthy’”, creating barriers to entry. She continues: “We wanted to ensure that our rebrand really reinforced what we all already know and learned early in life, which is that you should eat your fruits and vegetables, and eat more fruits and vegetables.”

Breaking down barriers to health

As a global brand, the use of fruits and vegetables and a focus on nature was also imperative in appealing to different geographies. Laman says “we really let nature become our creative inspiration and so you couldn't go wrong. If you let the beauty of nature direct us then that's something that transcends globally.”

“What's really key for Juice Plus+ is if you’re someone who’s far advanced in your health and wellness journey then the products make sense but if you’re just starting out it makes sense for you as well and we try to not overcomplicate it,” says Laman.

The health and wellness industry in particular faces an inclusion issue and has a big challenge to prevent alienating potential customers. For Juice Plus+, the brand cites its consumer-to-consumer sales model as a way to strive for greater inclusion, “that's what's great about our partner base is that anyone can sell the product” says Laman. 

The consumer-to-consumer sales model may not be commonplace but Laman highlights its flexibility “partners are able to make their own schedules, set their own hours” - a structure that meant the brand wasn’t hit quite as hard by the pandemic and flexibility that is highly sought after post-pandemic, inclusionary by nature as people can work around other commitments.

Bringing health and wellness to life

The brand worked alongside San Francisco-based agency, Hatch, to carry out the rebrand remotely during the height of the pandemic. Whilst the team never met in real life, they were able to use technology to create a project all parties were happy with. “Having the right agency, the right creative partner really unlocks your brand in a way that you just can't do entirely on your own.” shares Laman.

“We wanted to create a splash in the marketplace and share our mission of inspiring healthy living around the world.” added Laman, “This brand identity, this new look and feel, the tone of voice coupled with product offering help us do that as ultimately we want to reach more people in more places.”

While consumers grapple with hardships of everyday life, going back to basics and reinforcing messages of a healthy lifestyle from way back when underlines the importance of building on solid, healthy foundations and ensuring that wellbeing comes above all else.