It’s almost time for millions of us to push 2025 into the past and step into a new year. For many that will involve committing to new personal goals, fresh routines, improved habits. New year is an opportunity to feel optimistic and be more motivated to make positive life improvements. Maybe it’s all about you, or maybe it’s about improving things for your family too – either way, more people than ever are using this moment to pivot.
The first 12 weeks of the year are marked by a surge of consumer intention, and this equates to retail purchases. The result is the biggest wave of consumer wellness spending we see all year – and we’re not just talking about new gym memberships (although that’s a thing).
Let’s quickly cover off the gym phenomenon – a 40% uplift in people attending (read more here), but what about reaching those who won’t be adding the gym into their ‘new year new me’ routine? To truly capitalise on this surge in intentional consumer spending, brands must reach those who don’t /won’t go to the gym but are actively looking for change and willing to invest in themselves; on that, we’ve got effective media channels for brands, which we’ll come back to below.
Wellbeing investment is predictable, it’s powerful, and it creates one of the strongest seasonal advertising moments for wellness brands- a category that is dominating The Sunday Times 100 list. This year’s top 20 includes supplement brand Ancient & Brave, superfoods retailer Rheal, sportswear brand Montirex, health-focused meal-delivery service Simmer Eats; activewear brand DFYNE and health products brand Healf take the #1 and #2 spots respectively.
Experian data shows that by the end of Jan 2025, there was a 6.3% rise in UK spending on nutrition and fitness goods; among 18-34s there was a 9% year-on-year rise in gym and organic grocery spending, and a 13% increase in home meal services.
Everyday grocery sales received positive vibes too: NielsenIQ reported that last January, sales of fresh fruit rose by 16% year on year and vegetables and proteins (meat, fish, poultry) +9%. This equated to £1.2bn in spending. Sales on no/low alcohol drinks also rose YoY by 7% with older and younger consumers being just as likely to buy.
This is not just a “gym pattern”, but a behavioural shift. The New Year is one of the few windows in the consumer calendar when motivation, spending, and real-world activity all move in the same direction.
In an interesting twist for influential social media campaigns, in last year’s new year period EY reported that 38% of consumers were concerned about screen time and wanted a “digital detox” and almost half (47%) of 18-34s now view their online activities as more disruptive than beneficial for their wellbeing.
For brands on the health and wellness sphere, it’s a moment to capitalise, perhaps also it is for OOH too? And, since it’s winter, what better OOH media than that which is located indoors?
With c3,000 venue-located D6 screens, Boomerang can deliver significant reach for wellness brands and healthy living messages in the new year; here’s a quick overview of the audience reach opportunities across our networks:
Malls
At close to 80 UK malls, our D6 network is an essential addition to retail-focused plans. January sales and the intentional spending of Christmas gift cards see mall footfall uptick from week 2 of Jan.
Cinema
Golden Globes, BAFTA and the Oscars announce their nominations in late Q4 or early Q1 with number of predicted winners being available to watch in theatres across Jan and Feb as Q1 cinema admission are predicted to experience a 5th year of continued post-pandemic growth. With c1,200 digital screens across 115 cinemas (including VUE – the UK’s biggest cinema brand) our network is the benchmark for in-foyer audience engagement.
Playcentres
Kids’ play and activity centres see a boost in footfall across the winter months, for obvious reasons. Boomerang’s D6 network is a unique opportunity to very efficiently reach more than 1.4m family members and household main shoppers in a high dwell-time environment.
Gyms and Health Clubs
Perhaps the most obvious choice for new year campaigns, our industry-leading health and fitness network of more than 860 D6s in +410 venues (including David Lloyd, Nuffield Gym and PureGym) will benefit from +30% increased footfall in the first 8 weeks of the year.
Article by Josh Bingham
Photo by Yaroslav Shuraev
