Creating a clear brand image that effectively connects with consumers enhances the long-term viability, confidence and stability of a product. It’s not a new concept, but the methods for achieving that goal have been evolving.

Creating a brand helps simplify the ability to distinguish products from among a wide range of offerings. In a crowded marketplace, such as supplement ingredients, it gets increasingly difficult for companies to differentiate their products. Branding allows positive demarcation from the competition.

Quality Branded Ingredients

Bob Green, president of Nutratech, Inc. (West Caldwell, NJ), said branded ingredients— such as the company’s patented the rmogenic Advantra Z®—are in greater demand than ever before. “This is not only due to recent quality issues in the marketplace, but also to the passage of the new cGMPs,” he said. “While the responsibility for meeting cGMPs technically falls on finished goods manufacturers, it only follows that manufacturers will look to ingredient suppliers for scientifically supported ingredients that adhere to strict quality assurance and quality control guidelines. Branded ingredients not only meet these criteria, they provide a quality value—plus the safety, security and support—that are necessary for the long-term viability, confidence and stability of a consumer brand.

“Building branded ingredients in the natural products arena begins with nutrients rooted in nature and steeped in research. They are usually born by hypothesis,” Green continued. But to have true value, branded ingredients must have proven, real-life applications, he noted. “Otherwise, what’s the difference between a branded ingredient and generic? The investment in research can never end if a branded ingredient is to meet cGMPs, add value to a formula, build interest at retail, withstand detractors’ scrutiny and endure the test of time in an ever-changing industry.” The creation of a strong ingredient brand name allows for better transfer of the brand and subsequent logo to retail products. And while manufacturers must meet GMP requirements, for finished goods, it is essential to have substantiation for all marketing claims before they’re released. This applies to every aspect of the branding/marketing process, including labeling, packaging, collateral materials, any and all online content, sales sheets, brochures, shelf talkers and even the product name. All must be as regulatory compliant as possible.

Consumer Awareness 

For natural products, consumer knowledge of the benefits of branded ingredients is still a work in progress.

“Consumers understand the health benefits of common nutrients such as protein, fiber, calcium, and are just now learning about omega-3s, antioxidants and soy, for example,” noted Jeff Hilton, co-founder and partner of Integrated Marketing Group (IMG, Salt Lake City, UT). “Consumers learn best by personal experience and word of mouth from people they trust.” 

Green agreed that natural ingredient brands aren’t as recognized by as many as he would like. However, that’s changing. “We do see Advantra Z popping up more often in chat rooms, blogs and other social media, so there are consumers who really want to understand and explore what’s in the nutritional supplements they’re taking. But the majority is still primarily focused on the endproduct. That’s why manufacturers who use tried-and-true branded ingredients need to feature it on their labels, packaging and marketing materials.” 

Packaging is often the last and best hope of reaching the consumer and prompting a purchase decision. In addition to communicating product differentiation, features, benefits and quality, packaging has to literally deliver the brand, so often in new ways that continue the connection with the consumer.

John Vandercliff, president and CEO of JP Packaging LLC (Chester, NY), noted what he sees as the top trends in branding strategies for natural products:

• New demand for unit dose products for natural products as a novel package, convenient and sanitary single- use product introduction and delivery system.

• Unit dose sampling is increasingly being done in retail vitamin and health food stores, and by integrative physicians, medical aestheticians, plastic surgeons, spas and others who want to introduce new products to clients seeking a holistic approach to health and wellness.

• Doctors and spas are just beginning to expand services by offering their own lines of specially formulated natural products. These are being marketed, in many instances, as single unit dose packages for convenience, accurate dosing and portability.

• Another trend is to package multiple products in a single presentation as a “kit” convenience. JP Packaging has developed some innovative three-chamber packages that combine tablets, liquid and capsules into one co-format package. “We have even developed a kit-style, single-use co-format package that encloses toothpaste, chewable breath mints and two pieces of gum,” said Vandercliff.

New, New Media

Branding in the natural products arena can have a meaningful marketing message for consumers, and companies don’t have to necessarily have a huge budget to do it.

While backing up natural products with more than just claims is essential, it’s not just about how much science is done, but also how consumers can appreciate it. IMG’s Hilton said the entire branding paradigm has changed. “I like to refer to what I call the four C’s: concept (brand story), content (brand validation), connection (brand relevance) and community (brand evangelism). Social media is changing the way people hear about and purchase natural products.”

The role of new media is simply the future of communication, said Hilton, and pointed out that 70 percent of web users are on Facebook, with 500 million active users. Twitter has more than 100 million users. “Successful brands will use social media to help create communities of followers and ‘missionaries’ for their products and services,” he said.

Studies have shown the tremendous opportunities that exist for marketing to customers already in the store. This is opening the door to an emerging category of media known as ‘shopper marketing’ that has a huge potential, noted Vandercliff.

Options for shopper marketing tactics include:

• Direct-to-the-customer right at the shelf brand promotion can influence product selection—often unseating an established brand in favor of an ‘extravalue’ brand that displays its product with a bonus unit dose sample package on a piggy-back hang tag.

• Finding its way into newspaper and magazine inserts with card-mounted unit dose sample testers that make trial use a natural next step. These inserts often feature redeemable coupons that provide an incentive to move from free trial to an in-store purchase.

• Another form of new media is POP displays, in which the single-use packages come packed in a self-contained display box that does double duty in promoting and dispensing.

• As countertop displays at a retail check out or for use in medical or professional services settings as both an advertising vehicle and sanitary dispenser that eliminates cross-contamination between customers and/or patients and the practitioner. One-time use versus an open-jar tester offers a cleaner, healthier, branded product source.

• The brand can extend from product to lifestyle by using the internet to keep pace with consumers. JP Packaging’s Ad-A-Peel™ pressure-sensitive package space extenders offer a medium for generating an interactive bridge. Contests with personalized codes affixed to the package can direct the consumer to a unique website. With imagination, a marketer can involve the consumer in games, coupons, application tips, even brand blogs that are developed to enhance brand loyalty.

“Consumers quickly develop loyalty to the brand they use,” Vandercliff pointed out, “so a formidable obstacle is to get them to try something new in the hope that the new brand can displace the former product. While this is no easy task, a ‘no-risk, free test’ unit dose sample creates a perfect storm with a free trial test. From that point, it capitalizes on familiarity to transfer the experience into a first purchase that ultimately grows from test trial into a longterm preferred brand purchase.”

Choosing Your Partner

Stable supplier relationships are a key step in the quality control process for a branded ingredient. “Most require stringent harvesting and manufacturing methods and other quality assurance protocols from production through packaging,” noted Green. “It’s simply not feasible to change suppliers overnight and expect them to deliver the quality that U.S. consumers—and the cGMPs— demand. We’ve always developed long term partnerships with our Asian suppliers, and we work with them, hands on, on an ongoing basis to help them hone their manufacturing practices and adopt Western quality control standards.” 

In fact, Green has made more than 60 trips to Asia over the past 15 years. “That’s the only way to guarantee consistent quality for every batch of Advantra Z,” he said. “And it’s why, when the new cGMPS went into effect, we and our Asian partners were already there.” Steering Through Obstacles In a cluttered and confused marketplace, developing a focused single minded message when the temptation is to try and say everything, standing out on a crowded shelf and channel proliferation where the average consumer has literally dozens of channels through which to purchase supplements, functional foods and beverages, are real problems while trying to build brand presence.

Hilton noted that additionally, supplements, foods and beverages are converging as more nutrient-enhanced foods come on the market. “The big players are active in this sector and mass market stores are leading the way. Health food retailers should be leading the charge toward increased functionality and on top of the convergence trend, but I fear they are not.”

For a branded ingredient, the greatest obstacle is to overcome the perception that it is significantly more expensive. “Of course, a branded ingredient will cost a bit more than its generic counterpart,” said Green, “but the price reflects the greater value to the manufacturer, retailer and consumer.”

The investment in research, quality controls and testing, patents and marketing support provide a clear advantage to the manufacturers who use branded ingredients—and help both manufacturers and retailers build consumer confidence via scientific support, safety and efficacy. With that in mind, often the price difference is negligible.

“Manufacturers need to open their minds, do their research and then do the math,” Green concluded. “With restrictions on their finances, consumers demand value. And that value is rooted in the product’s proven efficacy and safety.”

Strength of the Logo

There is a significant marketing advantage in using branded ingredients, and use of the logo on a product has immediate consumer impact—plus added benefits.

“First and foremost, we encourage manufacturers to place the Advantra Z logo and patent/trademark statement on the product label—not just in the supplement fact box,” said Nutratech’s Green.

“Those that do can receive a marketing incentive.” Missy Lowery, marketing manager with Capsugel Americas Region (Peapack, NJ), said many of the company’s customers request the use of its Vcaps® and Licaps® capsule logos for their labeling. “Capsugel has a program to license the use of its logos at no charge when [manufacturers] include our capsules. These logos have appeared on numerous products over the years and are now familiar signatures to the consumer that help convey quality and confidence.” 

Each logo reinforces the specific product benefit— vegetarian Vcaps capsules or liquid Licaps capsules.
“Because many manufacturers have licensed use of the logos on the products they manufacture with our capsules, consumer awareness and confidence has grown.
Consumers appreciate knowing the quality of ingredients used.” 

Lowery said Vcaps is the best-selling vegetarian capsule to manufacturers and thus the best-known vegetarian capsule to consumers. Vcaps Plus products—the colorful maximum appeal HPMC (hydroxypropy methylcellulose) product—also benefits from the same name recognition. “Using vegetarian capsules and the Vcaps logo helps to quickly identify supplement products as appealing to the booming market with lifestyle, dietary and cultural considerations,” Lowery said.

“Licaps is known within manufacturing circles as a proprietary liquid-fill technology that helps, depending on the formulation, improve bioavailability and protect against oxidation of liquid fills,” added Lowery. “The logo has helped reinforce among consumers the concept of quality associated with the technology.”

In addition to using its logo, Nutratech also encourages manufacturers to take advantage of its marketing and educational materials, including the company’s ongoing advertising and public relations programs, which publicize and profile consumer products that feature Advantra Z in formulas and on labels. Companies can also link to Nutratech’s website (www.nutratechinc.com) where its customers can access virtually all of the scientific studies conducted on bitter orange/Advantra Z for the past 15 years. “There’s nothing like transparency to build confidence among manufacturers, retailers, as well as consumers,” said Green.