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!

The Time is Now

Global Vitamins Market to Reach US $3.3 Billion by 2015.* The time is now. Seize this opportunity. The natural health industry is booming, and all indications point to even faster growth ahead.

If you are in the industry, you’re standing on the X. Treasure is right below you. I have a shovel.

If you’re looking for assistance, you’re in the right place. I am a natural health industry writer and publisher with proven success for supercharging nutritional supplement sales.

Whether you’re just starting out or well-established, I have insight and expertise that will help you succeed. Tips are scattered throughout this site, but for peak results commission me.


*Global Vitamins Market to Reach US$3.3 Billion by 2015, According to a New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/02/07/prweb8114929.DTL, 2011.

Generic is Lazy

That shade of yellow brings out your... well... um...

A few years ago, a company (which shall remain nameless) hired me to create new product marketing direction for a whole-food multivitamin supplement. I did market research, evaluated the competition, brainstormed product names, taglines and angles. I picked the strongest and created a brochure and box copy that told a story about the supplement. I billed for ten hours. The client nixed my copy.

Recalling the project, I decided to look it up today and see what kind of copy they ended up using. Here it is — in its entirety —  believe it or not:

This product features a wide array of vitamins, minerals, herbs and other nutrients – including vegetable, fruit and mushroom complexes – to give you the well-rounded nutrition you crave.

Good god, where to start? The writing is bad, nobody “craves” nutrition, and there is no effort to brand or differentiate this product from the scores of similar competitors. If you want to sell your nutritional supplement, you need to do better.

The Lesson: Make sure your company has a real marketing person in place. With the right marketing direction, storytelling and design work, you can offer your nutritional supplement at a premium price… that consumers will be happy to pay. Make it sexy. Our industry is far too dynamic to settle for generic marketing.

Liquid Shizzle

Blinded by the Li....quilicious Revolution!

If you can't look away, you might as well try it, right?

I wrote copy for these ads for Nature’s Plus’ liquid nutritional supplement line launch.

To make the ads successful, I adopted the trademark bombastic style of Gerald Kessler, founder of Nature’s Plus. The writing is sensory-oriented, emphasizing the taste and feel of these liquid nutritional supplements in great detail. Speed is also emphasized; liquid nutritional supplements are more quickly absorbed and utilized by the body. I feel these nutrition marketing angles were beautifully complemented by artist Dave Bartow’s design work here. Click image for jpeg or the links below for full PDFs (worth the load time!).

Don’t Stop Believin’

Nutratein Protein Shake Ad
Take your midnight train. You'll get there!

I created this conceptual ad to convey how pushing forward with exercise helps one leave negative emotions behind. The tagline: “Energy For What Will Be.” We presented this concept to an Ad Group that was set in their ways. The concept was met with negative feedback and rejected.

Four years later, I saw the Asics ad on the right in Men’s Health Magazine… and felt sweet vindication. Although a small ad group rejected our concept, Asics had enough belief in a similar concept to invest $186,000 for an ad in the World’s Greatest Magazine.

The Lesson: Don’t stop believin’ in your vision. Think big. The concept that is too “different” for one client is the same concept that will be embraced by a winner.

There are No Mistakes…

Get inspired.

… only happy accidents.

I created this ad early in my career as a nutritional supplement marketing writer. The challenge: taking a rather plain protein shake and differentiating it. Designer Chad Renfroe and I came up with this ad, and while it was never used, I was always proud of the marketing instinct behind it. It romanticizes an ordinary supplement with language that resonates with women. You are Woman. I hear you roar.