HealthifyMe gets a celeb to talk fitness through real-life stories once again

Be it a rockstar lost as a banker in ‘Rock On’, an Olympian in 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’, or a boxer in ‘Toofan’, Farhan Akhtar, over his career, has essayed diverse roles that needed different kinds of preparations.

So, it makes sense to see the actor in the health and wellness app HealthifyMe’s new ad. “I know a bit about cracking fitness formulas,” he quips, before stating that everyone has a different fitness formula.

He goes on to detail how Tanya, Cyrus and Shalika cracked their fitness formulas, and plugs in the app’s offerings. These include a smart weight machine that tells you your weight and even body fat and muscle mass. A diet coach, who’s always keeping an eye on your food. Then there’s CGM (a patch which monitors your blood glucose) and the professional coaches, who ensure you’re always doing the right exercises.

Sounds intense. Also, it’s so last year. The app’s maiden campaign from January 2022 was similar. A celebrity (then Sara Ali Khan) first talks about her fitness achievement. She then details the fitness journeys of three HealthifyMe users. WondrLabs and HealthifyMe’s in-house creative team made the ad.

“This film is not a remake of last year’s film – the idea, theme, strategy and script are new, based on fresh insights we got for the business problem we had received for this year,” states Sonali Khanna, president and branch head, Lowe Lintas. She adds that this year’s campaign theme is, ‘Everybody is unique and HealthifyMe helps you crack your own, unique formula to fitness’.

The template may appear similar but there are subtle differences in both ads. The 2022 spot talks about why you should use the app and the one from this year focuses on the journey of people who’ve used and achieved their fitness goals.

A January 2023 Research and Markets report says that the digital healthcare market in India was valued at Rs 525 billion in 2021. It’s expected to reach Rs 2,529 billion by 2027, expanding at a CAGR of almost 29% during the 2022-27 period.

It adds that digital fitness and well-being, and e-health are the segments that make up the market, and that an Indian millennial, on average, spends Rs 4,000 per month on health and fitness. By 2027, the e-health segment, which contributed 18.31% of the total revenue in 2021, is predicted to hold close to 19% market share.

HealthifyMe competes with free and paid apps that provide similar offerings. Two such rivals are Cult.Fit and Adidas Training.

What the app, despite its supposed similar ads, gets right is the unique fitness journey of every individual. HealthifyMe has offerings to help its users reach their fitness goals. But to show them all in one ad isn’t the best thing, and a viewer may miss out on something.

Khanna explains the campaign has five films. One is the “master film that picks up three of the four stories and brings them together in a 70-second film.” And, there are four films that showcase the stories of four individuals with diverse problems that HealthifyMe helps to solve.

The brand has a healthy mix of shorter versions of the TVCs for social media. Specifically shot customer and coach testimonials will be used on its social media platforms.

It plans to use Akhtar in all its communication, such as outdoor, print ads, radio spots and digital post as it is a 360-degree communication.