Food for thought?

Modern-day lifestyle calls upon us 'young professionals' to look after ourselves more often than not. But realistically, as busy young professionals, it is almost impossible to take care of ourselves 100% day in day out. That's why we are now bombarded with industrially made products that claim to serve the needs of consumers on the basis of efficacy, effectiveness and most of all, convenience.

We usually consume food to look after our bodies, but how many times is there an inherent need to consume something to fuel the 'brain'? How often do we say to ourselves 'I'm going to eat this and that just to be smarter'? Yet either way, the nutritional value from the food we eat does eventually make its way up to the brain doesn't it? Apparently not fast enough, according to a research study in Japan.

Protein-based products such as milk, meats, fish, nuts and egg yolks are thought to stimulate the brain, increase IQ and make you concentrate better. So when we think better, we can, subsequently, function better.

Here in Thailand – birthplace of the global energy drink phenomenon that is Red Bull, don't forget – a number of companies are going into overdrive to market convenient health tonics in a bottle to serve that growing need for a quick health fix. Let's look into the growing line of 'Functional Brain Drinks' on the market at the moment. There is a small market here in Thailand directed mainly at health-conscious individuals which has seen 100% increase in revenue growth over the past year, indicating its lucrative potential. Of course Thailand is not alone, as any trip to an American or European convenience store will remind you, with their refrigerators stocked with a full array of vitamin waters and even diet sodas enriched with essential nutrients.

The latest player to jump on that bandwagon here in Thailand is Peptein Original Soy Peptide, which is making an audacious bid to grab a piece of that lucrative pie. This product is made from the humble soy bean, readily available in the market, sold at modest prices as a commodity, and as a finished product at retail level in various forms. When looking at the brand value proposition, it claims to make you smarter, which is no different from any other 'smart drinks' out there in the market. But wait, I forgot to tell you – it makes you smarter, quicker! Yes, it is supposed to be absorbed into the system within half an hour as a opposed to eating your traditional meals that can take 6-8 hours to be absorbed. So says the brand's own scientific research team, that is.

Peptein, spearheaded by Osotspa, had a budget of 400 million baht allocated for marketing and advertising activities when it first came out. I am not kidding. It was the talk of the town. Brand awareness and brand recall was startling. Everyone knew about it, or tried it at least once. You could see its product from all corners of Bangkok; traditional media, new media. You just couldn't get away from it. Osotspa used 'educational-marketing' as the core mechanism to drive awareness, trial and recall.

But wait. There's a catch. It sounds great and all but, how do you prove that by drinking Peptein, you become smarter, faster than any other product? Especially within 30 minutes. It is a bold statement for a product made from soy. Do we reign in customers, sit them down, analyze their brains and count the amount of neurotransmitters generated by this drink? It's almost impossible to tangibly audit a functional benefit that is directed at the brain. Tsk tsk.

Their previous ad campaign was revoked by Thai FDA due to making unsubstantiated claims about the product's benefits. In additional to this dilemma, market perception of the taste had not been well received, as consumers compared its taste to other energy drinks already on the market. At price point, (approximately US$1 for 4000mg & over US$2 for 8000mg), consumers view it as too expensive for what it essentially is – the humble soy bean – in contrast to readily available soy bean drinks on the market which can be had for less than US$0.25!

Furthermore, people are finding themselves confused with the 'Original Soy Peptide' nutrient when compared to the well-known nutrients such as Omega-3s or DHAs, which have been well-received in the past. Now, they are faced with being singled out as a black sheep on the market.

This leads to my conclusion that huge marketing efforts built on the backbone of astronomical budgets and the goal of being the first mover don't necessarily guarantee business success. In the end, consumers shape the product's value. The iPod didn't invent MP3 players. A group of German investors did back in the late 80s but didn't really rise to prominence until the new millenium. But look now – the iPod has stolen the show completely, with over 80% market share worldwide.

The campaign described above lacked emotional benefits that are necessary create an affinity for the brand. It just makes the claim that you will be smarter, quicker. But what it does not do is tell you what that means to you, the consumer, i.e.:  'You will be smarter, quicker, and will be able to engage in more intelligent conversation, achieve greater career success, raise your own profile, etc.'. This is just an example. Consumers fail to identify any emotional benefit and it is not their fault. I'm not sure they had accounted for all the consequences of a bad repuation and limited media channels to work with because of the FDA's refusal of Peptein in claiming ambiguous benefits. Let's wait and see what they've got up their sleeves in a new bid to reposition themselves, having been in the market for less than 2 years.

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