“Consumer awareness of wellness has skyrocketed in recent years and has only been accelerated by the pandemic,” says Dr Howard Murad, in a statement to the press.
The Well Connected site will feature content from doctors, scientists, and academics. And monthly guest editors will focus content around their particular topic of expertise: Sophia Amoruso will, for instance, focus on financial wellness, Candace Reels will curate content of inclusive wellness, and Dr Zion Ko will cover holistic skin wellness.
Michelle Shigemasa, CEO of Murad, describes the new content platform, saying, “Well Connected is the next step of Dr. Murad's decades-long journey to improve the well-being of his patients and consumers.”
“Consumers,” she says, “have come to trust us for our clinically backed, efficacious formulas, and they can expect that same standard when they read Well Connected.”
And Shigemasa states that, “Our goal [with the Well Connected site] is to serve up science-backed resources that people can have confidence in on their own health and wellness journeys.”
Personal care brands strive to share information and establish trust in the digital age
Over the past decade or so, with the rise of influencer culture, brands and corporations have (to a certain degree) lost control of the narrative around products, ingredients, and processes. “There is an overwhelming amount of information out there, particularly in the digital/social sphere,” acknowledges Dr Murad in his recent remarks to the press.
“But the problem,” he says, “is, how do people know what is legitimate? What is actually proven and not just unsubstantiated discourse?”
The new Well Connected site is an effort to showcase scientifically backed wellness content. “Bringing readers reputable information, rooted in facts and proof, is not only the backbone of Well Connected but of Murad as a whole,” explains Dr Murad, adding that, “Well Connected is the conduit for us to further amplify our purpose of bringing well-being to as many people as possible.”
Leading brands and media leaders have a stake in the wellness economy
The wellness industry, as it intersects with beauty and otherwise, continues to grow. And the Dr Murad team isn’t the only one developing compelling new content for consumers.
As Cosmetics Design reported, spa media insiders Julie Keller Callaghan and Heather Mikesell launched a content site called Well Defined in January of this year.
“Our wellness content provides value to both professionals and consumers,” Mikesell told Cosmetics Design last month. “The consumer and professional beauty spaces have always been intertwined,” she explained, adding that “This is true now more than ever with e-commerce taking center stage as companies look for ways in which to navigate the pandemic.”
WellDefined.com features original news, content, and reviews on topics spanning beauty, fitness, wellness travel and spa, healthy meetings and events, corporate wellness, mindfulness and mental wellness, financial wellness, and lifestyle and wellness living.
As Mikesell explains it, wellness extends beyond the individual and through to larger issues, including sustainability: “Wellness,” she says, “impacts every facet of our lives, from how we work to how we live. It refers to how we nourish and care for our bodies, how we pay attention to the world around us, how we manage our finances, how we handle stress, and how we treat the planet.”
