Nutrient and health brand Herbalife has been present in the Japan market for over 30 years, winning over consumers with its wide range of food, beverage, supplement and personal care products.

Herbalife leadership were eager to unlock new sources of growth in Japan by tapping into a  younger demographic that had been neglected by the brand. Coinciding with the global Covid-19 pandemic, Herbalife took a bold step to engage this younger consumer group and turned to Eat to support.

As consumers found themselves spending a lot more time at home due to social distancing and lock-downs, we first explored how to turn these challenges into an opportunity. We developed a campaign proposition that aligned with people wanting to take back control of their lives and improving themselves – be it getting fit, learning a new skill or taking up a new hobby.

Our goal was to show how Herbalife could complement and be part of people’s new daily regime, driven by their most important product line – the Formula 1 Shake.

Our proposition emphasised how building new habits, with Herbalife as a key component of your day, could be transformational to both body and mind.

The campaign was an opportunity to bring bold thinking to the creative and visual execution. Tapping into these younger audiences meant keeping digital and social channels top of mind in creative ideation.

We did away with the typical Herbalife traditional, natural imagery, and muted colour palette. Instead deploying a bold, striking visual direction that would be effective for an audience spending their time on TikTok and Instagram.

From there, we partnered with leading Japanese advertising and media agency dentsu X on channel strategy and identifying the most effective content and programming that could win consideration from our target audience.We developed a full suite of assets and collateral that Herbalife and dentsu X could take to market in this social-first campaign. From original photography and video content, to a campaign website, digital posters and banners, Herbalife had everything they would need to engage target audiences with consistency and impact.

The campaign rolled out in the summer of 2021 and reached both the new younger target audiences as well as current Herbalife members, to spark new habits and bring structure during days of uncertainty.