Consumer’s mind

When I visited the Vitafoods exhibition in Geneva in early May (Vitafoods is the annual European exhibition of functional ingredients) I heard colleagues in the healthy food and beverage industry witness that the number of new product launches were down  with as much as 50% in some categories, because of the recession. This made me recall some figures from GfK a couple of years ago about the danger of not launching new products. In a German study they compared Looser Brands and Winner Brands and significant for the difference was the fact that only 19% of Looser brands introduced new products compared to 63% of the Winner brands. So the analysis is clear - a winning brand is an innovative brand.

But since we also know that between 70 and 80% of all launches fail or perform below category average it isn´t enough to be just innovative. You must really know what will make the consumer choose your new product. And to focus on consumer motivation is not enough. According to GfK 58% of products flopped due to over-promising.

When we look at success factors of the Winning brands, it is clear that they understand how to give you both Motivation to buy and Permission to buy.  The motivation to buy is what makes you reach out for a new product, grab it from the shelf and hold it up for a first inspection. Permission to buy is what makes you put the product back on the shelf or into your shopping basket. (Read more about Motivation/Permission in Wennström’s Four Factors of Success.)

As an example, I really love chocolate, but I have promised myself to watch my weight. But this new dark chocolate with natural antioxidants from organic plantations really makes me feel good about my choice, so I give myself permission to buy.

If you want to get more permission to buy chocolatre, just scroll down to the news about Chocolate being good for your brain below.

Enjoy!

PW

Apparently, 80% of persuasion is done on an emotional basis, with only 20% of a decision is made in a left-brain, logical way so brands should not be afraid to speak to consumer’s feelings.

FDA sends a clear message

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has signaled a new stance on claims when it sent a  warning letter to General Mills.

The letter suggests Cheerios is making unapproved claims about cholesterol reduction and reducing the risk of heart disease. The FDA was quick to add that the action was “not to impugn Cheerios… a product that can be part of a healthy diet.”

Healthy Marketing Team Analysis:

Companies will need to be ever more careful as they use health claims to differentiate their products and substantiate their benefits.  In recent years mass market brands have been able to leverage their ‘hidden’ nutritional assets (see The Five Strategies in The Food&Health Marketing Handbook p 49)  by talking up the benefits of  existing ingredients. As national regulators (such as the FDA or FSA) have enabled general claims to be made on the strength of specific ingredients.

What to do next?

Considering the warning to Cheerios, brand owners must consider the strength of their claims and the level to which they can be substantiated - not just on the shelf, but also in PR and across the brand´s communication.  Brands need find alternative ways to differentiate - one popular route has been to leverage the healthy association which consumers make with certain ingredients and to work these into brand names products names and design - totally eliminating the need to make claims. As pointed out in Wennström´s FourFactors of Success p34: “Health claims are only one component of your health benefit communication” and “the key component is not the health claim but the way the benefit is explained to consumers.” See also FourFactors case study of Cheerios in The Food&Health Marketing Handbook p 102 - 104.

Our advice is that you must create a heart and mind winning differentiation for your brand as a way to avoid being totally in the hands of your country’s food regulator!

With stress and tiredness being one of the strongest growing global consumer health concern referring to HealthFocus Global consumer trend survey it is not surprising to witness the explosion of entrants into the energy drinks category. This is also fuelled by the global growth of  the ‘Managers’ - 1 of the 6 HealthFocus consumer segments. These are busy people who, among other key characteristics, are seeking to maximise their performance and energy on any given day. 

 While visiting HealthFocus International at their offices in St. Petersburg, Florida, where we planned for the 2009/2010 surveys,  I visited CVS Pharmacy and saw the power of the Energy Trend on the shelves. (For more information about HealthFocus global 2008 health trends and time schedule for the 2009/10 HealthFocus survey, just contact Sam@healthymarketingteam.com)

Consumers have long sought a way to boost their energy, but more recently there’s been a trend to the more extreme and overtly packaged delivery of energy as power.  It’s a trend which is leaving category leader Red Bull looking tame!

In my video report I show an EXTREME ENERGY 6-Hour Shot - packaged exactly like D Cell batteries - we are invited to “Feel the Rush!” which “Works blazing fast!” with “No Crashing” and “Zero Sugar”. Even the colour looks like Energizer Max!

Re-charge Shot

6 hours of energy?

The Healthy Marketing Team Analysis:
The target of the sleep deprived or serious boost seeker is clear. The benefit is face-slappingly obvious, but when I consider what’s inside? Or which brand is ‘boosting’ me? … I’m left less than convinced. I’d have to be pretty tired to consume one of these over a trusted brand with clear ingredients. They’re leaving too much unsaid.

Check out the Red Bull case study in Peter´s new book “Wennstrom’s Four Factors of Success” and discover the success factors behind the brand who invented the category!

Other products on this trend:

The Healthy Marketing Team visited India for the first time in a few months; Neal Cavalier-Smith relates one of our global trends “Invest for kids success” to the local market here:

“Doing a store-check in Mumbai, India I couldn’t help notice one of our key global trends amplified: Kids for success - the notion that parents are prepared to invest in premium products for the success of the next generation.

Few mothers can afford to shop in the rare high-end supermarkets like “Big Bazaar” in Mumbai’s high-end mall, and the explosion in products aimed at supporting kids growth and intelligence really sticks out - see the video-blog for some examples from the flavoured milk, and milk-flavourings category: ”

The HMT have been so struck by the relevance of our brand positioning expertise to developing markets such as India that we are building local capacity to allow us to deliver more directly in Asia, and will soon be announcing a series of seminars and workshops in India, China and Singapore.

We just spotted the new Lucozade Sports Nutrition Ad in Triathlon 220 (June 2009).

Darwin would be proud. Lucozade keeps evolving.

Lucozade, the traditional UK health tonic (GSK Nutrition), that was developed into a modern sports drink with the addition of the Lucozade Sports subbrand and range has now taken one more step in its brand evolution:  The message is clear. Lucozade Sports has EVOLVED. It’s more advance than it ever has been before. For a brand that began in realms of the medical, the Sports suffix clarified Lucozade’s energy positioning. Now we see a proliferation of line extensions so the brand offers something for everyone serious about their sport.

That said, Lucozade have stayed true to their mass-market roots, they’ve not over-complicated and I feel sure this brand will fly from the grocery shelves as an easily understood entry point to the Category for those trying Sports Nutrition for the first time.

Sam Waterfall

Healthy Marketing Team Analysis:

GSK Nutrition have used the sub brand “Nutrition” to the already established Lucozade Sports as a way to enter the fast growing Sports Nutrition market. This strategy is opposed to creating a new brand which often is a very costly operation. But in order to communicate a new benefit or to enter a new category with an established brand you must make sure it is trusted by consumers to deliver the new competence. Good examples of this brand strategy is eg Danone Actimel where Danone stands for healthy dairy products and Actimel adds the active probiotic benefits.  (See Danone Actimel case study and “Factor Four: Trust the Brand”  in “Wennström´s FourFactors of Success!”

Before

After

Rachel’s is the UK’s organic brand with a sophisticated “urban” audience (vs: “Yeo Valley” which takes the consumer more to a place in the countryside).

HMT view is that Rachel’s have decided, whithout moving away from organic ingredients, their brand-name no longer needs to major on “organic”; customers buy into premium-brand Rachel’s for flavour and quality, with organic as a reassurance of goodness rather than their key differentiator; arguably this repositions Rachels further from private-label organic.

UK Broadsheet The Daily Telegraph points out that the organic sector generally is in decline, and suggests that Rachel’s are responding to the downturn by removing the word “organic” to lower perception of cost:

<read full story>

Brain power enhancer?

Daily Telegraph: Chocolate + brain work = a winning formula

Amid the sea of economic news what a relief it was to discover something that we here at the Healthy Marketing Team has actually suspected all along; Chocolate really is good for you.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph in the UK last week, Kate Devlin, Medical Correspondent, reported that “Mental arithmetic became easier for volunteers given large amounts of compounds found in chocolate, called flavonols, in a hot chocolate drink.”

Professor David Kennedy, director of the brain, performance and nutrition research centre at Northumbria University, and co-author of the study, said that chocolate could be beneficial for mentally challenging tasks.

Full story available at

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/5095760/Scientists-reveal-how-eating-chocolate-can-help-improve-your-maths.html

Brand Strategy Magazine

Neal Cavalier-Smith, HMT Managing Director & Lead Brand Strategist

In December 2008 Brand Strategy Magazine approached Healthy Marketing Team Managing Director and Lead Brand Strategist, Neal Cavalier-Smith to write a thought piece on the emerging Wellness Trend.

In this updated version of the article Neal composed, he elaborates on the key changes impacting brands in 2009 and offers essential advice to brand owners looking to weather 2009’s perfect economic storm and come out on top.

>read full article>>

Neal can be contacted by emailing neal@healthymarketingteam.comhere

Peter Wennström

Wennström's 1st Book: The Food & Health Marketing Handbook

 Peter’s first book “The Food and Health Marketing Handbook” - which he co-authored with Functional Foods expert and New Nutrition Business Publisher, Julian Mellentin - was launched in 2004. It set the industry standard for best practice in functional food and health marketing. 

In his second book “Wennström´s FourFactors for Success - a simple ool to innovate healthy brands“  Peter takes a closer look at the factors that are driving the success of some of the leading health and wellness brands globally. The FourFactors was introduced already in the Handbook and is now used to help you understand the different success factors and will help you understand how to apply them to your brand, product or ingredient. The book gives you hands on examples with practical advice and case studies following each factor together with FourFactors templates for your own practice.

The book is expected to retail for €50.00.  To pre-order your copy email fourfactors@healthymarketingteam.com