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Marcus Johnson (00:00):

In marketing, everything must work seamlessly, or efficiency, speed, and ROI all suffer. That's why Quad is obsessed, obsessed I tell you, maybe too much, with making sure your marketing machine runs smoothly, with less friction and smarter integration, better marketing is built on Quad. See how better gets done at quad.com/[inaudible 00:00:24].

(00:24):

Hey gang, it's Monday, July 14th, Rajiv, Beth, and listeners, welcome to Behind the Numbers, an EMARKETER video podcast made possible by Quad. I'm Marcus, and joining me for today's conversation, we have two people, we start with our senior analyst covering digital health, based in New Jersey is Rajiv Leventhal.

Rajiv Leventhal (00:42):

Hey Marcus, happy to be here.

Marcus Johnson (00:43):

And we're also joined by someone with the same title, same coverage area, but she lives in Pennsylvania, it's Beth Snyder Bulik , welcome to the show.

Beth Snyder Bulik (00:51):

Thanks, Marcus. Happy to be here.

Marcus Johnson (00:52):

Great. Well, today's fact is where we begin. What happens to the Concorde plane? Who knows what this is first of all?

Beth Snyder Bulik (01:05):

Oh, the ultra-high speed jet that gets you to Singapore in 10 minutes.

Marcus Johnson (01:11):

Exactly.

Beth Snyder Bulik (01:11):

Not 10.

Marcus Johnson (01:13):

True. I think there's an alien spaceship is what you're thinking of. But yes, that is what the Concorde was hoping to do. Rajiv, have you heard of this?

Rajiv Leventhal (01:20):

Vaguely. I'm not too familiar though.

Marcus Johnson (01:22):

Okay, so it's a supersonic passenger airplane that flies at Mach 2. What does that mean? It means that it can fly at 1300 miles per hour, which is 2000 over 2000 kilometers per hour for our European friends. That's twice the speed of sound. And it's two and a half times the speed of a normal plane, a commercial plane that is, making it the fastest commercial aircraft ever built. It was developed by British Aircraft Corporation and France's Aerospatiale. It took its first flight in 1969. And then, it ended service in '76 getting folks from London to New York in about three and a half hours. Today, it takes about six to eight hours, depending on which way around the world you're flying.

(02:08):

So where did Concorde go? It was officially retired in 2003, because of a few things. One, there was a fatal crash, which though it wasn't a design flaw, there was something on the runway actually that it hit crashed when it landed, but it did damage to the company's reputation, so that didn't help. Secondly, high ticket prices. There were only few people who can afford, unsurprisingly, the ticket, the round trip or return ticket, which was about $12,000 in those days money. In the '90s, which today would be 25 grand, which is a lot. High costs for fuel and parts as well. So high operating costs. And also, just incredibly loud. It made a sonic boom when it traveled. So to fly over land was basically impossible, so basically only do routes that were over water. So that's where it's gone.

(02:59):

I am going to be honest, I'm still a bit disappointed. So three hours, you could basically... I mean, it's similar distance from London to New York as it's from New York to LA, so you could basically get across the U.S. in about three and a half hours, which would be amazing.

Beth Snyder Bulik (03:15):

And no one else is pursuing something like this?

Marcus Johnson (03:18):

Apparently, there is a private company who's looking into supersonic flight and NASA as well. But nothing that's commercially viable.

Rajiv Leventhal (03:31):

I feel like the price point that you referenced doesn't necessarily match the value of what it was providing. I mean, granted it was a lot quicker. But, for that price, you can just fly private, which of course, doesn't get you there that much faster, but provides a lot of the other convenience that people seek out.

Marcus Johnson (03:48):

It does. They weren't big planes, so it was only a small number of people who could fit in it anyway. And, there weren't many planes either. There were only a handful made. But, I'm with you, Rajiv. I would've thought there would've been a market for this though. Especially, there are a lot of people who have a lot of money. There are a lot of millionaires out there, and multimillionaires, and billionaires. And so, I'm surprised that there's not a niche for someone who has one of these planes to get places faster, and can afford that cost. Maybe one day, because I just flew back home and it took longer than it should have. However, Virgin Atlantic, the best people in the world, so they make it pleasant. Anyway, today's real topic, how weight loss drugs got popular and the spaces they're reshaping. We're talking about weight loss drugs. You might have heard of this before. This thing. Well, Rajiv, what is it?

Rajiv Leventhal (04:48):

Yeah. So broadly, there are a class of medications called GLP-1. And, Ozempic is probably the most famous or well heard of amongst these drugs. And they're, for the most part, injections. So you administer the needle yourself, and basically, the reason why they're so popular is that they're extremely effective. You can lose a lot of weight on them. They're not one of these diet pills, these fads that have come and gone over the years. So I know we'll get into it, but there's a few companies with leading GLP-1 products that have dominated the space.

Marcus Johnson (05:39):

Let's talk about them. Really quickly, so I'm going to probably mispronounce this, but glucagon-like peptide is the GLP-1 part.

Rajiv Leventhal (05:49):

Yes.

Marcus Johnson (05:50):

You mentioned one, you said Ozempic. What are a few of the names of the popular drugs and a few of the companies selling them?

Rajiv Leventhal (05:56):

Yeah. So there's four really popular ones. Ozempic is probably just the most popular just in terms of how it's referenced in the media, and on social media, and also just in casual conversations. Ozempic and Wegovy are made by Novo Nordisk. And, Mounjaro and Zepbound are the other two really popular ones, they're made by Eli Lilly. So those are the four really, really well-known ones and the leading ones in terms of sales generated. And like I said, those four are all taken by injection. And then, there is a fifth one also made by Novo Nordisk that's actually a pill, but it's not nearly as effective as the other four. As you can see on the screen here, here's the amount of money year-over-year that the five leading GLP-1 products are projected to generate four two companies, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. And this is data per iMac.

(06:52):

Eli Lilly is approaching a $1 trillion market cap, and it's largely based on the sales of their two huge GLP-1 drugs, Zepbound and Mounjaro. It would become the first pharmaceutical company ever to have $1 trillion market capitalization. Novo Nordisk isn't quite as big just in terms of market value, but it's also huge. And these four... Sorry, five drugs have combined to generate $51 billion in sales or projected sales this year, which is 155% jump from 2023. So only in two years, 155% jump. And then, these four drugs are projected to be the four fastest growing drugs in terms of year-over-year sales. So when you look at 2024 drug sales, 2025 projected drug sales, these are the top four drugs that are projected the sales to increase year-over-year. And that's amongst all prescription medications.

Marcus Johnson (08:00):

And there are a lot of them, right? These are some of the main ones, but there are a lot more out there. And, I just did some research on this recently, it seems like a lot of companies, correct me if I'm wrong, they're trying to move to pills that you can just take as popping your mouth as opposed to injections, because that's going to ramp up adoption.

Rajiv Leventhal (08:17):

Right. And you can imagine that, of course, people are trying to race to develop a weight loss drug pill that's as effective as the injection, but that has not happened so far, because just of the way the pill interacts with your blood when it gets into your bloodstream, versus the injection. Of course, everyone would rather take a pill. But, they're just not as effective.

Beth Snyder Bulik (08:39):

What they're finding out is that you have to such a high dose for it to be effective as an oral, that it's almost impossible without... So every milligram you go up in dose increases the side effects.

Marcus Johnson (08:53):

Okay. Interesting.

Beth Snyder Bulik (08:54):

The few pills that have failed, Pfizer had one that they took out of testing, because people were dropping off because they had so many side effects, they were sick.

Marcus Johnson (09:03):

Okay. And so, just to go back to how it works part, I was reading that the GLP-1 is a natural hormone the body releases help control blood sugar, and appetite, and GLP-1 helps the pancreas release insulin, slows down digestion, and signals your brain that you are full. But, Beth, these drugs were being used for weight loss, but that's not the original purpose, right? They were found accidentally.

Beth Snyder Bulik (09:33):

Not so accidentally. I mean, they knew it was a side effect. If you've ever seen those commercials for... Ozempic was the first GLP-1, they didn't call it a GLP-1, but it was for type two diabetes. They'd say, "Oh, getting your zone for A1C." That's a marker for people who have diabetes, try to get it under number seven. But they would say, "And you might lose a little weight." So they knew it was a side effect that you would lose weight, but it wasn't tested specifically for weight loss.

(10:04):

So then, Novo Nordisk, the company that has Ozempic, which isn't approved for weight loss by the way, people just use it, doctors prescribe it off-label for weight loss, which a doctor can prescribe pretty much anything they want off-label. I mean, they wouldn't do it responsibly, but they know it does create weight loss. So they've been prescribing it off-label. Anyway. So Novo Nordisk, who had Ozempic and noticed people were losing weight, decided to test it on people who have diabetes and obesity, and then just people who just have obesity. So for whatever reason that GLP-1, it became Wegovy. So that's really complicated. So Ozempic and Wegovy are the same underlying generic drug called semaglutide.

Marcus Johnson (10:48):

Okay.

Beth Snyder Bulik (10:48):

People say, semaglutide.

Marcus Johnson (10:50):

I've heard this word. Yes.

Beth Snyder Bulik (10:51):

Either way. Yes.

Marcus Johnson (10:52):

Okay.

Beth Snyder Bulik (10:52):

And also, Robelsis is the same thing. So it's just three different formulations of the same molecule, let's say. It is a molecule.

Marcus Johnson (11:00):

Okay.

Beth Snyder Bulik (11:01):

So they started testing it as Wegovy on people who had obesity or were overweight and had another condition, and found even better success. For whatever reason, it seems to work better on people who don't have diabetes and weight. So the people who had diabetes were losing some weight. People who were just obese were losing a lot more weight. So 15 to 20% of their body weight. Whereas, I think, the rates for people with type two diabetes, Rajiv, correct me if I'm wrong, are more 7 or 8%.

Rajiv Leventhal (11:29):

Single digits. Yeah.

Beth Snyder Bulik (11:30):

Yeah, lower.

Marcus Johnson (11:31):

Okay.

Beth Snyder Bulik (11:32):

So that was 2021 when they got approved for Wegovy, so Semaglutide as a weight loss drug. Novo Nordisk didn't seem to understand how successful it was going to be, probably in part because they had another drug called Saxenda, an earlier weight loss drug that didn't succeed. So Saxenda do very well. And so, they weren't it to do really well, I guess. I don't know. They weren't prepared. And by the end of 2021, beginning of 2022, it was in shortage. So nobody could get it. But now, everybody wanted it. And that's when the Ozempic craze started. So doctors started prescribing Ozempic off-label, because there was more Ozempic than there was Wegovy, even though it's the same molecule. So once they went in shortage, then the FDA has this rule that when a drug is in shortage, other people can come in and compound it. So companies like HEMS, Rho, Sequence, what were some of the other early ones, Rajiv?

Rajiv Leventhal (12:29):

Noom.

Beth Snyder Bulik (12:31):

Oh, right, Noom. So they came in and they started compounding that molecule semaglutide into their own compounded semaglutide. And so, that helped spur the market, because now there's a whole lot more on the market.

Marcus Johnson (12:49):

So let's rewind a little bit, because I'm wondering, does this predate 2021, how did the weight loss drugs become-

Beth Snyder Bulik (12:58):

Ozempic was before.

Marcus Johnson (13:00):

... Okay. Okay. So walk us through quickly how the weight loss drugs became popular. You've mentioned a few, but what's some of the major markers that got us to the point that we're at right now?

Beth Snyder Bulik (13:11):

They work. I mean, people who when they first started getting Wegovy, it was approved for obesity. People were losing 15, 20% of their body weight. I mean, that's a lot.

Marcus Johnson (13:21):

Yeah.

Beth Snyder Bulik (13:22):

On the order, it's getting close to bariatric surgery. I think bariatric surgery is over 20%.

Marcus Johnson (13:28):

Okay.

Rajiv Leventhal (13:28):

And in 15 months.

Marcus Johnson (13:31):

Oh wow.

Rajiv Leventhal (13:31):

So if you're 300 pounds, right, so within a year and change, you could lose up to 60 pounds. I mean, that's pretty significant. And again, this is just the medication. If you're adding other lifestyle changes related to activity and diet, which we'll talk about in a little bit, you could lose even more. But that did a great job of going through the history. I just want to add one piece, because we'd be remiss not to. Social media fueled the craze, as Beth said, the Ozempic craze. As you can see on the screen, over half of Gen Z and millennials who are aware of weight loss drugs, notice weight loss drug related content on social media platforms that's higher than any other channel. And this is from EMARKETER's own survey conducted last December.

(14:21):

They've become a cultural phenomenon in the last few years. And that's because celebrities and social media influencers would detail their weight loss journeys while on these medications, these posts would go incredibly viral, and consumers in droves just started going to their doctors asking for prescriptions based on what they saw on social media from these celebrity and influencer accounts. And they got the prescriptions. They go to their doctor. And the reason why their doctors are willing to prescribe, I'd say, number one is that, again, they're very clinically effective. And number two, most patients probably have a really good case for receiving them. Around 40% of U.S. adults meet the agreed upon clinical standard of obesity. I mean, we're talking about a ton of people.

Marcus Johnson (15:07):

Wow.

Rajiv Leventhal (15:08):

40%. And we can go back and forth on if that standard is legit based on BMI, which is a little bit of an outdated marker.

Marcus Johnson (15:17):

Yeah. And that's from the CDC, right? That 4 in 10?

Rajiv Leventhal (15:20):

Yeah.

Marcus Johnson (15:20):

Yeah. So I believe your research on this KPMG study, 9% of adults are using a GLP-1.

Rajiv Leventhal (15:32):

Yeah, and depending on when a survey is conducted, it could vary a little bit, but it's really in that 8 to 12% range of U.S. consumers. Now, it's more than adults too. So some of these products are approved for adolescents and teens. And then, in addition to the 9% or so that are using one, a lot more say they plan to use one. So people will come on and off of these treatments. We mentioned that they're effective when they're used for over a year or so. Not everyone will use them forever, right, or even several years. Many will stop due to either side effects or maybe they've achieved their weight loss goals. But then, you just probably have a new wave of people that will start taking one. So at any point, you're looking at 1 in 10 people who are taking a weight loss drug. And I think I cited Ernest C. young projection that by the end of the decade or maybe shortly after that, up to 50 million U.S. adults could be taking a GLP-1.

Marcus Johnson (16:35):

I think, within 10 years you said. Yeah, that's a huge market. That's basically for adults, 1 in 5 adults almost.

Rajiv Leventhal (16:41):

Yeah, I would just say, and Beth, correct me if you disagree, but it's unlike any prescription drug that's ever been developed in my lifetime.

Beth Snyder Bulik (16:52):

It will be the largest market. It'll be the largest pharmaceutical category within... I don't know, by 2030, it's expected to be $150 billion market.

Marcus Johnson (17:02):

Wow. Wow. So you mentioned two things I want to touch on quickly before we move on to something else. One is, folks, how long they plan to or are suggested that they use this? Beth, do folks just keep using this? Or, is the plan to move them over to more traditional weight loss methods? Or, what's the end game with these drugs?

Beth Snyder Bulik (17:27):

Right. So that's a good question. So part of the problem is that they haven't been around that long, right? So nobody really knows how long you have to stay on. But it's been shown pretty consistently that if you go off the drugs, you regain the weight. So I think some companies are looking at something like micro-dosing, which would be to a lower level, and then stay on that for the rest of your life, like you take a statin for cholesterol for heart disease. So at a lower level, you could maintain that weight loss. And I've actually even seen some studies that have shown that maybe micro-dosing for post-menopausal women. So it wouldn't be that you're necessarily obese, but that you wouldn't want to... Extra weight causes extra problems, causes bone problems, it causes knee problems, it causes heart problems.

Rajiv Leventhal (18:15):

Obesity is such a precursor to really expensive and serious chronic conditions. Beth mentioned heart disease, and that's the biggest one. Some of these GLP-1s are also FDA approved for some preventive heart disease in people who have obesity. And, if they're as effective as we know or as we think they are and have seen that they are so far, for those people who stay on them, it will be effective in preventing those really serious chronic conditions, especially related to cardiovascular.

Beth Snyder Bulik (18:54):

And they are being tested too in other categories. So there are studies on addiction. Apparently, it helps with alcohol cravings. And, it's also being studied in Alzheimer's. It's also being studied... I mentioned sleep apnea. Oh, and liver disease.

Marcus Johnson (19:09):

Okay.

Beth Snyder Bulik (19:10):

So they're studying these drugs in a lot of different conditions that may be beneficial or showing initial results anyway.

Marcus Johnson (19:17):

It's fascinating. They sound too good to be true. And so, I was like, "All right, so what are some of the negative side effects?" And I found services from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, vomiting and nausea can be two major side effects. And then, the National Health Service in the UK said, "Rarer side effects include acute gallstone disease and pancreatitis." Rajiv, talk to us a bit about some of the negative side effects of these drugs and how significant it's going to be.

Rajiv Leventhal (19:44):

Right. Yeah, gastrointestinal issues like nausea, it's commonly reported for most people who take them. Many people report experiencing some side effects, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea are, I think, the main ones. And look, everyone's tolerance is different. This is a reason why many people stop using the drugs, just to stick on, okay, we've talked them up and hype them up so much. I think the injections versus pills factor is huge. There's a lot of people, they're out because of the needle. They will not even start it. They're out. But, if an effective pill does get developed, which you look at the history of pharmaceutical innovation, it probably will at some point, that's just going to increase the number of people who take them.

(20:28):

And then, the last negative thing not related to clinical is the cost. They are expensive insurers. Many insurers don't cover them for weight loss, which means people are paying out of pocket. I mean, the list price, I'm not going to get into the complexities of medication pricing in the U.S., but the list price for many of these are 1500 a month or close to it. Obviously, most people cannot afford that. So if insurance says, "We're not going to cover it." There's workarounds. There's ways to get them cheaper. But that still is a deterrent for a lot of people.

Marcus Johnson (20:59):

Yeah. Beth, one of the negative side effects seems to be maybe the social side of this. There was a BBC article that said people see the drugs as cheating. And so, socially, how do people feel about taking these drugs? There was a Luis M. Collins of Deseret News writing that some experts fear people are choosing to be thinner, but not necessarily doing the work to be healthier too. What do you make of the negative social effects of these drugs?

Beth Snyder Bulik (21:25):

Yeah, I mean, there's been even celebrities that have denied that they've taken the drug. And then, there's been this whole thing about Ozempic face that people who've lost weight so quickly get a certain look on their face, so that people are accusing other people of, "Oh, you're taking it." So yeah, definitely. It's one of the things I was thinking about that marketers need to think about, the pharma marketers, and the food and beverage. I know we're going to get into this in a little bit. But, you almost don't want to say, "This product is for people who are on GLP-1s." Because people don't seem to want to talk about it. Although, I guess, it's two sides, right? It's the weight loss crowd who's on social media and saying, "Look, I've lost this much weight. Look, I took this GLP-1. Look what it did for my life." And then, you have the other side of people who are feeling maybe shamed by it that people say, "Oh, well, you're cheating." So maybe it's a little bit of a dichotomy there.

Marcus Johnson (22:22):

Rajiv, I think that stigma changes over time. I mean, similar with people dating online, people using apps to date, now it's so common, that stigma has slowly and slowly gone away. Do you think that this will happen with these weight loss drugs?

Rajiv Leventhal (22:33):

I love that analogy. I think it's starting to happen. The companies who make the drugs have shifted their commercials and the creative messaging behind it to try to destigmatize the things that we're talking about and say, "Look, obese people think that obesity is because people are lazy and it's some personal failure. And these drugs are cheating, as best said." But, obesity is not because people are lazy. It is a legitimate clinical condition that requires medication, in many cases. And that's where the brands, the Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have gone to get that message out there. There is still definitely, as Beth noted, there's two sides of this. People are on both. But I do think it's going to shift towards, that stigma will be reduced more and more over time.

Marcus Johnson (23:26):

Okay. Do you think it happens quickly, in the next year or so? Or do you think that's more of a 10 years out, the stigma, people will feel differently about these drugs?

Rajiv Leventhal (23:35):

I think there will always be a stigma. But I think, again, I just go back to how effective they are at losing weight and the downstream effects that people who lose a ton of weight, how they behave, how they act, how they think and feel. People are just going to be like, "I don't care. Make fun of me. I am a different person than I was 18 months ago." And I think that-

Beth Snyder Bulik (24:01):

And the more people, yeah.

Rajiv Leventhal (24:04):

... Yeah, I think that's more powerful than any shaming.

Marcus Johnson (24:07):

But a big part of your research on this and your report on this, Rajiv, was about the spaces that these weight loss drugs are reshaping and how. And so, tell us a bit about some of the major areas that are being impacted, affected, influenced by these drugs and how they're changing.

Rajiv Leventhal (24:27):

So food, I think, is by far the biggest market in terms of, so far, what we're seeing impacted by how many people are on these weight loss drugs, food and beverage. Right off the top, people are spending less on groceries. A really well-cited study from Cornell Enumerator late last year found that people are spending about 6 to 9% less on groceries within the first six months after starting the medication. So they looked at how much you were spending before taking an Ozempic and how much you're spending after. And it is a reduction, but it's not just a reduction in terms of quantity, it's different quality. People want to eat healthier. They're cutting out chip... People on these medications, I should preface, they're cutting out chips, and savory snacks, and sweet treats, and baked goods. These are the food categories that's the largest spending reductions.

(25:18):

And, as you might imagine, there are some food and CPG brands that are not too happy about this. And, they're seeing declining sales in some of their categories, like CPG companies, like PepsiCo, and General Mills. General Mills, I think, reported a slowdown in snack sales in the mid-single digits. You can't 100% correlate that to GLP-1 use, but I think it's a big part of it. So these brands are very quickly having to pivot and create more healthier items. I know Beth said it might not be always a greatest idea to say, now developing this product line with GLP-1 users in mind, because of that stigma piece, right? But, we're seeing it happen all over.

Marcus Johnson (26:06):

When you say people who use GLP-1s in mind, are you talking about they're using direct language, we're speaking to the people who use it, or it's just a movement of healthier folks? Is that what you mean?

Rajiv Leventhal (26:19):

Some companies are using direct language. I looked in my report. Yeah, Nestle is a great example. I think they have an online website of basically, "If you are taking a weight loss medication, here are all of the products that could benefit you." From healthier food, to items heavy in protein, to even like, "Oh, you're experiencing side effects? Here's a supplement for you."

Marcus Johnson (26:43):

Oh, wow. Interesting.

Rajiv Leventhal (26:43):

So yeah, they're not shying away from it. Many are not shying away from it. And I actually think it's forward-thinking. I mean, this is going to be a bigger market over the years, so why not be proactive?

Marcus Johnson (26:56):

Yeah.

Beth Snyder Bulik (26:56):

That's a really great observation. It's the websites, they're not putting it on the package for GLP-1 users. But, by the way, when you're at home, and you're on this drug, and you're searching around the web, and you're like, "Oh, wait, what should I be eating? I'm not eating as much. I need to up my protein. I need to eat healthier Whole Foods. And there's Nestle with a whole list of things that can help me snack through it or whatever."

Marcus Johnson (27:22):

Beth, what's another industry that you see being affected by this?

Beth Snyder Bulik (27:26):

Definitely, the fitness industry. So on two ways, so people who are on these drugs are being encouraged... So one of the side effects is that when you lose weight so quickly, and these are faster than normal weight loss, unless you're just, I don't know, starving yourself, I suppose. But, you lose muscle mass. So there's some drug companies that are looking at drugs or testing drugs that can help with muscle mass as you lose weight. So that's something to look at down the line, but they're just in trials now. But anyway, so people are being encouraged by their doctors and they're being prescribed these drugs. It's not irresponsible. Just a rush to make money off of these things maybe.

Marcus Johnson (28:06):

Okay, okay.

Beth Snyder Bulik (28:07):

Not established companies. But if you go through your doctor, you go through Noom or Rho, or you are meeting with somebody online, they're telling you, you need to exercise. It's not just a quick fix injection. You've got to do these other things. So for the fitness industry, there's a way to capitalize on that, right? So you could have classes, muscle building. We have strength classes for the supplement makers. This is the muscle enhancing supplement. So yeah, definitely that there's some opportunities there for that industry.

Rajiv Leventhal (28:40):

Okay. I think that might come off as surprising to some, because if you're losing as much or more weight than you would if you were making these wholesale diet changes or working out six times a week, you might think that, "Well, the medication is producing enough results. I don't need to work out on top of it. I don't need to go to the gym five times a week." But, we're seeing the opposite. Very few people that are on these medications are exercising less frequently. Many are signing up for gyms for the first time. I think it all comes back to feeling confident, healthier, and just a better version of yourself while taking these medications.

Beth Snyder Bulik (29:18):

Yeah, that's true. The more weight you lose... If you weigh 300 pounds, it's probably uncomfortable to go to the gym or get on a Peloton. When you lose a few pounds, then you're like, "Okay, I feel better. I can do this."

Marcus Johnson (29:27):

Yeah. I could speak to you guys for an hour on this. Unfortunately, that's all we've got time for. Richie's full report is called The Impact of Weight Loss Drugs 2025. The Ozempic Effect is reshaping the health, wellness, and food markets. There are more areas being impacted in the report. There are recommendations for all those different industries on how to react to this huge, huge trend that is taking place. Thank you so much to my guests today for talking to me about this and helping explain what the hell's going on. Thank you first to Rajiv.

Rajiv Leventhal (29:57):

Yeah, thanks Marcus. Great seeing you as always.

Marcus Johnson (29:59):

Yes, sir. And thank you to Beth.

Beth Snyder Bulik (30:01):

Thanks, Marcus. Nice to be here.

Marcus Johnson (30:03):

Yes, miss. Thank you for being on the show. Thanks to the whole editing crew and to everyone for listening to Behind the Numbers, EMARKTER's video podcast made possible by Quad. Subscribe to get updates to new episodes follow, so it's easier to find us in your library, and leave a rating and review to help keep this show going. Sarah will be here on Wednesday with the Reimagining Retail Show, discussing how our 2025 predictions are going, and a few new ones that we're adding to the list.