Active Overwatch 020

Here’s what we got this week in the business world of health, fitness, & wellness:

🗞️ The Story - Oura acquires metabolic health platform Veri.

📈 The Strategy - SuckerPunch event popup creates a crowd.

🛍️ The Product - Cadence launches electrolyte sachets.

The Story

Oura acquires metabolic health platform, Veri.

In an effort to make their smart health tracking ring much more holistic.

Oura plans to take the metabolic and blood sugar tracking from Veri, and give users insights into how their diet effects things like sleep and stress.

My quick thoughts:

I’ve talked about the trend of niche wearables that are coming.

Tracking things like hydration levels, gut health, and more.

But the other trend coming from this is the consolidation of hardwares.

I do believe consumers are interested in having niche wearables that track a variety of metrics.

But I do not believe they are interested in wearing multiple at the same time, which is where consolidation and centralization comes in.

And Oura is clearly making a move in this direction.

This space is very capital intensive to develop new hardware and technology.

From research, to testing, to engineering, to production.

It’s not easy to develop these products.

And because of that, I believe much of this consolidation and centralization will happen through acquisition channels.

So cash and capital availability will be key in order for companies in this space to expand and create the best holistic offering.

It’ll be interesting to see how this all shakes out in the coming years.

The Strategy

SuckerPunch Pickles creates a crowd with their in person event booth.

Brands, this is how you showcase yourself at in person events…

So I go to fitness events and expos all the time.

And 90% of the brands there are doing their booth setup all wrong.

Wasting money and not getting any attention.

But SuckerPunch is an exception and they have an A+ setup.

And for context, SuckerPunch is a pickle brand.

So this setup was at Runningman Festival and it had:

1. On the right, a table showcasing their product.
2. On the left, the star of the show, a punching bag.

This booth constantly had the most people at it.

Punching the bag, taking videos, and sharing it on their social.

Probably getting their brand millions of free impressions.

Now remember, they sell pickles - the main attraction really has nothing to do with that.

But that doesn’t matter.

With popups and PR, the point is getting attention.

Showcase your product a little, but it doesn’t have to be the main thing.

Create something that make people stop in their tracks because it is different than the other popups.

Stand out and be unique - that is what will make people remember your brand.

The Product

Cadence unveils electrolyte sachets, adding to their hydration offering.

Previously, Cadence just sold electrolyte drink cans.

But add these sachets to complete what they call the “Complete Hydration System”.

They rolled out 3 types of sachets, each catering to a specific use case including core hydration, performance energy, and sleep recovery.

My quick thoughts:

I talked about Cadence back when they launched their cans in July.

And a quick note, I got to try the cans and they are really good.

So one of the main things I talked about back in July was their branding.

It is extremely clean, minimal, and fits consumer preferences today.

The sachets have the same clean vibe.

To me, branding is one of the most important differentiators in this space today.

It’s a saturated space - there are countless brands with electrolyte packets.

To be a player and stay alive in a saturated space, you have to stand out with branding and marketing.

Cadence is doing this and I love the overall direction of the company.