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New brands in the supplement industry - marketing is king

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Ron:

Always enjoy TJ's opnion on bringing out a new brand of supplements, and what needs to be done.  Thanks!


From TJ Humphreys - CEO, Founder PROSUPPS, partner RYSE, career entrepreneur and builder of winning organizationsCEO, Founder PROSUPPS, partner RYSE, career entrepreneur and builder of winning organizations



Probably getting canceled for saying this…

In the sports nutrition industry, having a good product with good packaging and a good formula is not good enough anymore.

Gone are the days where hitting retail stores, exchanging bro-hugs and hand-delivering free GWP items is enough to drive your business. Gone are the days of floating MCB’s, free fills, and other “bought” sales will guarantee your brand long-term success. I have seen so many new brands in our space try to buy their way into consumer favoritism…it does not work. I’ve been a broken record to my peers about this for some time.

If you are a start-up brand in the USA, or a re-start brand in the USA, if you aren’t spending 80 cents of EVERY dollar you have on the following things, don’t even get started. “ 80% on marketing??? This guy is crazy” right? When you finally realize that you are a “marketing company” and not a “supplement company” you’ll quickly come to the same conclusion. That is your reality, no matter how “geeked out” you like to get with formulas and ingredients (I love formulas and ingredients, but i know that all of that technology is worthless unless I package it in a brand that consumers CRAVE). What I am about to share needs to be done in the first 12 months of your launch or your re-launch or you are dead-to-rights and your brand will become another “Great Buy” at some liquidator’s retail outlets or blown out online.

1) Brand Culture- it starts here. You need to develop and then INVEST in your brand voice. This starts with investing in a solid creative team including designers, content creators, and authentic social partners that already “live” in the vibe you are creating. The “Hired Gun” strategy (high-paid celebs or pay-to-post athletes) only works if that athlete or celebrity’s lifestyle mirrors the brand/culture and the product you create. A GREAT example of this is Conor McGregor and Forged Stout. It works because booze and partying is a part of Conor’s DNA.

2) Branding elements- you have one shot to articulate who you are, how you “look”, “feel” and “speak”. Do not cut corners here…I’ve seen so many brands eliminate certain elements from packaging, social/digital assets, and PEOPLE in order to save a few pennies per unit….their short term “savings” cost them priceless opportunities from retailers and distributors all around the globe.

3) Product Architecture- don’t chase every new shiny toy. Develop products that reinforce WHO YOU ARE, and not who the other guy is…..

4) Stay in your lane- find the right launch or re-launch partners to start with. More isn’t always better…find the partners that can most expeditiously share your brand vision your target audience.

So much more to say here but the high-level message is….invest in WHO YOU ARE and not WHAT YOU ARE in your initial push in order to give yourself the best chance in this highly-competitive space.

Ron:
And other responses


Facts. I think the challenge now for brands that want to level up is to become fluent in “FDM-speak”. Using what we “sports nutrition guys” know about the industry and communicating this in a way that comes across both industry-insightful and data-supported.

I caught up we're clearly saying got over the emotional connection to giving a shit about making good shit that works. This has been true and continues to be more so every day.

Flavor better be 8+/10 too or customer retention will be abysmal

To your point you are a “marketing company” a few years back at the LA Fit Expo, I was with Aaron Singerman and Eric Hart. We were talking about the current state of the industry and I said, whats funny is that everyone in this room is selling the same damn thing in different flavors, combos and sizes and that it all comes down to whose marketing is better! I asked them what is the one aspect that makes them successful– they both said company culture. People getting to their desks early in the morning and lining up to punch in at 9am and no one leaves at 5. I can attest to that. One a visit to the office it was about 4:30 and the whole place was engaged in projects, meetings, no one walked out the door at 5pm.

IroNat:
It has ever been thus that when selling snake oil, salesmanship is numero uno.

Suckers keep being born every minute.

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