Speaker Shock

What if there was a clone of this world of nutraceuticals, an identical twin of the nutraceuticals industry, that existed in a different time/space dimension, where practices, choices and decisions could be played out differently than they are on this planet? What could a nutraceuticals business exec learn and extract, to infuse their brand with a proprietary, competitive edge?

By Anthony Almada

Inset: If one tracked the messaging of a product and its attributes over a period of time what would be the outcome?

Setting: Thirtieth Annual Multiverse Healthy Food, Drink and Supplement Expo, Morning Learning Sessions, Multiverse 7.x54.43; 4 April 2012

Seth Garcia: “Good morning listeners and viewers. I’m Seth Garcia and we’re here at the multiverse’s longest standing trade and learning show for the healthy industrialist and consumer: the HFDS Expo. This year we’re hearing attendance numbers exceeding 200,000, with more than 5000 booths. This year also marks our inaugural foray into ‘This is Your Brand,’ where we grab a digital snapshot from our HFDS archives and compare that to what brands are saying today at their booth or sponsored interactive learning sessions. Let’s go to the floor and learning sessions!

“Our first archive snapshot is of the drink Menta. You may recall this ‘brain boomerang’ beverage, claimed to increase recall and recognition. Let’s watch the digital snapshot from a presentation they sponsored five years ago…”

Switch to archived digital file; speaker (Joann Spahn, PhD, psychologist): “Menta can boost your ability to remember—a face and a name when you see them on the tradeshow floor after two years—or to pull out a fact from deep in your brain, which you learned years earlier. The patent pending formula has been developed by leading cognitive function researchers and is the subject of ongoing clinical studies...”

Seth: “We’re waiting for a brief interview with Dr. Spahn, who is now chief cognitive officer with Menta. There she is—Dr. Spahn—good morning! Thank you for this quick interview. Menta has come a long way these past five years. You’re now an executive in the company and Menta has a nice three-story booth. Here’s a clip of a presentation you made here five years ago (plays digital file for Dr. Spahn). So where is Menta relative to that compelling presentation you made here?”

Dr. Spahn (visibly flushed): “Uh, we’re now the number two ‘brain beverage’ in customized vending dispensers. We have distribution into four different multiverse segments and we have six new flavors and even a bubble gum flavored version for kids to help their focus—”

Seth: “Dr. Spahn, I’m sorry to interrupt but where are you with the pending patent—five years is a long pendency period and Menta appears to have a lot of ‘flattery’ in the market. And what of the ‘ongoing clinical studies’ you mentioned in the file we just viewed?”

Dr. Spahn (visibly perturbed): “We’re still prosecuting the patent and expect it to be granted before year-end. As for the clinical studies, we have completed them and we’re very pleased with the results, which support the claims that I made five years ago, and that we make today.”

Seth: “Our research team was unable to find any clinical studies on Menta presented at a any scientific meetings, or published in reviewed journals—save one conducted in persons with Alzheimer’s disease—and yet Menta is positioned for the non-diseased individual…and now also, uh, children. Were they not published? Have you done studies in a pediatric population?”

Dr. Spahn: “We elected to not publish the studies—treating them as a trade secret until our patent issues. You’ll have to excuse me but I have another appointment.”