Herman-Scheer

Chief Creative Officer

Herman-Scheer is a branding agency in Venice, CA that helps entrepreneurs come to market.

Co-Founder

AIGA Los Angeles

Advisory Board Member

Member

The University of Arizona

Graphic Designer

Point to Point, Inc.

- Creating and developing case studies for their finished B2B projects.
- Sitting in on creative briefs for new projects
- Participate in brainstorming sessions with copy and creative director.

Intern

Building and evolving brands

Hi, I'm John, Chief Creative Officer at Herman-Scheer, a strategic and creative brand consultancy. We believe the businesses that prioritize connection over transaction are the ones that succeed. 

Since 2010, Herman-Scheer has helped change the way businesses make people feel. We have big heart and daring instincts. A sunny disposition and assertive gait. 

I consider myself a people-people kind of person, enamored by how brands connect to people and how people connect to brands. I love working with businesses that—put simply—keep people healthy and happy.

My career journey has been about embracing the idea that friction makes fire. 

I believe in mixing the intuitive and familiar with the audacious and novel, creating a healthy tension to captivate and engage. This friction, this interplay of ideas, is where I believe brands find their true voice and distinctive edge.

Alongside Chapin, (The Herman to my Scheer), we’ve built an agency with a strong POV: great health and self-care brands create narratives and identities aimed at changing behaviors—experiences so compelling that customers stick with a product or service even before they see the tangible benefits.

If you're in the wellness industry looking to evolve your brand toward lasting impact, let’s talk shop.

Feel free to reach out here or email me at john@herman-scheer.com.

John Scheer

Over the last 5 years or so...I was basically the poster child for coastal-elite wellness.

I bought groceries from Erewhon.
I worked out and did contrast therapy at HUME.
I took long rucking-vest walks on Venice Beach...

I optimized everything I could, from experimenting with various hydration mixes to monitoring my HRV, all the way to waiting 90 minutes before drinking my first sip of caffeine (debunked?).  

So when I decided to move my family to the suburbs of Northeast Ohio, the assumption was…well, that I was leaving all that behind...

I was going from the epicenter of wellbeing in L.A. to the land of ranch dressing and fluorescent lighting. 

But after living here since August, I’ve realized the delta isn’t nearly as big as you’d think.

I see women walking around with weighted vests, power walking through their neighborhoods.
I overhear people talking about their sleep scores, protein goals, and recovery routines.
The grocery stores are full of grass-fed butter, air-chilled poultry, and organic, better-for-you options everywhere you look.

And the infrastructure is catching up fast, too:

Boutique studios are popping up, offering classes such as Lagree, reformer Pilates, and private strength training.

Wellness-focused franchises with IV drips, Cryo, and IR saunas are popping up all around.
 
Even preventative private medical practices and early-detection clinics are starting to take root here.

There's still a lot of fluorescent lighting and deep-fried buttersticks, but it's definitely changing.

People everywhere want to feel well, age well, and live with a little more energy and agency. Or as my client, Rich Joseph, MD, MBA, calls it - #Capacity.

Moving from Venice to Cleveland showed me something important:

"Wellness" isn’t coastal anymore.
It’s cultural.
And it’s spreading in ways that are probably going to surprise a lot of people in the next decade.

Perhaps the next great wave of health innovation won’t come from California —
But from places like this... 

Let's do it.

Building and transforming the brands that make generations healthier.

Every time I see a new doctor, I get asked the same two lifestyle questions:

Do you smoke?
How many alcoholic drinks per week?

That’s it...

MaYbE it’s time to upgrade the intake form...

How about:

How many hours of sleep are you getting?
How much sugar are you consuming daily?
How many steps or minutes of movement do you get each day?
How often are you breathing in artificial fragrance in non-ventilated spaces? (Be cool with those pumpkin spice candle, ya'll)
How many hours a day do you spend staring at a screen?
How connected do you feel to the people around you?

The reality is, our biggest health risks aren’t simply cigarettes and alcohol anymore, and the effects of those are now widely known and understood — now it's chronic stress, poor sleep, processed foods, sedentary routines, and a constant exposure to chemicals and noise our bodies were never designed to handle.

If healthcare wants to stay relevant, it needs to start asking the questions that actually reflect modern life.

Because prevention starts with context, and right now, the system isn't asking nearly enough...

Here’s a glimpse into the next chapter of where I believe health & wellness tech is headed...

It’s called OHM. 

It's a beautifully designed table lamp that helps you regulate your breath through light, rhythm, and touch.

I met the founder, James McGoff, a few weeks ago at The Assembly, and got to give it a try!

Here’s how it works:

It’s a weighted stone that fits naturally in your hand. (and its deliciously warm)

Inside, sensors track your heart rate and breathing.

As you sync your breath to the light pattern of the lamp, the lamp slowly turns blue.

When your heart and breath are in alignment, your body shifts into parasympathetic mode. 

...lowering cortisol, improving vagal tone, and signaling safety to your nervous system.

It doubles as a soothing sound machine and a table lamp, specifically designed to be used without an app, screen, or data dashboard.

Just light, sound, and feedback - the kind your body actually understands.

For years, wellness tech has been built around tracking and optimizing with more and more metrics, and frankly, more angst to it...

I'm hoping this next wave will be quieter:

Tools that tune your physiology, not quantify it.
Devices that calm the body before they ever ask for your attention
Design that blends seamlessly (and beautifully) into your environment, and your biology

OHM is one of the first I’ve seen do it. What have you seen?

When I was a 17 y/o senior in high school, our whole class got to do what was called a senior project, a month or so of real-world experience before graduation. 

I chose to intern at an advertising agency called Point To Point. 

I had two assignments while I was there...

The first was scanning all of their print ads from magazines into a digital database - tedious but oddly satisfying...

The second challenge was to select an ad from any magazine and come up with three alternative ideas that were better than what went to print, then pitch them to the entire agency.

I found a boring ad for a Cobra radar detector and gave it a shot...

I spent at least two weeks sketching my ideas onto paper, doing my best to illustrate, write, and learn Photoshop well enough to make it look as legit as possible...

Fast forward 20 years and Nano Banana Pro comes out...

As a way to learn and experiment with it, I decided to recreate my senior project.

It took me about 7.5 minutes to do, and in stark contrast to my shitty high school drawings, well...thumb through the carousel. 

Still processing what this all means, but the gap between idea and reality is becoming smaller and smaller...

Nano Banana Pro Test

World Products Ltd.

World Products has a mission... To Bring Healthcare Into The Digital Age on Amazon. 

It’s that’s Simple. 

The leading Healthcare focussed Amazon Accelerator Distributor.

In a nutshell, this means we’re here to help Healthcare, Beauty and OTC brands master the world of Ecom. Specifically Amazon. 

Our expertise & infrastructure means we can offer full services to our brands, from Amazon Logistics all the way through to Amazon Marketing & Brand Development. 

We leave no stone unturned when it comes to Healthcare & Beauty Brand success on Amazon.

In 2024, WP is now serving healthcare brands in 14 Amazon markets around the world including the UK, USA, EU (FR, DE, IT, ES, NL, PL) Australia, Canada and Japan. 

Our Amazon Logistics facilities are located across the world to help with localised service.

We establish long term growth partnerships with leading global healthcare brands including:

Unilever Int. - Vaseline® | Pears® | Baby Dove® | Lux®
Dermatonics - Dermatonics® 
Thea Pharma - Blephaclean® | Thealoz® Duo | Blepha Eyebag® 
Perrigo Australia - Compeed®
Hoyu International - Bigen® Hair
Almirall - Balneum®

We help serve our partner brands through various Amazon models, including Vendor/Seller Hybrids. If you’re a healthcare brand already distributing on Amazon, or you’re new and looking to take control of your brand. WP are here to help.  

Our clients come to us with the following problems:

- They have unregulated companies selling their products on Amazon and don't know how to stop it
- They have stagnant growth in their Amazon healthcare brands.
- They are unable to manage the strict Amazon guidelines for Vendor/FBA success. 
- They need help with Amazon Brand Registry activation and navigation.

If this sounds like you, we should be able to help. Please get in touch.

Managing Director

Managing Director at WP | Amazon Accelerator for OTC Pharma, Healthcare & Beauty Brands | Helping companies Deliver, Protect and Grow their brands on Amazon

eCommerce Amazon entrepreneur passionate about OTC  healthcare, pharmaceuticals and social entrepreneurship. 

Currently MD of World Products: 

World Products has a mission... To Bring Healthcare Into The Digital Age.

In a nutshell, this means we’re here to help Healthcare, Beauty and OTC brands master the world of Ecom. Specifically Amazon.

At WP, whilst we technically fall under the umbrella of Agency, we’re like no agency you’ve come across. 

Our expertise & infrastructure means we can offer full services to our brands, from Amazon Logistics all the way through to Amazon Marketing & Brand Development. 

We leave no stone unturned when it comes to Healthcare & Beauty Brand success on Amazon.

In 2024, WP is now serving healthcare brands in 14 Amazon markets around the world including the UK, USA, EU (FR, DE, IT, ES, NL, PL), Singapore, Australia, Canada and Japan. 

Our operations are located across the world to help with localised service.

We establish long-term growth partnerships with leading global healthcare brands including:

Unilever Int. - Vaseline® | Pears® | Baby Dove® | Lux® 
Thea Pharma - Blephaclean® | Thealoz® Duo | Blephasol® 
Perrigo Australia - Compeed® 
Hoyu International - Bigen® Hair
Lanes Health - Teangi® | Sarakan® 
Dermatonics Skincare- Dermatonics® 
Almirall - Balneum®


We help serve our partner brands through various Amazon models, including Vendor/Seller Hybrids. If you’re a healthcare brand already distributing on Amazon, or you’re new and looking to take control of your brand. WP are here to help.  

Our clients come to us with the following problems:

- They have unregulated companies selling their products on Amazon and don't know how to stop it
- They have stagnant growth in their Amazon healthcare brands.
- They are unable to manage the strict Amazon guidelines for Vendor/FBA success. 
- They need help with Amazon Brand Registry activation and navigation.

If this sounds like you, we should be able to help. Please get in touch.

Ash Shah

Agencies will hate this.

The deepest Amazon wins have NEVER come from a "monthly fixed retainer or % commission agency model". 

We know because we spent years building something different from scratch, the hard way.

Here's what we asked ourselves almost a decade ago:

What does a healthcare brand actually need to win on Amazon? 

Not what can we charge for. Not what fits in a deck and wins a brand. 

What actually matters to them?

The answer changed everything about how we operate.

Most agencies stay a step removed (even if they try hard not to). They optimise ACOS, advise on strategy, and send decks. 

However, they rarely wire themselves into the heartbeat of the brand - demand planning, pack changes, compliance decisions, margin math. 

They leave the actual workload/management to the brand, which is often a stretched team that's already drowning.

That model broke in healthcare ecommerce years ago. Here's why:

One miscalculation on a supplement claim. One inventory miss. One pack format that doesn't sell. It compounds fast - margin erodes, momentum dies, you lose digital shelf space to a competitor who didn't stumble.

Small mistakes have teeth in this category.

So we did something different:

We own outcomes. Forecasts, stock positions, purchase orders sit on our desk, not yours.

We carry risk. We take title of inventory. Our incentives match the brands, every single day.

We build for durability. Content, pricing, authorised sellers, pack formats - all designed for compounding growth, not quick wins.

All whilst improving the overall net margin of every single one of our brand partners.

The result: Fewer surprises. Tighter control. Growth that actually compounds because your commercial model, supply chain, and channel strategy aren't working against each other.

You can hire an agency to tune your ACOS. That will maybe help you for the next 6-9 months of survival. Keeps your head above water.

If you want a partner who will work day and night for your brands, will share the risk and scale your brand with you - someone whose success is literally tied to yours, that's a different conversation.

Think of it as an extension of your internal team.

That's where the next decade of Amazon growth gets won: closer, longer, and with real skin in the game. 

We know, because we've done it. Time and time again.

Managing Director at WP | Driving Global Growth & Brand Protection for Healthcare, Beauty & OTC Pharma on Global Amazon and Ecom | ✅ Deliver | 🛡️ Protect | 📈 Grow

It's time to start thinking more positively as a brand about your Amazon future.

The Amazon Proposition has been shifting. Here’s how I see it developing for healthcare brands over the next few years 👇

Amazon is becoming even more of a marketplace and less of a retailer. We've known this for a while, but we often forget the true outcome.

The shift has been happening quietly for years, but the direction is clear now: AWS, advertising, and third-party seller services are where Amazon makes its money. The retail side - Vendor (1P) is narrowing.

This doesn’t mean Amazon is abandoning 1P. It’s becoming even more selective. Vendor relationships are increasingly focused on tier-one brands in each category, the household names that anchor selection and set customer expectations.

If you have to ask yourself if your brand is tier-one, it probably isn't. Or won't be longer term.

We’ve seen this play out in luxury beauty recently. Amazon has secured major luxury brands through 1P deals. Those brands act as a magnet. They establish Amazon as a credible destination for the category, which then pulls in challenger brands through 3P.

It’s a deliberate strategy: use 1P to build category credibility, let 3P fill out the long tail.

So why does this matter for most brands?

If you’re a mid-sized or growing healthcare brand, the path forward is increasingly through 3P, not 1P. If you're a little larger, you need to at least explore the idea of a 3P hybrid.

Amazon’s margin profile is clearly better on 3P. It doesn’t carry inventory risk, and earns on fees, ads, and fulfilment.

And here’s the key: 3P sellers drive most of Amazon’s advertising revenue. That’s where the platform’s profit really comes from now.

If you’re waiting for your Vendor business to turn around overnight - or for Amazon to ease off Net PPM, stop waiting. 

Build a strong 3P presence instead. If you're in healthcare, that may be via a specialist partner to overcome regulatory hurdles.

Focus on what moves the needle in a 3P model - clean content, reliable fulfilment, and full-funnel advertising.

If you’re already in 1P but fighting margin pressures, have a 3P contingency. The platform is reserving 1P for the biggest names while everyone else is pushed toward 3P.

Because when Amazon says it needs “higher margin,” those Vendor Gurus telling you to just optimise Net PPM or supply chain aren’t wrong - they’re just not telling you how this story ends.

Net PPM isn’t Amazon’s profit margin. It doesn’t factor in the swelling costs of fulfilment, advertising infrastructure, or customer service. Amazon’s real Vendor measure is Contributed Margin. What’s left after all costs are considered.

Through 1P, it’s pennies (if they're lucky). Through 3P, it’s more sustainable for Amazon.

So where do you think Amazon will put its weight for the long term - the pennies or the profit?

Make sure your Amazon business is built for sustainability, not just to survive the next AVN round.

If we’re really honest, we can admit something uncomfortable. Amazon still has a trust problem in healthcare.

I look at supplement and OTC listings and still question what I am seeing. Claims that do not stack up. Sourcing that is unclear. Sellers that should not be anywhere near the top of search.

But Amazon is still the best option at scale. Chinese e-commerce platforms will not be trusted for OTC pharma/healthcare anytime soon, which gives Amazon a real opening.

Healthcare is one of the few categories where trust outranks price and speed.

Consumers genuinely care about proper sourcing, authorised supply chains, and legitimacy. That is where the opportunity sits.

Right now the platform makes it too hard to tell genuine authorised sellers from grey sellers who slip through the cracks. That is a major problem. Amazon talks about higher standards, but it is not doing enough to reach them. 

We need one hundred percent verification of supply chains and seller authorisation. Nothing less.

The typical flywheel of “more sellers equals more growth” does not work in healthcare. 

More verified authorised sellers, yes. More grey sellers, no. 

More grey sellers means less trust and less long-term growth in the platform.

This is a category where credibility should be the differentiator. Brands with certifications, verified claims, transparent sourcing and audited supply chains stand out immediately because the bar is still far too low.

Amazon could own trust in healthcare if it chose to. But only if it takes compliance seriously... and only if legitimate brands push for standards that reward trust, not shortcuts.

The opportunity is there. Amazon needs to claim it.

It’s Black Friday Week, and it’s all systems go.

And yes, we’re already talking about Black Friday 2026. Too early? Not even close.

Black Friday should not be the moment OTC pharma and healthcare brands “make the year.”

It should be the moment they prove they have a year-round strategy.

Healthcare and OTC brands are finally waking up to something many have shouted about for years. Deals are not a tactic. They are a strategy.

If your promo planning starts in Sept or October, you are not planning. You are reacting.

You are chasing the dopamine hit of a spike so you can report “record sales”… and then spending January rebuilding the base you just trained to wait for discounts.

Amazon Deals matter massively for healthcare, just like any serious commerce channel.

But do not let Amazon become another retailer trap.

Because even Amazon does not want healthcare sales to be seasonal like air fryers.

They truly want strong, sustained growth and reliable demand across the year.

Black Friday should be a lift, not a cliff edge.

In 2025, shoppers are showing more caution and more deal fatigue. They are still turning up for BFCM, but value, trust, and convenience win, not noise.

So for healthcare, the question is simple:

Are your deals building lifetime value, or just buying a one-week surge?

Three moves to consider this week (and to bake into 2026 planning):

1. Use deals to recruit into routines, not just discount singles. Lead with starter kits, regimen bundles, or trial packs that set up repeat behaviour.

2. Protect trust with guardrail discounting. 
Keep hero SKUs price anchored, and focus depth on bundles, multipacks, or specific variants that need a share reset.

3. Turn the spike into LTV through Subscribe and Save. 
Stack a first delivery subscribe incentive during BFCM, then follow with a subscriber-only January coupon to smooth demand and earn badges that pay back for months.

Black Friday 2026 starts now.

Lose the FOMO. Build your plan.

In healthcare on Amazon, there are really two types of partners.

And the difference matters a lot more than most brands realise.

Because selling medical products is not the same as selling snacks or phone cases.

In our world, the supply chain is part of the product.

Type 1. True healthcare-grade partners
These are not just operationally strong. They are clinically minded.

They have proper PV-trained customer service.

They run GDP practices to the highest standard.

They have batch-level traceability, expiry control, security, and documented storage conditions.

They understand claims compliance and what is at stake when a patient opens the box.

At WP, we have a simple motto.

Our distribution centres need to be like laboratories.

That is the level of cleanliness, care, and control we aspire to.

Not because we have to. Because we want to.

Type 2. “Sounds the part” partners

On paper, they look fine.

They talk about high-tech systems and logistical plans.

But under the hood, they are selling candy bars and nasal sprays next to each other.

They might be fine general retailers.

But fine general retail is not good enough for healthcare.

Do they have real healthcare standards in place day to day?

Do they operate GDP properly, consistently, and auditable?

Do they treat your product like a clinical promise, or just another SKU?

Here is the key point.

Even if another seller technically “takes responsibility”, your brand never leaves the line of accountability.

If a customer receives a damaged unit, an expired unit, or a poorly stored unit, they will not blame the partner/reseller.

They will blame your brand.

So choose partners with extreme care.

Govern them tightly.

And if they cannot meet healthcare grade standards, they should not touch healthcare products.

On Amazon, trust is fragile.

Your distribution network should protect it, not gamble with it.

How are other healthcare brands thinking about reseller standards and governance right now?

Brick-and-mortar retail is becoming glorified top-of-funnel exposure.

The net margins are thin. Between trade spend, promotional pressure and sales teams, those retail sales often aren't profitable.

However they still matter, just not in the way they used to.

Offline professional retail can now be seen as an awareness play.

That pharmacy shelf placement isn’t driving huge net profit. It's creating the brand recognition and credibility that makes someone search for you later on Amazon or other ecommerce channels.

You're paying for visibility through margin erosion instead of media spend. The outcome is the same: getting your brand in front of people.

The profitable sale happens elsewhere.

→ What this means
Stop expecting retail to be your profit centre. It's part of your awareness budget now.

Measure it like you'd measure any upper-funnel channel: Does retail presence correlate with search lift? D2C traffic? Repeat purchases on higher-margin channels?

The retail P&L in isolation won’t give you the full picture here.

→ Retail provides exposure → Digital provides margin → Subscription provides retention and lifetime value.

Each channel has a role.

The mistake is expecting retail to deliver the same returns it did a decade ago, when it was both the awareness moment and the profitable transaction.

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