Fighting the Losing Battle of Consumer Education

A Thursday issue of On-Shelf this week!

FMI last week put me a bit behind, but the conference was worth it. I have been so deeply submerged in the emerging brand space over the past decade that as WeStock evolves to also support big CPG companies, going to events like FMI is such an industry culture shock for me.

Every VP and C-suite title was there from almost every major retailer and CPG conglomerate. The conversations and pain points though were very much the same as they are for brands doing under $100M in annual revenue.

Companies are focused on incremental growth, maintaining their core business, and streamlining innovation. AI was also a big topic as budgets for big CPGs are beginning to shift from data to data and AI.

Oh, I also saw the Pringles man playing air hockey.

For this issue, I want to talk a bit about a purchase I made before I left for FMI.

Last week at Whole Foods I picked up the new Banza waffles for the first time. The brand is one that I have been supporting since its launch and it has been great to see how the product line has evolved.

The brand is centered around the humble chickpea.

Chickpeas are nutritious, filled with protein, and you can turn chickpea flour into an array of better-for-you products like pasta, rice, or even frozen waffles. You can also turn those products into a massive success like Banza has.

Banza has done a great job building a single-ingredient-based brand. Other brands have done the same like Caulipower and Oatly, but others have failed in their pursuit to make a single ingredient the superstar of their brand strategy.

Chickpeas, cauliflower, and oats all have one thing in common. The consumer already knows that these are healthy foods and that they should be getting more of them into their diet.

These brands only have to focus on growth, not on education.

I as a consumer understand these foods are healthy and I most likely understand their nutritional value add (protein, fiber, etc) so a brand that introduces a creative way for me to eat more of that food is solving a major problem for me as a consumer.

This doesn’t have to be restricted to a single ingredient use case, it can also be for certain callouts.

I can see a can of The Good Crisp Company on the shelf without ever hearing of the product before and understand that it’s positioned as a healthier version of Pringles. The difference in health benefits might be marginal, but as a consumer that slight difference and then delivering on taste, means I need very little education to convert into a buyer.

The same with Olipop or Poppi, all you have to say is healthy soda and comparable taste, and the customer is going to get that value proposition.

Annie’s is a brand that fills my pantry and my toddler will consistently grab a box of cheddar bunnies the moment we hit that aisle. Is there that big of a health benefit to my toddler eating cheesy bunnies instead of cheesy goldfish? Probably not, but I know it is slightly healthier and it tastes the same. Which is good enough for me and most consumers at large.

Where brands go wrong in how they position their brand from the start is by picking highly niche ingredients or overvaluing how much consumers care about a certain health benefit. This decision from the onset now creates a situation for the brand where they are fighting two battles.

The first battle is one that we all fight which is growth.

The second battle is education, which means you have to invest more time and money than other brands into consumers understanding why they need your product. If you have to fight both battles, the likelihood that you’re going to succeed is minimal.

This isn’t meant to discourage niche brands to not going to market with their product but to force you to be honest with yourself about the level of investment you’re going to have to make around education so that you can succeed in retail.

Demos, shelf-talkers, and in-store events are going to have to be a part of your strategy so that the buyer can feel confident that you’re going to be able to support their shopper’s journey in learning about your brand.

As a brand, you also have to be honest with yourself that hitting scale for a brand that needs a certain level of consumer education is going to increase the amount of capital that your brand will need to hit escape velocity in the market.

If you can cross the chasm and get that consumer to buy into your health claim and that your brand is the only choice to get that certain ingredient or benefit into their diet, you do create a competitive moat that is difficult for other brands to compete with.

My message here is to make it easy for yourself. Understand that most consumers are looking for slightly healthier options and getting more of something that they already know is good for them. Very few consumers are looking to make an overhaul in their daily consumption and routine.

During FMI, I bumped into Hamdi Ulukaya, one of the CPG GOATS.

Chobani is a great example of this. A billion-dollar brand that was built off making something that everyone already knew was good for them, yogurt, and making a slightly better version of it.

Let’s all try to make success a little easier on us by aligning ourselves with what the consumer wants in 2024.