Booming Brain Health: Ginkgo

As Woody Allen once said, “My brain? That’s my second favorite organ.” But for Boomers seeking peak quality of life in their golden years, the brain is priority #1.

Mental sharpness. Cognitive performance. Crystal-clear memory. The Brain Health segment is a supplement industry goldmine. Neuronutrients’ potency in promoting peak brain health is backed by reams of research. At right is a piece I wrote on Ginkgo Biloba, one of the most famous brain-boosters. This PDF is part of a larger marketing book that discusses several other neuronutrients in detail.

The Lesson: Brain health is a booming category. Effective educational marketing materials are the key to supercharging supplement sales in this all-important sector. The Natural Health Writer is a neuronutrient marketing expert.

Ginkgo Hilarity

I recently wrote a marketing piece on Ginkgo Biloba. I was pleased with it.
The claims were strong and substantiated; the story was Sexy Nutrition. Part of that story:  ginkgo trees are  200 million year-old “living fossils,” with individual trees living up to 3,000 years. Bafflingly, the client circled these facts in red pen and wrote “substantiation needed.”

What the heck? The Natural Health Writer is all about substantiating supplement health claims. But the Ginkgo facts had nothing to do with health! I shrugged, retraced my research, and started new research to reinforce that my ginkgo facts were strong. They were. The silver lining? On my second round of research I discovered some compelling ginkgo factoids that will make my next ginkgo piece even sexier.

The Lesson: Substantiation is essential, but it’s a slippery slope. If we as an industry start requiring substantiation for non-health related facts, we may end up needing substantiation for statements like “the sky is blue!”

Sexy Nutrition: Aphrodisiacs

Getting down? Feeling low? Read on before my puns take a bad turn...

I wrote this aphrodisiacs article: Nature’s Potions of Passion. This piece is a classic example of how the article format can educate consumers and compel them to buy nutritional supplements. Go ahead, read the article… if it doesn’t compel you to run out and buy the supplements mentioned, I’ll buy you a candy bar.

Nutrition for sexual health is another tricky marketing area these days. The FDA and FTC are scrutinizing this segment, thanks to contaminants — including pharmaceutical derivatives — found in fly-by-night products.

You can still achieve spectacular sales in the sexual health segment. Provide context, history, traditional perspectives — weave a sexy story. Over the top claims are unnecessary. There is already romance that goes hand in hand with aphrodisiac herbs… you can approach the topic obliquely, using innuendo and conservative suggestions. After all, sex appeal should leave something to the imagination anyway!