The Wellness Focus

'Tis the season to be wary... of any leftover mince pies, eggnogs or slothful daytime TV watching habits. With January the traditional month for post-Xmas guilt, gym deals and juice cleanses, shots dons its sports leggings and jogs vigorously into the nourishing space of wellness marketing – from muscle-building to mindful meditation.

Insight

Well, well, wellness

Wellness is everywhere now, in our tech, in our daily lives, in our household brands. Tim Cumming looks at its strange history and evolution – from a niche hippyscape to a multi-billion dollar industry – and talks to a range of brands and creatives about selling wellness in the 2020s

Insight

Why personal wellness can be infectious

Understanding your own mental and physical wellbeing can put you in a position to be understanding of and helpful to those whom you work with, says Lou Allen, MD at Factory and SIREN. Here, she outlines her journey from depression to positivity and how it impacted on her work and life.

Talent

The Way I See It: Tony Burke

Tony Burke is a filmmaker, author, advertising creative and recovering alcoholic. In this extended TWISI, he talks frankly about his descent into alcoholism and how family, friendship and an unusual brush with faith helped him get sober, write his debut novel, and write and direct the acclaimed 2025 feature film, PROTEIN.

Insight

Trend watch 2026: Wellness-first creativity

Trin Basra, Executive Creative Director EMEA at Sparks, reflects on how brands can tap into consumers' new appreciation of wellness – it's increasingly not just about health, but more a sense of belonging and humanity in a turbulent uncertain world.

Insight

The evolving aesthetics of wellness culture

Once seen as niche and alternative, wellness products are now trendy, affordable, and woven into everyday life for people battling burnout. Tim Donald, Creative Director at functional drinks brand Sneak, explains how brands are reshaping their design and marketing to feel more mainstream and accessible.

Inspiration

CARAZ: A Few Of My Favourite Things

BURN Studio director CARAZ kicks off 2026 with a look at the practices, not objects, that fuel her creativity.

Insight

Why guilt-driven January messaging is backfiring

George Bacon, Founder of GBM Group, looks into consumers’ – and even over-consumers’– increasing rejection of seasonal shame-based marketing, and suggests other ways wellness brands can cut through.

Insight

Well-being: The missing department on the call sheet

We perfect what appears on screen, but the true success of a production depends on something unseen – the emotional health of a team behind it. Becky Morrison, CEO and Founder of The Light, believes that the industry’s next creative leap won’t come from better tools, but from better care for those using them.

The 'Not TV' Focus

While reports of TVC’s death might be greatly exaggerated, there’s no denying that social and other ad spaces are jostling for supremacy. This focus explores exciting not-TV work, from experiential and OOH to the exciting world of ‘extended reality’, where AR, VR and mixed reality reside.

The Nostalgia Focus

Fings ain’t what they used to be... but do we wish they were? Are the complexities of modern, bot-driven life behind increased yearnings for yesteryear’s vinyl, dumb phones and vintage styles? Last year, we tackled the Future Focus; this year, we’re exploring the past and asking if advertising is driving or mirroring the revival of retro.

The Animation Focus

AI-driven tools, deepfakes, real-time 3D game engines and improvements in kinetic typography – a whole bunch of new technologies have been impacting the art of animation. Yet there’s a lot of love for simple stop-motion and old-school 2D drawings. This month, shots speaks to masters in the medium about trends in toonworld.