Herbalife launches fitness campaign as it strives to regain sales momentum

Herbalife announced a new health promotion at a time when sales have been in a state of decline.

A statement announcing the plan was long on aspirational statements but short on details. 

The new campaign, dubbed #ImWithYou, launched at an event held last weekend in Las Vegas. More than 750 people gathered for a group workout at a basketball training center that is a partner of the company. 

The campaign is set to run for a full year in all 95 markets where the company operates around the globe. 

Star power 

Herbalife has also enlisted sponsored athletes such as soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, who now plays in Saudi Arabia, and professional triathlete Heather Jackson to help promote the campaign. The pair will “will share their healthy active lifestyle motivation” and “how they use Herbalife products to achieve their healthy goals,” according to the company statement.  

Ronaldo, who with his move to the Saudi league is now the world’s highest paid player, has partnered with Herbalife for a decade.

Herbalife has for years been pushing the idea of “nutrition clubs,” or individual sales locations owned and operated by distributors. The campaign will presumably take place through these outlets (though corporate-organized events are reportedly also planned), but the Herbalife spokesman said how that will look is still to be determined. 

“There will be some events created by distributors and others by corporate, all with a focus on a healthy active lifestyle,” he said. “Nutrition Clubs are owned and operated by independent distributors, so they would decide how and if to incorporate the campaign.” 

Drumming up enthusiasm for the brand 

The new campaign comes at a time when the company’s sales are still recovering from a post-pandemic swoon. 

Herbalife’s recent second-quarter results showed total net sales of $1.3 billion, which was a decline of 5.7% versus the same period in 2022.   

Aggressive cost cutting helped the company stay profitable, however. Herbalife is reportedly on track to cut more than $90 million in costs, with $45 million of that coming in 2023. That helped the company report earnings of 60 cents a share, even on the reduced overall sales. 

Herbalife had hovered around $5 billion in annual revenues for several years before sales ramped up sharply during the pandemic. The company hit its peak in 2022, when annual revenues reached $5.8 billion.   

Sales have fallen since then, however. The focus now is to halt the downward slide. 

“I remain confident we are on the path to return to growth in fourth quarter 2023,” Herbalife Chairman and CEO Michael Johnson said.