• by Steve Ellwanger , January 19, 2021

As COVID-19 continues to restrict gym visits and in-person product sampling, two marketers of nutrition-based products are doubling down on content marketing via influencers to promote not just physical fitness but mental health via online events.

Orgain, which markets plant-based protein powder, is partnering with influencers like chef Gabriele Bertaccini (Orgain video here), fitness company owner Joe De Sena (video here) and distance athlete Charlie Engle (video here) to provide 30,000 consumers with 30 days of free, customized wellness content as an alternative to traditional New Year’s resolutions.

Through Feb. 11, consumers can sign up for the “30-day challenge” via Orgain’s “A Clean & Smoothie Start” landing page and receive a free sample of plant-based protein powder.

“When people sign up for the challenge, they start getting emails with links to videos, recipes and daily fitness program for all 30 days,” Orgain CMO Andrea Theodore tells Marketing Daily.

Signups generate eligibility to win an Assault Bike Pro, $1,500 worth of home-gym merchandise from shop.spartan.com, a one-year supply of Orgain and 2 BlendJet portable blenders.

Because taste is an important marketplace differentiator for Orgain’s plant-based protein, live sampling at marathons and other events has been a common venue for lower-funnel consumer engagement.

“But with COVID, we can’t do that anymore,” says Theodore. “We’re looking for ways to engage and help consumers experience the product and the brand in a way that’s similar to those in-person experiences.”

Orgain’s core audience—health prioritizers—constitutes about 16% of the population, according to the brand.  It hopes to expand that to some 30% of the population, with its use of new influencers and media buys with Hearst, whose Bicycling, Men’s Health and Women’s Health magazines are part of the campaign from the Public Label agency.

When gyms began to close last March, protein bar marketer Rxbar rolled out RXercise—a program offering free yoga and high-intensity interval training that garnered more than 70,000 live video views on Instagram, according to Rxbar director of integrated marketing Jenny Lindquist.

Now Rxbar is expanding those “sweat sessions” to encompass mental health and food/nutrition tips via partnerships with Peloton instructor Ally Love, dietitian Mia Zarlengo and fitness instructor Peter Kraus.

“Now almost one year into the pandemic, wellness practices have become a top priority for many, including fitness, nutrition and mental health practices,” says Lindquist.