A Dinner Designed to Stimulate Conversation
A bespoke menu was created for the evening focused on the emotions of happiness, energy & connection, created by MasterChef winner - Steven Wallis. Using a carefully selected mix of adaptogens & nootropics to deliver a menu that tasted incredible and helped shift everyone's state of wellbeing to a more positive one by the end of the three courses.
Hosted by our Founder & CEO, Angelique Green, we wanted to explore how brands are navigating the fast-moving consumer shifts within wellbeing, looking at how consumers are:
- Gaining more CONTROL of their mind & body to improve overall wellbeing
- Looking for ALTERNATIVE solutions that better fit their lifestyles
- DELETING the things in their lives that no longer fit their values system
Sally spoke of how Trip CBD is giving consumers back control, even if for a moment in the chaos. Their single-minded focus on satisfying the need for calm means that they're well on their way to becoming the alternative Diet Coke break for a new, mass audience.
We think a lot about the kindness affirmations that you put out there: taking pleasure in your leisure is a big one, allowing people to go with the flow and giving permission has created a brand which has happiness and calm at its very core.
Sally Higgin, Global Brand Director, Trip
And they've done it by creating a lifestyle brand that connects with people's values, offering “everyday wellbeing” that perfectly complements the benefits of CBD.
Xite Energy has a single-minded focus on different active ingredients, nootropics. Education plays a large part in unlocking growth for the brand, as Oli and Co-Founder Megan Jones are on a mission to showcase the many benefits of nootropics as they can give consumers more control of their energy, enabling them to manage it throughout the day better.
For me it was about exciting your mind, and what can we do with innovative & sustainable ingredients that can really impact your focus.
Oliver Bennett, Co-Founder, XITE Energy
For Xite, it's not only about offering a viable alternative to the Monsters' of the world but actually giving consumers more with a short-term boost that comes with long-lasting benefits, without the crashes and the negatives - whilst always delivering on taste.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR BRAND INNOVATION
The evening sparked many thoughts & opportunities across the table that will help to shape the future of the 'Shifting States of Wellbeing' through:
Multi-Benefit Products
By enhancing existing products to create better-for-you offerings that still deliver the same taste & satisfaction, like high-protein, low-carb, no-sugar cereal brand Surreal.
Enhanced Effects
Focus on technologies that enhance measurement and tracking of effects to improve the consumer experience and deliver greater benefits, such as personalised nutrition plans from the Zoe app.
Collaboration & Partnerships
Create a holistic wellbeing offer by connecting to consumers' lifestyles and the brands, products, and services they use, like Kin Euphorics partnering with Boy Smells candles.
Scent
Leverage the often-underestimated power of scent, now proven highly effective to make instant emotional connections with the added benefit of being built off existing rituals such as The Nue Co.'s functional fragrances.
Highly Regulated Markets
Like cannabis and psychedelics- are opening up new innovation pathways both in the short & long-term, breaking through the stereotypes to create premium lifestyle offerings like THC-infused aperitif, Artet.
Mighty Questions & Answers
Where does your brand play within the emotional needs of happiness, energy & connection?
Sally - "Very much what we're trying to do at Trip is to create a space where people can come and feel somewhat cared for. So everything about the brand, the image we create, and every piece of copywriting is about allowing people to feel reassured."
Oli - "For me, it starts with science. And I think that's because when people read into our products, it's in the energy category, they need to know some important differences from the more established brands - it's more about what can the ingredients specifically do for your mind?"
How have you used community to help grow the business?
Sally - "People feel comfortable having their first experience of CBD with Trip, which creates quite an intimate connection between the consumer and us because there's a high level of trust that the consumer has to put into us.
Younger people are really keen to share the experience with their friends in their network because everyone is suffering from being stressed and anxious, so sadly, we have found that building this community vibe is comparatively easy. Guys don't go to the pub and talk about vaping, but people do talk about what they used to really help them manage their daily stress."
Oli - "For our products, it's more about trying and getting cans in hands. They've been sampled over 200,000 times in the UK alone. And rather than publishing events, we do a lot in places like Google's head offices, Facebook offices, places where people will consume our products naturally."
What are the future opportunities in the Shifting States of Wellbeing? And where will the future growth come from?
Sally - "We have really high ambitions to be a world-leading wellness brand and a $100 million revenue brand. CBD is a disrupter. It's like how Red Bull created the energy drinks market in the late 90s; that's our goal. And I think we can do that by focusing really heavily on the product and building the lifestyle brands, our online community, and becoming a real authority in mental wellbeing will help us improve."
Oli - "I'd like to see our brand cemented as the number one nootropics brand, so we're exploring how we can get different formats into different occasions. The next trend is looking at the body holistically, so going beyond what you eat or drink to look at things like gut health and sleep."