Fresh off the IPA World Congress + Probiota stage in Copenhagen, Ghannoum offered insights on how companies can leverage data when marketing probiotics to consumers. He emphasized the importance of understanding product formulations and making strategic choices to differentiate without over-engineering.
Ghanoum also highlighted the value of making specific, scientifically-backed claims that resonate with consumers and solve their problems.
“The first is understanding the formulations that you’re using,” he said. “Maybe you take a popular ingredient, you wrap other ingredients around it, but now leveraging what we’re doing with data, you can really understand what the saturation levels of the formulations…are the benefits overlapping with other ingredients? Like maybe you’ve over-engineered the formula, right? So it’s not always about more is better. It’s how much is a critical mass to be different, but have claims that really resonate with consumers.”
Ghannoum noted that while consumers in some categories such as sports nutrition are very educated on specific ingredients, in the probiotic space, they are more concerned with the overall benefits of the product.
“It really is a little bit category-dependent,” he said. “They’re looking at what the packaging is telling them they’re getting out of the product. That depends, though, by category. In the probiotic category, a lot of consumers get into it because... they don’t feel well. A practitioner has told them to get a probiotic. Maybe a family friend has recommended it, so they’re less concerned. Now, in sports nutrition, one of these other categories, they’re very attuned to what specific ingredients have specific outcomes or benefits.”
Ghannoum pointed out that over-the-counter medications have been successful in their messaging. Using Aleve as an example, he explained that while consumers know Aleve treats headaches, most don’t know what the active ingredient is.
“In the supplement world…We often take an ingredient first approach, and for that, that can be very confusing to consumers,” he said. “Once consumers start to associate certain benefits with a specific ingredient, that does change, but it always ties back to what’s the benefit they’re getting out of the product.”
