Gen Zers are being targeted with a new content and commercial wellness platform called Woo, which is being launched with backing from ITV’s Studio 55.
A hybrid between editorial content and a marketplace, Woo’s platform will promote wellness as a lifestyle and examine cultural topics such as music, film and drugs from the perspective of people's wellbeing.
Launching with an out-of-home campaign, the platform’s economic model is built around two propositions: the site’s marketplace, which launches in September and will sell wellness products such as CBD gummies, sexual wellness products and skincare cosmetics; and IP-generated video content.
ITV’s Studio 55 invests in business ideas aimed at 16- to 34-year-olds. Woo itself was founded by Stephen Mai, who was previously chief marketing officer at LADbible and global lead for marketing at i-D.
Seeking to create a media proposition that does not rely heavily on advertising, Mai’s initial proposition was built around a marketplace for a CBD soft drink, with editorial content on mental health.
By the time ITV posted a callout for media businesses in September 2020, Mai’s idea had developed into a platform built around an ecommerce platform, a less “limited” way to fund his media proposition.
Undoubtedly though, the backing of ITV has given Woo a comfortable support system. Speaking to ±±¾©Èü³µpk10, Mai said the support of the company had given them a “competitive edge” and a “level of credibility” from day one.
His four-year business plan envisages the platform being run independently without the support of the network, but still a part of the ITV family.
“We're not monetising based on website clicks, [so] it doesn't make sense for us to try to drive everyone back to our platform. What we want to do is take the content to wherever audiences are, whether that be Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, a partner channel or ITV Hub.
“ITV Hub is important for us because there's a massive broad audience that's engaged and we think it's going to be a natural home for a lot of the content that we're creating.”
Mai is confident that Woo is one of a kind, and said: “I think there's been a lot of content that has brought around awareness and that was needed up until a point. I think now we're shifting, it's like everyone's aware now, so what are the solutions?”
According to Mai, Woo’s competitors are brands such as Calm and Headspace, which have done an “amazing job” yet with an approach that has been “very functional”. Sites like Vice have taken a news-approach to wellness and magazines such as Cosmopolitan, although their coverage overlaps with Woo’s content, skew towards the female demographic.
He added: “They're doing functional things. Whereas we want to shift the cultural perception as a lifestyle.”
Later down the line, when advertisers and brand partnerships will filter into the platform, Mai said he only wants "to work with brands that allow us to create something that adds value to the audience and experiences, whether it's something that makes them feel good, or something that drives their creative inspiration".
Talking about Gen Z activism and drug-taking as part of a mental health journey would traditionally be seen as left-leaning, but Mai said the platform would not be explicitly political.
He said: “There are things that we're going to do that might feel political to some people, but we're just trying to reflect the reality in the world that a big segment of our audience is living in.
“We're not going to be covering politics. It's not intentional. It just so happens that we want to be authentic to Gen Z’s passion points and values.”
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