The advent calendars are finished, the tree is down, and the work emails are already rolling in. As people are thrust back into the reality of January, Kalms has launched a new campaign reminding people to be gentle with themselves and ease back in. The campaign, created by Bray Leino, features the brand provide audiences with a much needed moment of ‘kalmfulness’.

The hero film shows Kalms embracing rest and relaxation in the midst of the post-holiday season readjustment. The campaign aims to harness the power of ‘kalmfulness’ and challenges the usual conventions of TV advertising, with a film designed to feel like meditation.

Viewers are brought into a calming space through various audiovisual techniques. While the voice over invites them to imagine their own calm space. Scenic shots, filmed just outside of Dublin, play on screen. The narrator uses a guided-meditation-inspired script with the backing track of the sounds of nature designed to create a sense of peace.

Promoting its range of herbal remedies to assist with sleep, anxiety, burnout, and stress, the campaign takes a refreshingly slow approach to the new year. It builds on the brand’s ‘Find your Kalmfulness’ platform, which launched in 2022.

The fresh activation, which coincides with a packaging update, reflects a changing health and wellness market which leans more toward a focus on mental wellbeing over physical appearance.

Kate Cox, CEO at Bray Leino, explains: “The past few years have seen huge change for the health and wellbeing market. We’ve seen the explosion of wellness trends, propelled by social media and the pandemic, and our own research has highlighted people’s increasing proactivity towards their health in general”.

As consumers grow more in touch with their health and wellness, Kalms uses the spot to embrace this moment of audience connection with a campaign that mirrors the sense of peace the brand offers. As Elizabeth Hughes-Gapper, Senior Product Manager, Lanes Health, adds: “We hope this ad will provide a moment of calm in their busy lives”.

The hero video was directed by Dermot Mallone, with collaboration from The Sweetshop Films and Banjo Man Films.

Through peace, wellness and tranquillity the spot is an example of comfort marketing, engaging audiences gently just in time for a January reset. Cutting through the noise of ‘get-back-to-the-gym’ health and wellness ads, Kalms eschews the guilt associated with New Year’s resolutions to offer a moment of reflection and an opportunity to slow down.