Brand Your Bugs
As consumers are looking for more natural solutions to implement within their lives and specifically within their healthcare choices, probiotics are emerging as a hot new trend. Probiotics (translated as "for life") refers to the "good" bacteria that are included in dietary supplements or food products.
This "good" bacteria found in our adult bodies has been shown to assist with digestion, produce vitamins, regulate the immune system, and help the body stave off the "bad" bacteria. The dominant population consists of strict anaerobic bacteria: Bacteroides, Bifidobacterium, Eubacterium and Peptostreptoccocus.
Consumer companies are getting into the bug business by branding and marketing specific strains of this good bacteria as an ingredient brand in their yogurts, juices and supplements.
Take a look at some current offerings:
- Align has a new presence in the media by touting its "Bifantis," which is a neologism that truncates the scientific name of the bacteria: Bifidobacterium infantis 35624.
- Activia has been on the market for several years and recently utilized Jamie Lee Curtis as the "Activia Lady." Their primary ingredient is "Bifidus Regularis" from the Bifidobacterium animalis DN-173 010 strain.
- NakedJuice bypasses the direct reference to bacteria altogether and uses simply "Probiotics" on this product within their lineup. It's interesting that they refer to probiotics as the "friendly, live active cultures."
- Attune Foods offers two probiotics bars, and takes it a step further by reinforcing the idea of a daily nutritional value with "daily probiotics."
- Bio-K+ utilizes a strictly scientific approach, through both their core brand name and the product names. CL1285, available in capsule, fermented milk, and dairy free forms, is a bacterial probiotic culture containing the unique and patented formula of L. acidophilus and L. casei.
- Finally, check out GoodBelly Yogurt & Juice. These products use the mark "Lp299v," which refers to Lactobacillus plantarum 299v. No emotional benefits present in this ingredient name; the company uses their core brand to communicate the end result of the product.
What do you think? Does branding bacteria with an emotional name versus a scientific one make you more inclined to try a probiotic product?
Pfizer – Wyeth Merger
On January 25th, Pfizer leapfrogged over the tradition of buying smaller research companies to purchase Wyeth for 68 billion dollars. With their forces combined, Pfizer/Wyeth becomes the 4th largest US-based company; Exxon, Walmart, and Proctor & Gamble hold the top three spots. The merger process can be complicated and delicate to finagle on the finance end but the branding or re-branding process should be approached with just as much care.
During a re-branding of this size it is important to approach the naming process with an open mind; having the larger company name always win out over the smaller company name might not always be the best choice for company morale or client impressions. The four naming options, as I see them are:
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Happy 110th Merck Manual!
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The year 2009 marks the 110th anniversary of The Merck Manual, the best-selling and oldest continuously published general medical text in the English language. And what a 110 years it has been!
It all started in 1899, when the American drug manufacturer Merck & Co. published a small book titled Merck's Manual of the Materia Medica. According to their website, the book was meant as an aid to physicians and pharmacists, reminding doctors that “Memory is treacherous.”
In 1899 the Manual cost $1, about as much as a week’s groceries. Now the Merck Manuals, divided
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Pink Branding for Breast Cancer Awareness
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If you’ve been to Target or your local grocery store recently, you’ve probably noticed a lot of pink packages and displays. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and many brands are doing their part to support breast cancer research and raise awareness of the disease. Consumer product brands such as HP, KitchenAid, and One A Day® Women’s are just a few brands that are not only donating a percentage of their proceeds to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation but are also modifying their packaging over the next month or so to “advertise for the cure,” displaying a predominant use of pink in their package designs. In recent years, pink has become the official color of the cause and around this time of year, the increasing number of participating brands always impresses me. So next time you are doing your grocery shopping, take note of the products that support breast cancer awareness and research and do your part…buy them. Are there other brands that you know of who have gotten creative to support this cause?
Shop for products that support breast cancer research.
Rember's Early Success
The drug called Rember (methylthioninium chloride) is receiving substantial press in the news and medical world for its success in slowing the progress of mental deterioration associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The Alzheimer's drugs currently available {Aricept, Exelon, Razadyne (previously Reminyl), Cognex, and Namenda} have been said to only ease the symptoms of the mind-robbing disease.
Developed by Singapore-based TauRx Therapeutics, Rember is an experimental drug that takes a new approach to treating the disease by targeting the build up of a specific protein in the brain called Tau. Tau causes tangles that accumulate inside memory cells, and destroys them during the process. Rember is designed to target these Tau tangles, therefore leading to positive results for reducing mental decline.
If clinical trials continue to be successful and sustainable, this is ground-breaking news for the medical industry and for individuals battling with this debilitating disease. The name itself is memorable (no pun intended), straightforward and distinctive. In today's regulatory environment, getting a name like this approved signifies a major homerun for the company.
Trend Watch: Drug Delivery
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As pharmaceuticals are becoming more sophisticated, the need for targeted and effective modes of administration is becoming more apparent: a trend that is not being ignored by companies worldwide. Drug delivery is an increasingly dynamic sector of the pharmaceutical industry, and it may prove to be one of the most interesting areas of growth over the next decade.
Welcome Sascha-Marcel Poschet
Addison Whitney is pleased to announce the addition of Sascha-Marcel Poschet to the company. Sascha is the latest addition to the global healthcare team, where he has taken the role of brand consultant and will be joining our team in Munich, Germany. Sascha, with more than four years of sales experience in the pharmaceutical industry and over 12 years of business development and marketing experience, will be a wonderful addition to the company. Welcome to the team Sascha!
By: Trista Thielker