Nutrition Marketing: A Brand Perspective

Samantha Cassetty, M.S., R.D.
VP, Nutrition, Luvo

Healthcare professionals agree that eating healthfully and deliciously can and do go hand-in-hand. And certainly there are social media enthusiasts who post beautiful images of kale salads and whole grain quinoa all over their feeds.

Yet marketing nutrition to a broad consumer base, who may view healthy eating as sentence to starvation or deprivation or bland food, is much more challenging.The complex regulatory environment makes it even harder. Words that evoke great nutrition—including the very word nutrition itself—are off limits.

That goes for healthy, and many claims about sodium, sugar, and so on. Claims that can be made are often clunky and clinical—feeding into the general perception about nutrition.

The regulatory environment is likely to change in the near future, but in the meantime, there are some key ways to market healthy eating. And in fact, many healthcare professionals have already discovered them and are using them on their personal platforms.

Building a content strategy that supports a healthy lifestyle is one way to tap into consumers who are looking for easy ways to eat better. People are always searching for recipe inspiration, healthy eating tips, entertaining advice, and so on, and content is a great way for brands to connect with an audience in an authentic way. Great content supports the brand mission and tells the brand story without being so brand-centric.

Developing an influencer platform is another way to reach consumers on a healthy eating journey. People looking for healthy eating advice trust credentialed professionals. Sharing through these advocates represents an opportunity to connect with an audience of people who are looking for great-tasting ways that make it easy to eat well. 

Finally, you can’t overlook great photography when it comes to marketing around healthy eating. Taking a cue from social media, beautiful imagery and hero shots of food and fresh ingredients can go a long way toward amplifying a nutrition message while also conveying freshness and flavor. 

Dietitians and other healthcare professionals have always been in the business of marketing nutrition. It’s no surprise that brands are now using similar strategies reach their consumers.

Samantha Cassetty, M.S., R.D.

Samantha is Vice President of Nutrition at Luvo, a forward-thinking food company creating the next generation of frozen food with a focus on great taste, convenience and most importantly, nutrition. At Luvo, she develops nutrition standards, spearheads nutrition communications and strategy, and acts as a brand ambassador and expert voice, both internally and in the media.

Samantha formerly served as Nutrition Director at Good Housekeeping where she reached millions of people with her healthy eating advice. An author of The Girlfriends Diet and contributor to the New York Times bestseller 7 Years Younger and 7 Years Younger: The Anti-Aging Breakthrough Diet, Samantha’s approachable style has helped empower people with food and lifestyle solutions that make it easier to eat well.

Samantha has appeared as an expert on television and radio shows, including The Today Show, Dr. Oz, and CBS Sunday Morning. She can also been seen on The Cooking Channel’s “Drop 5 Lbs. with Good Housekeeping,” where she served as the Nutrition Correspondent.

Samantha received a Bachelor of Science from Vanderbilt University and a Master of Science from Boston University. She completed her dietetic internship at Boston Medical Center. Samantha resides in New York City with her 13-year-old son.

The Brand Perspective on Influencer Marketing

Having spent over 15 years as a clinical dietitian before transitioning to the food industry, I recognize how important it is for brands and health professionals to work together to improve Americans’ eating habits. As evidenced by our growing rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease, and an aging population, it is critical that we work together to educate Americans on the role food plays in our health and longevity. 

At StarKist, our mission is to provide healthy food products for all Americans.  We understand that the vast majority of Americans consume less than a quarter of the recommended amount of seafood a week, and our aim is to provide healthy, convenient options to help overcome this.

We know from recent IFIC research that consumers are trusting of health professionals, especially Registered Dietitians Nutritionists (RDNs), to provide sound advice.  It makes perfect sense for food companies like Starkist to work with RDNs and provide them with information and teaching tools to help consumers understand the nutritional value of our products and how they can fit into their everyday lives.     

Educating health professionals about the nutritional value of shelf stable seafood while providing convenient and simple ideas for consumers to include it in their meals can help increase seafood consumption.  Whether providing recipes, tips for how to pair our products with different produce items to make a meal, or demonstrations on how to use our products, we work with RDNs in all areas of practice to get the message of “seafood twice a week” out. 

We like working with RDNs in the community because we know they are hearing firsthand what consumers struggle with.  They are the trusted resource for many consumers and can help us understand their clients’ concerns and nutritional needs so we can provide products and ideas to meet those needs.  It is a two-way street!   We need each other to improve the health of Americans.

Laura Molseed Ali, MS, RDN, LDN is the Registered Dietitian Nutritionist for StarKist Co.  She has over 25 years of experience having worked in clinical, retail and the food industry.  Laura is a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the Pennsylvania Dietetic Association, and is a former President of the Pittsburgh Dietetic Association.   She is an avid proponent that healthy eating is a delicious way of eating, and works with StarKist Co. to develop recipes and programs for consumers and health care professionals.

A Battle Cry to My Dietitian Colleagues

I spent the first decade of my professional career working as an advertising executive. People loved giving me suggestions for future ads or asking why pharmaceutical commercials involved people running in fields while a soothing voiceover announced scary side effects. At no time did I ever encounter anyone actively trying to do my job.  When I decided to pursue becoming a dietitian, I noticed one shocking and disturbing fact: I was hustling for years going to school full-time, taking the proper route toward becoming a credentialed Registered Dietitian, yet there were people who had never taken a single nutrition course touting themselves as “Wellness Professionals” doling out nutrition advice all across cyberspace.  The hardest pill to swallow is that people actually listened to them!

These days, the letters after your name don’t seem to matter as much as the followers you have on social media.  Your “influence” now determines your level of expertise—or at least the media has decided this is the case, given the exposure celebrities and bloggers with large followings receive.  However, the recent IFIC Food & Health Survey reveals that 83% of Americans have little or no trust in advice given from celebrities about food and diet, and named Registered Dietitians as the most trusted source of nutrition information.  So why aren’t dietitians getting the exposure commensurate with this level of trust?

This, my dietitian colleagues, is where I ask a favor of all of you.  It is time we SPEAK UP and BE LOUDER about our knowledge and expertise.  From your immediate social circles, to the community, social media channels, and beyond.  It’s time we, the Registered Dietitian Nutritionists, become THE go-to nutrition experts.  Whether you blog, ‘gram, tweet, or counsel patients face-to-face every day, be the voice of sound science among the nonsensical clutter. Use your influence to empower consumers to make smarter choices when it comes to their health, and make sure they mention it was a Registered Dietitian who helped them.  

We must continue seeking allies and endorsements about our expertise from respected medical professionals in the media and elsewhere.  We need to continue partnering with manufactures and marketing companies to become influencers in the food/beverage/health industry and among consumers.  Dietitians are more than just nutritionists with higher education and clinical experience.  We are THE health and wellness experts, and it is time we make our influence known.