Marketing Specialists for Health & Wellness Brands
RLA Collective is a unique marketing services firm that combines its extensive over-the-counter (OTC) health and wellness category expertise with unparalleled passion, authenticity, commitment and personal attention. We work with clients – health, wellness and personal care brands – as a creative, collaborative team, not as a vendor. Our specialized agency grows to 100+ partners through a collective of vetted, niche specialists who help us to service brands in the health and wellness space.
Counsel
We have a deep understanding of FDA, DSHEA, HIPPA, FTC and other regulatory oversight for the marketing of OTC, homeopathic, medical device and supplement products.
Creativity
We specialize in creative marketing and communications that gets the attention and engagement of your target audiences.
Coordination
We function as part of your team and can do as much or as little as you need, from handling one tactic for your brand, to coordinating and executing varied integrated marketing activities.
Cost Effective
We work with all size budgets and time tables, with tactics that can grow with a brand and its sales.
How We Work
While we understand the confines of regulatory oversight, we also understand how to think outside the box to expand the brand's voice and authority to the targeted audience so they become advocates of your brand. From digestive disorders to infertility to cold/flu/fever – and everything in between – we look at your potential brand users as "communities of sufferers" and target them with the language, empathy and insights that help them connect with a brand to drive trial, and spread their influence in their own online communities.
In addition, we have deep experience working with OTC or dietary supplement brands owned by Rx/pharma companies, and understand the intricate approval processes via legal and regulatory divisions. In fact, we have set up the consumer PR and social media protocol for six pharma companies, to date.
How We Think
Our creative approach has won awards, sure, but the real reward is when it helps to launch a brand, takes a brand to a new level or new target consumer, refreshes an existing brand to a younger or new audience or, simply, turns a brand on its head for a completely new positioning. Our ideas connect the brand to the consumer in the middle, speaking with target audiences vs. at them, and opening the door for these consumers to respond back and engage.
Who We Work With
Our experienced agency staff handles a variety of strategic, creative, content development and program implementation in-house, however, we also work with a variety of vetted industry partners – our “collective” – who we trust, work in the same category, are cost effective and who support us, as needed. From OTC packaging design and consumer research, to TV media buying and HCP sampling, we coordinate these efforts under one roof so each tactic supports and builds on the others. That means our agency expands to 100+ people, but without the overhead that clients often pay for at large agencies.
What it Costs
Our programs are custom-developed for a client’s business objectives, so the budget is customized, as well. Compared to other agencies of our experience and caliber, we, and our clients, believe we are the best value in town. While we can often make most size budgets work effectively, either as a project or campaign, we are brutally honest and will tell you when it’s too small to be effective. Our reputation is important to us, as is our integrity. If we don’t believe we can deliver on your budget, we will tell you up front vs. take your money and disappoint. It’s how we’ve been successful for more than 30 years!
Our Collective of Services
We offer an integrated marketing approach for health and wellness brands
at every stage, or we can help with a piece of your brand marketing puzzle:
Meet the RLA Collective Team
Our Clients
From newly launching, to heritage brands that have been around for decades, we typically work with small or emerging to medium-size brands with innovation in their category. In addition to OTC and supplement companies, including brands owned by private equity, we have great expertise working with consumer brands owned by Rx/pharma companies and understand the intricate approval/regulatory processes they often require. We also work with brands entering the U.S. for the first time. There is no one size fits all model – for some clients we offer specific marketing services amongst a team of agencies or consultants they hire; for others, we ARE their marketing department.
Collective Thoughts
Social Marketing is More Than Social Media
What an OTC brand (really, any brand!) is doing on their social media channels results in what is ultimately a real-time transcript of their marketing efforts (one that not only marketers, like myself, can see, but also your consumers, investors and retailers who sell your products or services). We may have no idea how many...
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Enough Already About Millennials
Frankly, I’m over the constant obsession with millennials – in particular, how brands can reach them. The generation of the moment, we know most millennials can’t find good jobs, aren’t earning as much as their parents did when they were younger (the national average is $31,000 – $35,000 annually) and therefore don’t have a lot...
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Is Price Still Really “King” in a World Where Social Media is So Important?
I started my communications career in the 80s, when we believed that it took 3 impressions for a consumer to react, which seemed like a lot! How were we going to accomplish that? We were happy to make one impression! Now, with social media and digital so much a part of our daily lives, we’re...
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