In the world of dietary supplements lurks a sinister truth: science does not matter.
Do I have your attention?
Of course science matters. It’s what elevates the integrative healthcare movement. Scientific rigor is what makes it possible to have advances in product innovation, manufacturing capabilities, and clinical discoveries. It’s what ensures good clinical outcomes. To the integrative healthcare practitioner, it’s also the cost of entry—not, as so many supplement companies think, what defines their brand. The fact that this scientific rigor isn’t what differentiates their brand is a hard pill for many healthcare professional (HCP) supplement companies to swallow. These companies invest an immense amount of energy into innovation and new product development. They utilize ingredients that show greater bioavailability, efficacy, mechanism of action, and safety than their competitors.
To the integrative healthcare practitioner, science is the cost of entry — not, as so many HCP supplement companies think, what defines their brand.
Despite these efforts, other brands can make similar claims. Many professional brands use the same clinically-proven branded ingredients in their formulas. To customers who are untrained in a particular scientific or research discipline and even HCPs who want the science, these comparable claims from brands may make it difficult to distinguish between products.
The importance of philosophical alignment
If the science behind a product line is just the cost of entry, what does a supplement brand need to do to get the attention of its practitioner customers? Our experience working with leading dietary supplement brands across the integrative healthcare space has taught us that the best way to cut through the noise is to develop a communications strategy that focuses on philosophical alignment.
In our US & Canada Market Landscape of Healthcare Professionals Who Utilize Dietary Supplements 2023 we provide an overview of each of the health professional credentials that are most likely to influence the use of dietary supplements and other integrative products and services among their patient groups.
Integrative physicians respond well to brands that align with their approach to medicine and health of treating root causes versus symptoms. Some licensed naturopathic doctors (NDs) want to fulfill a primary-care role in the conventional medical system, focusing on evidence-based methods, while others want to be seen as separate from the conventional medical system, relying on nature and natural modalities. The founder of chiropractic medicine established a system based on vitalist principles wherein one could be cured by adjusting the vertebra, removing the interference with the body’s inherent capacity to heal. Acupuncture is based on the theory that the body’s Qi, or vital energy, flows through and around the body along pathways called meridians.
All these professions have fundamental beliefs that matter greatly to them. Companies that connect or align with these beliefs have a point of difference from those that don’t.
The importance of allies
Regardless of credentials, the majority of integrative HCPs want to feel supported. In our Integrative Physician Market Landscape report, over a quarter of integrative MD/DOs acknowledged that criticism and challenges from the conventional medical community were one of the biggest obstacles that they faced. In general, these doctors seek out support from their peer community: they go to conferences, they communicate, they network, they want to connect with each other. They feel rewarded when they can connect with like-minded physicians.
Supplement brands that speak the same language and that place a high value on educating their customer practitioners can become regarded as part of that “peer” community. Many successful practitioner supplement brands have invested in a network of people who bring value to their relationships with HCPs. For them it goes beyond a transactional relationship. They are regarded as partners for the same cause, and on the same level as trusted peers.
One doctor interviewed for this research study stated, “I think people who are interested in this medicine have to think outside of the box. I’m more of an outside-the-box than an inside-the-box person. Once I started to realize that, I was a little more comfortable. Once I met more peers I realized, ‘Hey, you’re not alone!’” Many HCPs would add “supplement partners” to helping them feel not alone.
Us against them
Integrative health professionals consider themselves as offering an alternative to the more mainstream, conventional medical approach. In our Integrative Physician Market Landscape, the way these integrative MDs define themselves relates to their opposition to conventional approaches. When asked what they consider to be the five most important attributes in their practice of integrative medicine, #1 was treating root causes versus symptoms (76 percent), #2 was treating the patient as a whole being (68 percent), and #3 was focusing on wellness or optimal health as opposed to disease management. Conventional medicine treats symptoms, is highly compartmentalized and specialized, and focuses on disease management.
Supplement brands wanting to appeal to integrative practitioners need to speak this integrative language and provide education and products that support this approach. Otherwise, all of the science in the world will fall on deaf ears.
Further, brands need to take a stand on big issues that generally impact health. For example, what is their position on the US food system? Integrative MD/DOs overwhelmingly have a negative opinion of the food system, and three-quarters have a negative view of the medical system. We are not suggesting that supplement brands wage war on these big systems, but rather it is important to let your HCP customers know where you stand.
In the end, it’s human nature to listen to people with whom you have an affinity with—and doctors, acupuncturists, chiropractors, naturopaths, herbalists, and nutritionists are people first. They may be trained in their profession, but they respond to communication and emotionally connect with brands in much the same way we all do.
Alignment and science: powerful allies
It can be challenging for organizations to move the focus of their communications away from just their “science-backed” products. When it comes to promoting a brand in the ever-growing direct-to-practitioner market—a market that is becoming more and more competitive each year, where everyone has a new study to support their product—the way to differentiate and create a loyal customer is not only with more studies or more complex science. It is important to establish a brand identity that draws in health professionals with shared beliefs. There is real power when philosophical alignment and science are brought together.
You can read more about the unique philosophies across the integrative healthcare credentials, including Integrative Physicians, Licensed Naturopathic Doctors, Dietitians & Nutritionists, Doctors of Chiropractic, Licensed Acupuncturists, Independent Pharmacists, Nurses, Physicians Assistants, Health Coaches and more in our US & Canada Landscape of Healthcare Professionals Who Utilize Dietary Supplements.