Building Consumer Brand Awareness
by Steve French

Branding has always been one of the most imperative factors in building asuccessful business, whether it be foods, supplements, beverages, retail storesor any other consumer product or service. As so, within the world of healthy andnatural products, the importance of branding is paramount. Indeed, most of usare aware that branding within the natural products channel is actually aparadoxical statement. It's one of two things--either consumers within thischannel do not form the same relationships with brands as do mainstreamconsumers, or marketers within the channel, due to a variety of factors, havenot executed optimal brand-building techniques.

Research by the Natural Marketing Institute (NMI), entitled The NaturalMarketplace Trends Report (NMTR), confirms that brand awareness and relatedissues are significantly different within the natural products environment.According to the NMTR, based on a nationally projectable sample of 1,800consumer households, overall brand awareness with top natural product brands isrelatively low. The average brand awareness level of 53 top natural brands amongconsumers who shop the natural product channel is 20 percent. As expected, thisbrand awareness level is 25 percent lower (15 percent) among the generalpopulation, a phenomenon driven by the distribution of these brands and theinherent channel niche in which some of these brands operate.

Understanding this consumer brand behavior is essential to the development ofnew brands, the continued growth of existing brands and/or the revitalization of"challenged" brands.

A brand is a unique identity used to differentiate and identify a product ina meaningful and relevant way to a group of consumers. The product is thephysical evidence of a brand that has specific features and attributes. Brandsuccess is measured by consumer loyalty, which requires a consistent delivery ofthe brand promise. This brand promise is comprised of product benefits andrewards for the consumer. Within the brand itself is a carefully crafted brandpersonality and essence. In summary, without brands, all products and serviceswould be equal with generic benefits and personalities.

Graph: Average Brand Awareness of "Natural" Brands

Beyond branding, a range of consumer trends and shifting paradigms havefar-reaching implications for the development or continued success of newproducts. Although there is arguably an infinite litany of trends that could bereviewed, there are five meaningful trends that have high relevance andimportance in today's marketplace:

1. The changing role of value. It used to be simple. Consumers compared priceand quality. Whichever product offered the optimal, desired combination waschosen. Today it's not so straightforward. With all of life's complexities, thedefinition of value now includes ease of purchase, the time and stress involvedin the brand decision and the energy required to evaluate alternatives. Takingthese additional criteria into account are vital to brand success and longevity.

2. The concept of brand bonding. This trend involves creating a meaningful,consistent relationship between the brand and its user. With so manyalternatives today, it is more important than ever to create an emotional andrelational bond with consumers, actually making them feel part of the branditself through interaction and involvement. This relationship, in turn, createsloyalty, retention, increased product consumption and hopefully, companyprofitability.

Graph: Branding and Natural Product Shopper Purchase Decisions

3. True and consistent functionality. Today's consumers are increasinglylooking at the specific attributes and benefits of a particular product. Thesebenefits are typically delivered in the form of features. These features, inturn, form the functionality of a product. Consumers are placing increasingdemands on this functionality, such as health, taste, nutrition, effectiveness,safety, convenience and many others. In the end, a product that meets realconsumer needs in a consistent fashion will be the winner.

4. Less is more. Artificial is taboo. Natural is good. In many categories,society is returning to the values and traditions of the "good olddays." This is evident by the growth of natural products within foods,health & beauty aids, clothing, dietary supplementation and many othercategories. It seems that low-tech products (in a complicated world) areproviding an escape to "simpler ways." The key is to provide a single,focused communication to the consumer to help them through the purchase decisionprocess.

5. Availability and experience. It used to be called shopping or going out toeat. Now it's an experience. Whether it's going to a restaurant, the local petstore or the food store, providing entertainment value to consumers is animportant vehicle. Not only do the in-store activities need to be inviting andunique, products need to be available in a host of "outlets" across arange of channels, industries and geographies. And don't forget the impact ofthe Internet, in-home shopping and direct selling. Making products accessible toconsumers at the right time in the right place is essential to brand prosperityin today's competitive environment.

Steve French is the senior vice president of the Natural MarketingInstitute. He may be reached at (215) 721-1258, ext. 214 or [email protected].