From leading the race to defining the track: Swisse reconstructs the growth logic of the big health industry with consumers' mindsets.

In March, at the press conference of the Third Session of the 14th National People's Congress in 2025, Lei Haichao, the director of the National Health Commission, announced the continuous promotion of the three - year "Weight Management Year" campaign and called on the whole society to participate in weight management. Subsequently, the topic of "The country calls on you to lose weight" quickly topped the hot search lists on major platforms. The core purpose is obviously to improve the health level of the whole nation and reduce the risk of chronic diseases.

This appeal also coincides with the trend that the domestic health supplement market has been growing steadily in the past five years, even creating a trillion - dollar market segment. At this time, the public values inner naturalness and health more than external appearance.

With the improvement of the public's health awareness and the growth of disposable income, the scale of the health supplement industry has been expanding. Meanwhile, the public has shown more diverse and specific demands for health supplements, leading to continuous functional segmentation of health supplement categories and a trend towards high - end and refined products.

Swisse, a leading brand in the nutritional health supplement industry, has observed in recent years' ever - changing social trends that the public has begun to pursue natural physical health and inner calmness. Only in this way can everyone maintain their best state in increasingly complex situations.

So, almost at the same time when the country called on the whole nation to lose weight, Swisse refreshed its brand proposition and upgraded it to "Inner confidence, natural Swisse". Inner confidence is supported by a naturally healthy body, and Swisse will accompany consumers to support them in becoming the best version of themselves at any time. 36Kr had an exclusive interview with Ding Wen, the Executive President of the ANC China region of H&H Group, to discuss where Swisse gets the confidence for its brand upgrade.

01 Consumers Pursue Physical and Mental Stability, and Swisse Targets "Confidence"

Currently, society is in a period of rapid transformation and change. The adjustment of the economic structure, the improvement of social systems, and the renewal of cultural concepts have brought many uncertainties to people. This uncertainty has directly intensified the competition in the workplace and accelerated the pace of people's lives. People are putting in more time and energy to gain more certainty.

This will undoubtedly bring about great changes in the lifestyles of office workers. Besides pursuing career stability, they also pay more attention to their physical health and inner stability. Thus, an obvious change has occurred - consumers' definition and pursuit of health have gradually shifted from simply "optimizing physical functions" to "a sense of stability in physical and mental balance". This is particularly evident among the growing young office - worker consumer group in the health supplement field.

Besides the large - scale elderly population in the health supplement field, the proportion of female consumers over 30 is increasing significantly. Due to the more severe workplace environment they face and their irreplaceable roles in family life, and with their relatively high level of education and strong self - will, they inevitably face more physical challenges and mental pressure in today's society.

Broadening the perspective, this is almost a microcosm of the lives of the domestic middle - aged and young generations in the current social environment. Especially those in the age group of 25 to 40, they are in a life stage where they have to take care of the elderly, raise children, and focus on their careers. "Some may have reached middle - management positions. They need to serve their superiors well and lead their teams at the same time. So, it's a multi - tasking lifestyle," said Ding Wen, the Executive President of the ANC China region of H&H Group, who is in this situation.

While consumers are seeking physical and mental harmony, the health supplement market is also accelerating its segmentation. The demand for products targeting different scenarios such as milk thistle, anti - aging, and skin - care, as well as for different groups like office workers or the elderly, is surging.

In addition, when choosing health supplements, contemporary consumers not only focus on the product's efficacy but also value emotional resonance and value alignment with the brand.

Therefore, many health supplement companies have made corresponding changes.

For example, Swisse, a nutritional health supplement brand under H&H Group, a company committed to building its brand, after precisely identifying the urgent need of modern consumers for a "stable core" and comprehensive health management in a fast - paced and high - pressure society, and after nearly a year of preparation and in - depth thinking, decided to upgrade its brand proposition to "Inner confidence, natural Swisse". It hopes that consumers can have a more "stable core" when facing more life challenges.

This kind of inner stability means a sense of "confidence" from the inside out, the ability to accept and calmly deal with all possibilities in life. It is not a compromise but a more natural and positive attitude towards life.

Swisse also associated a healthy physique with "the confidence to face life's challenges" through the image of Zheng Qinwen in its related TVC, echoing consumers' deep - seated desire for "inner strength". It can be seen that Swisse's brand proposition upgrade this time is a profound response to the current trends in the health supplement industry and the changing needs of consumers. It also elevates the product from a functional supplement to an expression of a lifestyle, stimulating users' emotional dependence on the brand.

While most brands are still focusing on youthful packaging or single - function promotion, Swisse occupies the mental gap of "mental health" through the output of the value of "inner confidence", distinguishing itself significantly from its competitors.

In addition, while the entire health supplement industry is competing in innovation and using technology to boost marketing, Swisse still firmly stands with consumers, clarifying their real needs. It truly understands that a naturally healthy body is the real long - term strategy and the greatest confidence for consumers. This kind of confidence does not point to a specific direction - it is neither just confidence nor just peace. It means that consumers can be the best version of themselves at any time and have a stable core to deal with everything.

02 Understand Consumption Trends, and Industry Leaders Should Be Brave in Self - Revolution

Since entering the Chinese market in 2016, Swisse has upgraded its brand three times.

The first upgrade was in 2017. To differentiate itself from the basic nutrition categories such as calcium and multivitamins that dominated the public's minds at that time, Swisse introduced its popular oral beauty products overseas as its main brand products, quickly establishing its brand image in consumers' minds. At that time, the domestic consumers' demand for beauty was increasing rapidly, so Swisse filled the gap in the market for oral beauty products and quickly occupied a high position in the nutrition market.

Four years later, in 2021, Swisse proposed that natural health should be the new fashion for young people, focusing on comprehensive nutrition. At that time, after the "Quanjian Incident" and the COVID - 19 pandemic, with the resurgence of the national demand for nutritional health, the entire health supplement market was facing the dual challenges of transformation and recovery. Meanwhile, according to a report from the Forward - looking Industry Research Institute, the penetration rate of health supplements in China will gradually evolve from first - and second - tier cities to third - and fourth - tier cities, from the elderly to the middle - aged and young, and from tonic - function health care to dietary nutrition supplementation. To meet the increasing attention of the younger generation to health preservation, the form of health supplements has also become more like snacks and ready - to - eat foods.

Now, the health supplement industry is showing a steady and explosive growth trend. Consumers' awareness of health preservation and health care has been greatly improved. They are no longer satisfied with single - element supplementation but hope for comprehensive inner improvement and have higher requirements for the cost - performance of products. Therefore, Swisse made its third brand upgrade, providing consumers with more comprehensive protection with products that can meet multiple needs and becoming the confidence to support consumers in going all out in society.

This frequency of brand upgrades every 3 - 4 years is also in line with China's social and economic development laws. On the other hand, as a long - standing industry leader, Swisse inevitably needs to make innovations according to consumption trends and market observations to maintain its sensitivity, vitality, and indispensable innovation.

Similarly, in recent years, with the intensifying competition in the health supplement industry, the number of companies upgrading their brands has been gradually increasing. With the consumption upgrade and the continuous growth of consumers' demand for high - quality health supplements, many companies have started to enhance their market competitiveness through brand upgrades. In addition, due to the stricter industry supervision, companies also need to enhance consumers' trust and brand influence through brand upgrades.

Although Swisse upgrades its brand promptly and sensitively according to consumers' needs, it never blindly follows the trend of some popular ingredients or products in the short - term market. As a company committed to building its own brand, Swisse is extremely cautious about products that suddenly become popular in the market.

Someone once asked Ding Wen if there was a product with a certain very popular ingredient at that time. Ding Wen replied, "I can't quickly provide you with a product containing this ingredient." It takes at least one year of research and development at Swisse to truly study the quality of an ingredient, find the best dosage, and combine it with other ingredients. By the time the product is launched, the once - chased trend may have passed.

But Swisse and Ding Wen don't care about these. "You may be aware of those short - term benefits, but you can't and shouldn't take them." Ensuring sufficient safety and quality is the bottom line that Swisse adheres to. This is also the determination required for building a brand and practicing long - termism. Otherwise, it's difficult for any company to become a century - old brand.

The trust crisis in the health supplement industry has always been a long - standing problem. If companies chase trends while ignoring product quality and consumer experience, it may further exacerbate this trust crisis and damage the long - term development of the brand.

Swisse has enough confidence in this regard because it has a loyal consumer base accumulated from the very beginning. The underlying logic is that Swisse can truly meet consumers' real needs.

For this reason, Swisse has consistently ranked at the top of the domestic health supplement market for several consecutive years. As an industry leader, how can it not lose its sense of purpose? The only way is self - revolution. Therefore, once there is a change in social and economic development, Swisse will quickly adapt to the situation and redefine its brand proposition. No matter how brilliant the previous sales and promotion results were, it will move forward firmly. Only by growing with consumers and getting closer to users can it accompany them in the long run instead of being left behind.

03 Understand Consumers to Build a Good Brand

Swisse takes the brand as its foundation, while Ding Wen regards understanding consumers as the cornerstone of a brand. This is also her definition of a good brand: "Truly understand what your consumers are thinking and what they want."

According to Ding Wen, Swisse spends most of its energy in two areas - consumer research, insight, and communication, as well as product R & D. These two aspects account for more than 70% of Swisse's time and resources. They use different channels to observe consumers and the market, spending a lot of time thinking, summarizing, and researching.

Even during the brand upgrade process, Swisse continuously explores new communication and marketing models. For example, with the "1 + 3" brand strategy matrix as the core, it transforms each communication touchpoint into an opportunity for in - depth dialogue with consumers, building a trust bridge between the brand and users.

Through observing consumption trends in the past two years, they also found that the previously strong demand for luxury goods among the public has shown a significant decline since last year. Consumers' consumption concept has changed from buying the most expensive to buying the most cost - effective products. Similarly, the public's pursuit of external appearance has gradually weakened, and they are paying more attention to inner stability. Therefore, Swisse concluded that 'the external value proposition is no longer suitable for today's consumers and the competitive environment.'

The post - 90s and post - 00s generations, who have become the core consumers of health supplements - once known as the 'life - cherishing generation' - want to solve health problems without completely abandoning their past lifestyles. So, they place greater expectations and spend more money on the health supplement field.

This consumer group cares more about whether the product is really effective. "They are only willing to spend money on products that can prove to work. For higher - end consumers, their needs are more refined. For example, if they need anti - aging products, they want the best anti - aging ingredients and formulas on the market and are willing to spend a