The First Drop: Make the Trend, Don’t Race It

Amidst all the takes that you’ve likely seen on this year’s edition of Natural Products Expo West there have been so many discussions of the uses of protein and fiber enhancement that it’s hard to imagine a world where these things actually occur naturally in the things we eat and drink.

Still, that’s how it happened for years: people used actual food to address the base elements of functionality. Instead of creatine, protein shakes and Red Bull, baseball sluggers would eat steaks for strength and drink coffee for concentration, often enhancing that focus with cigarettes (think: Zyn, but add a lighter).

That’s not to argue that the old ways were always the best: as someone who just spent time reading up on medical practices of the 1880s, I can tell you that the old ways aren’t always the best ways, and that unsanitized fingers aren’t state-of-the-art when probing for bullets in the human body.

But what I would argue is that people tend to come with fairly consistent need states, and while there’s a lot of fine tuning in terms of habits (people increasing or decreasing certain kinds of consumption for a health-related reasons), much of what they need from a nutrition format can, ultimately, be derived from actual food, even the ultra-processed kind. What science and economics have accelerated is our capability to manufacture that food consistently and transport it in usable, palatable formats to the consumer.

As we figure out more about the human body, we also get closer to figuring out why certain foodstuffs – or elements of foodstuffs – make it run hotter or colder. That’s what tends to cause innovation responses in the CPG market these days. Whether it’s battling cortisol or extending the energy buzz, product marketers love a new, super-ingredient derived formula.

I’m always fascinated by the tension between the original food and the derivative, however: in one corner, you’ll have brands emphasizing that their product is innately high in protein (like a duck breast); in the other you’ll have some kind of hybrid whey protein-stuffed beverage that’s clearly the result of an innovation team trying to keep up with the catchwords. Years ago, that kind of catchword proliferation led us to acai-flavored vodka and my all-time favorite Frankenproduct, bone

As always, the important thought here is “just because you can, it doesn’t mean you should.”

Not that it’s bad to try to offer consumers what you think they want: I’d argue that with the way the algorithmic spotlight flits about online, there’s clearly reason enough to have enough words associated with your brand that you can give the social media wave a chance to get its hooks in. Maybe it gets you a few clicks worth of attention, but if it’s not really core to the product premise, they aren’t going to last, and you’ve wasted time and money.

I say this because there were an alarming number of brands extending themselves into protein and fiber functions at Expo West, far beyond the boundaries that their core products can sustain. Probiotic enhancement is becoming the dill pickle flavoring of functionality. And the idea of creatine or collagen is terrific unless it quickly falls out of solution in your brand. There’s more to it than building a gluten-free water brand.

There are audiences for all manner of product, of course, but there’s also opportunity cost. The amount of time you spend marketing that non-core attribute to gain attention is likely better spent enhancing your connection to your main audience with your main product. Even in competitive times, it’s better to build your own audience than chase the fickle.

If that sounds like a trade-off you’re not willing to make, remember: consumers are facing increasingly expensive products across the board, and are turning more often to private label manufacturers, who are happy to supply supermarkets with less expensive brand substitutes. Simply trying to extend a certain product too many ways creates a more-is-less effect and you end up diluting who you are.
Marketing on an added attribute puts you up against every other product adding that attribute, not just your own product set.

As we mentioned last issue – even if there’s a consumer set that might want to supplement every soda sip with a little protein, it’s a dispersed enough group that it’s only going to support a brand or two. The money you’re spending to wink knowingly at the innovation of the moment might be better spent on attracting a consumer-for-life.

Brands are getting better at identifying trends, of course, and through AI and deep insights they’re also getting better at product development. But you’re the entrepreneurs, the disruptors. Make the trend, don’t race it. If you were at Expo West this year, you know: the chase pack is out there already, so maybe make your break in a different direction.