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Unlocking the DSHEA Conundrum with Transparency

by Peter Littell | Published on January 3, 2021
Our research shows that that transparency can be the key to unlocking the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA) conundrum: How can you tell consumers about the efficacy of your supplement without stating it explicitly?

Article

Sorry, Your Consumers’ First Go-To Solution When They’re Sick Is NOT Supplements

by Peter Littell | Published on December 7, 2020
Only 14 percent of supplement users turn to herbal and dietary supplements as their first go-to solution when they are not feeling well. It should be a sobering statistic to supplement brands that, when the going gets tough, 86 percent of supplements users’ first reaction is to go elsewhere, with 48 percent heading for the over-the-counter (OTC) shelves.

Article

Is CBD the Gateway to Dietary Supplements?

by Yadim Medore | Published on September 8, 2020
When CBD initially exploded into the market, many in the supplement industry had the perception that it could be the gateway for new consumers into the dietary supplement category. Many of our colleagues hypothesized that consumers did not see CBD as a dietary supplement but rather a miraculous plant substance derived from the heretofore forbidden cannabis plant, and that CBD’s extraordinary sales numbers were due to growth coming from outside the supplement consumer market.

Article

Four Warning Signs of Legacy Supplement Brand Decline

by Yadim Medore | Published on September 3, 2019
It’s not easy being a legacy dietary supplement brand. With the supplement industry reaching revenues of $45 billion, many legacy brands are struggling to maintain their market share in an increasingly crowded and competitive market. From our experience working with legacy supplement brands, we have identified a number of warning signs that are to be ignored at one’s own peril.

Article

Why Successful Supplement Brands Don’t Lead with the Science

by Yadim Medore | Published on May 15, 2019
Science is critically important because it ensures that your products are effective, and you’re using the right ingredient in the right dose. But when everyone is making the same claims, science becomes the cost of entry at best, and just noise to the consumer at worst.

Article

Is “Making a Difference in the World” for Suckers?

by Peter Littell | Published on February 27, 2019
Addressing a major challenge that premium dietary supplement and functional food brands face in today’s marketplace: how do you convince consumers that their purchase of a food or dietary supplement “makes a difference” beyond the functional benefits? It’s a critical question for premium brands, especially those with commodity-like products.

Article

Charitable Donations in the Age of Brand Transparency

Published on December 5, 2018
Charitable giving by brands is one way to demonstrate social responsibility, but how can they do so in a way that engenders customer trust and loyalty? In an exclusive insight from our transparency consumer market research study, we explore how to frame corporate donation campaigns.

Article

Tapping Into Passion

by Peter Littell | Published on November 26, 2018
If you don’t think branding and knowing your customer are critical to your success as a natural products company (whether you’re in the dietary supplement, functional food or personal care industries), then let us draw your attention to a June 2018 Gallup and Knight Foundation survey — Perceived Accuracy and Bias in the News Media.

Article

Do Brands Lie? Most Consumers Think So

Published on November 14, 2018
Pure Branding, a strategic consulting, market research and brand development agency, today released its ROI of Transparency: A Consumer Market Research Study, which distills feedback from more than 1,000 Americans about their attitudes, perceptions and sentiment on corporate transparency, and transparency among the brands they purchase. In today's world, where most consumers think brands lie, this new report confirms that a company's level of transparency directly and positively impacts sales.

Article

Doctors Are Transitioning Faster from Conventional to Integrative Medicine

Published on August 8, 2018
In this exclusive excerpt from the Integrative Physician Market Landscape 2017, we quantify the timing of transitioning from a conventional to integrative medicine practice, and cross-reference it with length of time in practice to understand the relationships older and younger doctors have with integrative transitions.

Article

Does Medical School Inspire an Integrative Medicine Philosophy?

Published on July 19, 2018
In this exclusive excerpt from the Integrative Physician Market Landscape 2017, we explore the evolution of integrative medicine philosophy among practicing integrative MD and DOs. Does it happen before, during, or after medical school?

Article

Millennials Are Not All Alike

by Peter Littell | Published on February 16, 2018
With millennials now outnumbering baby boomers, many of our dietary supplement, functional food, and personal care clients want to know how millennials think, what they want, and how they behave. But these questions are often asked as though millennials act as single group.

Article

Endowment Effect on Marketing Tactics

by Peter Littell | Published on November 15, 2017
The endowment effect is the idea that people believe what they own is worth more than what they would think that same thing is worth if they didn't own it. So how does this play out in marketing supplements in the retail and direct-to-practitioner channels?

Article

Becoming a Channel Agnostic Brand to the Omnichannel Natural Shopper

by Peter Littell | Published on October 18, 2017
We live in a world of omnichannel shoppers. Mobile device in hand, they search for products and deals, no longer committed to any particular retailer. They can buy their Dr. Hauschka at Whole Foods or at CVS. Gone are the days when natural brands had to make excuses to natural retailers for making their products available online or in Target.