Ruby McNally celebrated her 100th birthday in August 2026 by skydiving over California. It was the third time the centenarian marked a new decade with a parachute jump — and a fitting illustration of a broader cultural shift: consumers aren’t simply looking to live longer. They’re looking to stay healthier and more active for as long as possible.
“Healthy longevity is achieved when everyone is empowered to maintain his or her holistic health, which includes physical, mental, cognitive and emotional wellbeing,” said Dr. Shyam Bishen, head, centre for health and healthcare, member of the executive committee at World Economic Forum, at the Brand Innovators Building the Future of Healthy Longevity Brands Summit hosted at Nestlé’s global education center in Vevey, Switzerland – Brand Innovators’ first event in the DACH region.
“We want a future where everyone is empowered to live healthier,” added Bishen, who recently led the launch of the Global Longevity Initiative.
Whether they embrace GLP-1s, meditation or fitness trackers, consumers are living longer and living healthier lives. In fact, 57 percent of consumers prioritize “aging well” more than they did five years ago, per NielsenIQ. And global consumers spend $2 trillion on wellness annually with 84% of U.S. consumers saying wellness is a top priority, per McKinsey. Longevity is shifting from an aspiration to a consumer behavior – and brands are increasingly positioning themselves as enablers of healthier living.
“This is a massive opportunity…and a responsibility towards society,” said Guillaume Le Cunff, chief executive officer at Nestlé Europe. “Every time we come with a proposition related to health and longevity, they’re excited.”
From left to right: Sophia Jalal, head of nutrition & health at Nestlé Europe; David Rennie, executive vice president, head of strategic business units and marketing and sales at Nestlé; Guillaume Le Cunff, chief executive officer at Nestlé Europe; Shannon Jenkins, moderator
While people are living longer, they aren’t always living their best lives in their later years. David Rennie, executive vice president, head of strategic business units and marketing and sales at Nestlé says there is a massive opportunity for companies to adjust this imbalance. The company is thinking about health span versus life span. “If we can help people live healthier lives as they are aging, that’s great for the individual, it’s great for the families, it’s great for society and it’s a great business opportunity for us,” he said.
With all of the information on health and wellness out there, consumers can get overwhelmed and don’t always know who to trust. This landscape gives brands an opportunity to position themselves as trusted voices that can support consumers with healthier living. Nestlé comes to the table from a scientific and brand standpoint to serve this growing demand.
“People are bombarded with information,” said Sophia Jalal, head of nutrition & health at Nestlé Europe. “They’re busy and sometimes get conflicting advice on the topic. So healthy intentions don’t always translate into healthy behaviors. At Nestlé, our responsibility is to turn this complex topic into something simple that people can understand but without undermining the importance of the science-backed solutions.”
Noli, a beauty tech startup backed by L’Oreal that helps consumers create personalized routines for skin, hair and beauty using AI, is focused on offering science-backed solutions as well. But it is important for the brand to build consumer trust by keeping it simple and telling them not to worry about every little thing.
“I’m going to tell you that all these things that you thought like wrinkles, density, you don’t need actually to address it, just forget about it,” said Firdaous El Honsali, chief marketing officer at Noli. “I’m looking at the face scan. I’m looking at the data you gave me and I’m going to say these are things you don’t need and that actually allows the consumer to really understand that they can trust you, you’re a credible voice in the space.”
From left to right: Thomas Dezillie, chief marketing officer at Decathlon Switzerland; Hon Pak, senior vice president at Samsung Electronics; Alfonso Talayero, digital and growth marketing at Roche; Eric Martell, founder of Pear Commerce
Consumers used to consult with doctors and pharmacists on advice for medicine and health and wellness devices. The consumerization of health is changing how pharmaceutical companies communicate. Roche, traditionally focused on a B2B audience of healthcare professionals and institutions, is increasingly speaking directly to consumers.
“The consumer is way more informed now,” said Alfonso Talayero, digital and growth marketing at Roche. “They are more eager to know and learn what they are consuming. So we need to be transparent and we need to acknowledge that…With AI now, they will just go to Gemini or ChatGPT and upload the symptoms, upload the diagnosis that they get from the doctor and expect an answer.”
Samsung is using its Samsung Health ecosystem to connect everyday behaviors such as sleep, nutrition, activity and mental health with broader health indicators. The company offers medical devices, as well as consumer-facing wearables that capture this data. The challenge becomes turning the data into meaningful personalized plans and of course, getting consumers to adapt their behaviors.
“We’re working really hard to meet people where they are and understand their windows for change…using our wearables to contextualize and personalize and adapt programs on a day-to-day basis,” said Hon Pak, senior vice president at Samsung Electronics, who is also a doctor and veteran. “It is really in that context of measuring things and then engaging with them and then helping them achieve their goals in small steps.”
Nic Brandenberger, chief marketing officer of Mammut
But the longevity conversation isn’t limited to supplements, food and health technology. For Swiss outdoor brand Mammut, healthy aging is also about getting people away from screens and into the outdoors.
The brand recently launched its “Take a Hike” campaign, a double entendre that taps into the friction-maxxing trend on social media – a new trend in which people try to cut out convenience and comfort to build resilience and strength.
“For us as a brand, we actually believe that friction is your fuel,” said Nic Brandenberger, chief marketing officer of Mammut. “Whether it’s trail running or hiking or climbing, those are all not things that are connected with convenience or comfort in a way.”
The 164 year-old brand does not just see its competitors as Arc’teryx, The North Face, Columbia or Patagonia. They also think of scrolling devices and going to the cinema as competition. Essentially anything that keeps people busy in their spare time.
“When people spend a lot of time online, it can be a very toxic environment… we wanted to kind of find this double entendre response to people who seem a little bit irritated,” explained Brandenberger. “Spending time outside, maybe just 20 minutes for a quick hike, can significantly reduce rumination and lower cortisol levels…it’s basically helping people friction-max.”
Melanie Brinbaum, chief marketing officer of Nestlé Europe
By 2030, people will spend less than 20 minutes per day in their kitchen and less than 15 minutes per day by 2040, per Nestlé. If consumers want to eat healthier but increasingly don’t know how to cook, brands have an opportunity to bridge the knowing-doing gap.
For their part, Nestlé is working with nutritionists and reformulating products to cut back on certain unwanted ingredients but still deliver foods that make it convenient to cook.
“We have a whole generation of new young people who’ve never seen their parents cooking,” said Melanie Brinbaum, chief marketing officer of Nestlé Europe. “We were gifted, many of us, to see our parents cooking…we don’t realize the cultural capital we were given.”
In that sense, the next phase of longevity may be less about adding years to life than helping consumers build the everyday habits that make those years healthier.
