Why Aren’t You Listening to Your Mother?

According to a recent study conducted by the National Osteoporosis Foundation, American adults and children are drinking less milk than ever before. Growing up, our moms always taught us to drink our milk—it helps build strong bones and promotes growth.  So why have we stopped?

The influx of plant-based alternatives has led many consumers to turn away from cows’ milk completely. This is because many people believe that plant-based milk is better for them. That’s not necessarily true. Plant-based milk doesn't deliver the same nutrients as cows’ milk, especially when it comes to calcium, vitamin D, and protein. 

“As a mom and a pediatrician, I’m incredibly concerned about the influx of dairy-free diets. Dairy alternatives don’t have the same nutrients as dairy milk, and kids are not eating enough kale, spinach, or sardines to replace the calcium in milk. Missing out on nutrients like calcium and vitamin D during the critical bone-building years has very serious public health implications.”

— Dr. Tanya Altmann

Though some consumers make the switch to plant-based milk due to allergies many consumers do so based on the perceived (and often exaggerated) negative health impacts of dairy products. Cows’ milk provides nutritional benefits that plant-based milks cannot. When people turn away from dairy altogether, they’re missing out on key nutrients. Before making this switch, consumers should understand the pros and cons. That’s where education comes in. As consumers gain more knowledge about their health & wellness, the better decisions they will make for their own well-being. It is up to brands and health professionals alike to educate consumers and help them on their health journey.

Is the Future of Personalized Nutrition Already Here?

Eating a low-carb or low-fat diet helps you lose weight, right? According to a new study conducted by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, weight loss results are determined by more than just what you eat. 

The study, discussed in this Food Navigator article, found that no single diet has the same effect on all consumers. The findings indicated that the main factors in determining weight loss or gain are fasting plasma glucose and fasting insulin levels, which are correlated based on different diets. This means that the key to truly personalized nutrition could be found in a simple blood glucose test. 

“This is something we can start using today, and there are no adverse effects because it is not a medication. What we are doing is actually removing from your diet what would be harmful to you.”

— Arne Astrup, University of Copenhagen professor and head of the Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports 

When it comes to personalized nutrition, patient education is key. Consumers know they want to lose weight, but often have a hard time knowing what will work best for them. While much of the attention about personalized nutrition has been focused on high-profile, VC-funded startups and the potential for what personalized nutrition might become, this article shows that we may already have the answer to personalized nutrition. 

Consumers are Changing the Way They Grocery Shop

Do you knock out all of your weekly grocery shopping in one place? Probably not. According to a recent USA Today article, grocery shopping is changing, and it has been for a while.

You can now order your groceries online and have them delivered to your house through services like AmazonFresh, have them brought to your car in the store parking lot, or go the traditional route of walking through the store. Even “traditional” grocery shopping is changing, though. According to the article, half of all Americans span their grocery shopping across three or more stores. 

“If you look at a traditional 40,000–50,000 square-foot supermarket, it’s a dinosaur. It’s extinct. People don’t want to go to one store and walk up and down the aisles and look at 50,000 products. It’s just not a great experience.”

— Phil Lempert, supermarketguru.com

With the retail landscape evolving, and consumers demonstrating that they are willing—if not eager—to get their groceries from a variety of sources, making sure that you are getting on the shopping list is more important than ever. Driving consumer choice prior to the shopping trip is critical—especially for healthy brands that need to educate and inform. 

As consumers change the way they grocery shop, healthy brands may have to rethink the way they reach them. 

When Marketing Through Health Professionals, the Conversation is the Target

When defining a target market and developing a consumer profile, brand marketers usually begin with geography, demographics (like age, gender, and income), or relevant behaviors (like recent purchases). But if you are marketing a healthy brand and want to tap into the influence of health professionals, your targeting begins—and ends—with the conversation.

What conversation are we talking about? The face-to-face conversation between a trusted health professional and a consumer that your brand can be placed at the center of, leading to a brand recommendation.

Identifying “the conversation” requires more from marketers than simple geography, demography, and behavioristics, but the rewards are that much greater. This is how you find the right conversation for your brand.

Determine the "who"

When we start working with new clients, many assume that this is the easiest question to answer. If they have a kids’ product, they want to reach pediatricians. A weight loss product, then dietitians. Often, however, the “who” isn’t as obvious as it might seem.

The conversation your brand should be at the center of may not be happening with the health professionals you’d expect—or more typically, it’s happening with them and other professionals as well.

Identify the "what" and the "when" 

It’s unlikely that the conversation most relevant to your brand is about, well, your brand. More likely, the conversation is one connected to a broader need state or life event.

For example, a health professional who regularly counsels people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes finds that those conversations invariably lead to a discussion of brands like yours and the features and benefits they offer. Or maybe you're most relevant not just in any conversation that a pediatrician might have with a mom of a baby, but specifically in a discussion during a six-month well visit and all the topics and concerns raised during them.

Finding the right conversation means going beneath the surface of these ongoing, regular, and predictable interactions between health professionals and the consumers they counsel to understand where and when your brand is most relevant—and how you can add value to that conversation.

Benefit from the "why"

By adding value to those conversations, through education and resources highly relevant to the conversation (and some brand promotion, as well) you can earn a recommendation from that trusted health professional that drives purchase at the shelf.

And because you are relying on a trained and experienced health professional to identify which consumers to share your brand with, you are benefiting from targeting more laser-focused than anything geography, demographics, or behavioristics can deliver.

When it Comes to Eating Healthy, Consumers Need More Education

A plant-based diet is heart healthy, right? Not according to a recent study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health.

People who ate a healthy plant-based diet saw the expected benefits, e.g., a decrease in the risk of heart disease. On the other hand, those who interpreted a plant-based diet to mean eating less healthy versions of plant-based foods—including potatoes, refined grains, and sugary fruit drinks, saw opposite results. Not all plant-based foods are created equal, but given the lack of specific educational information surrounding plant-based diets, it’s easy for consumers to make the assumption that they are. Many of the differences lie in the ingredients and preparation methods used, both of which play a large role in determining the actual health benefits of plant-based foods. 

“Plant-based nutrition is superior when it comes to most diseases, but what people don’t always understand is that there are healthy ways to do it, and not-so-healthy ways. You can do it wrong. ”

— Kim Williams, Chief of Cardiology Rush University Medical Center

While this may be surprising to some, it’s not surprising to us. Consumers are trying to eat healthier foods, but if left to their own devices, they may actually be doing more harm than good. In our experience, the key to preventing these mistakes and misconceptions is consumer education. No one knows more about eating a healthy diet than health professionals, and we know for a fact that consumers trust these health professionals more than anyone else. 

Consumers are clearly trying to alter their eating habits for the better, but their success all comes down to proper education from the right sources. 

Health Professionals: Help Us Help You

Thousands of nutritionists, physicians, nurses, dietitians, fitness instructors, and other health professionals have opted in to receive programs through PulseConnect. Why? Because we not only tell them about healthy brands, educating them on the specific health benefits of a product, but we also provide them with educational materials, product samples, and coupons so they can naturally recommend products to their patients and clients when relevant.

If this sounds dull to you, you don’t know health professionals like we do. Having worked with them for over 18 years, we know that they like more information, not less. We know that they want marketing material that’s primarily paper-based. And we know the types of information that they find most helpful. 

And as much as it helps the brands we work with sell products, what we provide to health professionals actually helps them do their job.

They discover new products.

Health professionals do their best to keep up with new products, scientific findings, studies, and surveys. But unless brands make an intentional and repeated effort to communicate with them, their products or the benefits of their products will likely go undiscovered. 

“Through PulseConnect, I’ve discovered new products, and it’s nice to have that firsthand knowledge and be able to try the product,” said Gina Crome, the founder of Lifestyle Management Solutions and a PulseConnect member. “For me, it’s the part I like most about the network itself because I find it really hard to make a recommendation if I don’t know anything about the product or haven’t tried it myself.”

Being able to try the products is an important next step after discovery. Katrina Howard, a retail dietitian who works at Hy-Vee and advises CrossFit athletes, says, “I like being able to try products before I make a recommendation. Sometimes, you hear about healthy foods and get excited, but then they taste like dirt.”

They (really) understand the health benefits.

For good reason, health professionals are some of the smartest, most curious, and engaged health & wellness consumers. They want to understand the detailed health benefits of your brand’s products. Give them the science behind the packaging labels so that they can help sort through, with their clients, the mess of health information shared by well-meaning friends, family, and sometimes brands themselves.

“I get a lot of questions about GMOs and artificial sweeteners,” says Howard. “People hear from friends or the internet these terrible things about GMOs and artificial sweeteners, and a lot of it is just wrong. Some people don’t know what GMOs are, but think that they need to avoid them entirely. It just comes down to a lot of misinformation online.”

Kelly Wolschon, a registered dietitian who works with dialysis patients and pregnant women, says, “We often discuss the science behind the claims. The people I counsel are not afraid to get a little bit of science background to help them better understand the claims.”

They can recommend a specific brand.

Stickney Brook Yoga by raganmd

When health professionals can help clients by recommending a product available at their local grocery store, both parties benefit. The client feels more in control of their health outcomes, and the professionals are able to offer a tangible solution.  

“I always recommend brands by name,” says Amy Kubal, a registered dietitian. So does yoga teacher Stacey Green: “If I am aspiring to be an example to my students, pointing to a particular brand I actually believe in and/or use is very helpful.”

They get materials to share.

Though they could recommend that their patients or clients visit a website to learn more about a product or brand, what are the chances the consumer will actually do so? By the time they’re online next, they’ve likely forgotten the URL or the name of the brand to search. This is one reason why old-fashioned printed materials are so effective.

“I use the materials in a one-on-one setting with clients, where they apply. I also like to share the educational information and samples at events in the community that I attend, like health fairs.” That’s Kubal again. Crome appreciates the printed marketing materials, too: “Since I do a lot of public speaking, the materials we get from PulseConnect have been a great resource to hand out at my talks.”

The ultimate goal of this repeated, detailed communication from brands is to strengthen the existing trust and faith consumers have in their health professionals. As a registered dietician and world-class triathlete, Rachel Chambers says, “Patients can tell whether you’re sincere and honest if you truly believe in what medicines you’re sharing.” Especially when that medicine is the food they eat.

More Than Anything Else, Consumers Want to Eat Less Sugar

A recent study by Leatherhead Food Research found that nearly half of American consumers have made it a priority to eat less sugar. In fact, it was the #1 dietary goal of American consumers in 2017. As consumers have become more aware of what they’re putting in their bodies, the food industry has, by necessity, become more consumer-driven.

GELATO.

The increased focus on sugar reduction in new innovations and reformulations is one example of this, as is the addition of added sugar to the new Nutrition Facts label. It is clear that consumer preferences are constantly changing and when they do, the CPG industry must adapt to meet these needs. 

“They want the food and beverage industry to help them achieve their goals. It is vital that manufacturers and retailers take note of these demands and find innovative ways to address them.”

— Chris Wells, Leatherhead Food Research Managing Director

So, if the food industry is indeed becoming a more consumer-driven industry, what does this mean for marketers of healthy brands? Is your brand ready for this shift? How will you alter your marketing approach? What impact will these evolving consumer preferences have on the way you talk about and position your brand? 

For now, consumers have spoken. They want less sugar. It’s up to the industry to make its move.

Why Marketing Healthy Brands to Health Professionals is a Must, not a Might

Marketers who tap into the influence that health professionals have with a brand’s target audience are bound to see results. Because health professionals are some of the most effective influencers around. 

But why, specifically, should healthy brands market to consumers through this group? Keep reading. You may be surprised by how obvious the answer is.

WOMAN TALKING WITH HER DOCTOR

1. Their interactions with consumers are predictable.

Health professionals talk to consumers every day about a range of health topics: digestive health, early pregnancy, sports injuries, first foods for baby, weight loss, and so on. We know when these conversations are going to happen because consumers make appointments. 

The key for you as a marketer is twofold:

• Know which conversation is most relevant to your brand
• Provide health professionals with the most relevant information about your brand for that context

For example, if your target consumer is moms of babies under a year old, then you absolutely want to be part of the conversation during a 6- or 9-month well visit to the pediatrician.

2. Their conversations with consumers are repeatable.

Once you have identified the conversation to be part of, you can be sure that health professionals are having that same conversation over and over again—and with unique patients and clients. The “multiplier effect” is one of the reasons why marketing through health professionals is so powerful. 

Build a relationship of trust and credibility with a health professional having the conversation you want to be part of and then allow them to have that conversation with hundreds, and eventually thousands, of consumers. 

The trick is to keep your brand top of mind so that a health professional thinks of it—and not another brand—when recommending solutions to patients and clients. Just as their conversations with consumers are repeated, so should your conversations with them. Provide the right kind of education with frequency, and you will earn those repeat conversations and recommendations.

3. Their relationships with consumers are personal.

Consumers choose their health professionals, and each conversation they have is tailored to their specific need. Not only that, but the health professional your target chooses to talk to may be the only person who knows about that specific need. This relationship, between patient and professional, is very personal.

In this vulnerable setting, the consumer has a heightened health awareness and is predisposed to receiving the message. Your healthy brand could be a part of that message.

4. Their conversations about specific health needs are ownable.

There’s a good chance that other brands aren’t making the kind of effort needed—providing the type of educational information necessary, reaching out often enough, providing samples and coupons, etc.—to make it into these predictable, repeatable, and personal conversations between health professionals and their clients. 

There’s no clutter. No competition. It’s a one-brand show waiting to happen. Healthy brands who engage with marketing professionals consistently and with the right materials can own these conversations. 

Health Professionals: They’re not Your Typical Influencers (But They’re More Effective)

You may have read about the disaster that was the Fyre Festival last month. No? How about the controversial cover of Vogue India? Or that Pepsi commercial? All three were considered a form of influencer marketing, and all three featured Kendall Jenner. 

The trifecta prompted this article in The New York Times suggesting that influencer marketing is on its way out if for no other reason than the trouble it can get you in—“you” being the influencer and the brand. It was one of several recent articles questioning the effectiveness and addressing the challenges of influencer marketing.

But we’re not worried. We work with the most effective “influencers” in the health & wellness industry, and not one article questioned their trustworthiness, value, or credibility. In fact, the opposite was reported. 

The influence that health professionals have over consumers’ purchasing decisions remains outside of most marketing conversations, especially conversations about digital and social media marketing. Why? Maybe because most marketers don’t consider them influencers.

But they are.

Why aren’t health professionals typically considered influencers?

When marketers hear the word “influencer,” they automatically think of people like Kendall Jenner and the use of strictly online communications. That’s because the term “influencer” assumes a robust social media presence and an impressive number of followers.

Influencer marketing also assumes that the person driving a brand’s message using the power of their own personal brand is admired by potential customers but not necessarily respected as an expert in the industry. 

Neither of these is true when it comes to health professionals, whose primary form of communication with consumers is face-to-face, who may not have a single social media account, and who may be the most knowledgeable expert your target consumer knows. 

What’s so special about health professionals?

People trust other people more than they trust brands. Brands have learned to leverage this trust by paying people to say great things about their products (sponsored content). This has happened most often on social media, where one person can reach thousands or even millions with just one post. Some health professionals use social media, but that’s not where they are most influential. 

Three qualities make physicians, nutritionists, dietitians, and other allied health professionals the ideal marketing influencers:

1. They’re seen as trusted experts. The media does a good job bombarding consumers with advice about nutrition, diets, exercise, and other health information. So much so that consumers are confused. But study after study shows they trust their hand-picked health professional to know what’s best for them.
2. They communicate with consumers one-on-one, face-to-face. Millions of social media impressions can’t begin to compete with the strength of this interaction.
3. They have a two-way relationship with consumers. Consumers share things with their dietitians, nurses, and personal trainers that they may not share with anyone else, even their closest friends, family members, or spouse. A blogger will never, no matter how well they write, have this kind of relationship with a reader. 

How can brands/marketers take advantage of this unique influence?

The only way to use the unparalleled influence of health professionals is to make sure that your brand is a part of these face-to-face conversations by being in the office with the professional and their patient. That’s tricky. These conversations are physically happening in what is often called the “real world,” and they are happening behind closed doors. All the likes and retweets in the world can’t help you there. 

You must educate health professionals about your brand and the health & wellness benefits of your products. That’s the only way to ensure they are recommended, much less mentioned. If brochures, pamphlets, coupons, or samples are made available, even better. 

Let’s appropriate some military-speak to drive this home: Health professionals are the ground troops of influencer marketing for health & wellness brands. Just imagine what they can do with air support from your social media and digital strategies. Your target audience? They’ll get your message.

What Marketers Should Really Take Away From the 2017 IFIC Survey

The International Food Information Council publishes their Food and Health Survey results every year in a long, detailed report. And every year, we devour it. It’s chock-full of information about how consumers define “healthy” foods, what they are looking for in healthy foods, and what motivates their purchase decisions. If you’re a marketer of a healthy brand, the Food and Health Survey can offer some fascinating, and often surprising, insights into how consumers think about health and wellness.

If you haven’t had time to read the IFIC survey results yet—or even if you have—we wanted to share with you the five things we found most compelling and consequential for marketers of healthy brands.

Our Take on Five IFIC Findings That Health & Wellness Brands Should Know About

1. Consumers (still) trust health professionals most.

Consumers want to be healthy, but they are overwhelmed by information that can be superficial, conflicting, and often deceptive. Though their primary source of health information is friends and family, they don’t ultimately trust the information that comes from this group. And they trust TV personalities and the media even less.  

The IFIC report once again shows that consumers rely on their personal healthcare professionals—like dietitians, nutritionists, physicians, personal trainers, and more—for trusted information. And not just as adults but through every stage of life (though less so in young adulthood). 

Unlike social media posts or interviews with health experts, face-to-face conversations between consumers and health professionals drive consumer action. How do we know? Because for the past 18 years, we’ve been putting healthy brands at the center of these face-to-face interactions and watching consumers turn those recommendations into purchases at the grocery store. In one recent program, 70% of consumers who had received brand information from a health professional in a face-to-face interaction said they would definitely buy the brand in the future.

2. Health-conscious consumers want more information, not less.

According to the IFIC survey, consumers most frequently define healthy foods by what they do and do not contain. They are looking for foods high in the nutrients and components they want, and free from the artificial ingredients and preservatives they don’t. Less important to consumers? Catch-all terms like “natural” or “non-GMO.” With unclear direct health benefits and a myriad of possible meanings, they have little impact on consumers.

Marketers, this means you should educate consumers and the health professionals they go to for advice. (We recently wrote about this on our blog.) Dig in. Go beyond the health headline.

3. If you’re a brand, you have a default health halo. Use it to your advantage.

The IFIC results show that consumers are more likely to believe a brand name product is healthier than its generic equivalent, even when the Nutrition Facts label is identical. 

Why is that? We think that consumers may associate higher quality, better ingredients, greater nutrition, and/or functional benefits with branded foods versus their generic counterparts. Brands, you have a unique opportunity to highlight your health and wellness bona fides — consumers already perceive them as somewhat healthier. Build on this perception.

4. Consumers are telling you what they want—are you listening?

Only 14% of consumers say they are following a specific eating pattern, whether that’s eating a paleo diet, going vegetarian, or following Weight Watchers. You know what they are doing? Taking small steps to better health. Once again, trends come and go, but what’s realistic and achievable to consumers are the small steps they can take every day to eat a healthier diet.

As a marketer, you should take that finding and run with it. Forget jumping on the latest trendy bandwagon. Instead focus on how your brand meets consumers where they want to play—in the land of baby steps, not rigid diets or unattainable ideals.

5. Stop worrying about a certain four-letter word.

Not too long ago, some brands stopped using the word “diet” and refocused their marketing efforts on healthy eating patterns and “ideal” weight management. Lean Cuisine even launched a “diet” blocker—a web browser extension that masked the words “diet” and “dieting” in online content.

Well, consumers just want to lose weight, no matter what we call their efforts. According to the 2017 IFIC survey, wanting to lose weight was the number one motivator of changes in eating habits. And 1 in 3 consumers says that weight loss is their most desired benefit from foods or nutrients. 

Health and wellness brands that help consumers meet this goal stand to gain from their efforts. No need to complicate this one. Consumers want to lose weight, so help them.

Read more about the IFIC survey results in The Washington Post, or download all 68 pages for yourself here.