From Health Claims to Emotional Claims® GRÉGORY DUBOURG Nutrikéo Consulting, Château Bersol, Bât 5, 218 Av Du Haut-Lévêque, 33 600 Pessac, France

From health claims to emotional claims® GRÉGORY DUBOURG Nutrikéo Consulting, Château Bersol, bât 5, 218 av du Haut-Lévêque, 33 600 Pessac, France

Grégory Dubourg

KEYWORDS: communication; regulation; health claims; emotional claims®

ABSTRACT: The new regulatory context in Europe related to food communication is restrictive but is also an opportunity for industrials to rethink their communication strategies. When nutrition or health claims are not enough, alternative strategies have to be developed. Different aspects can convey health messages: the product itself, but also the product’s environment, the brand image or the institutional commitment to nutrition. On the product, one way to communicate is to use emotional claims®: focusing on imagination and emotions in order to suggest a health message. Danone’s Actimel® is an excellent case to study because its communication strategy has evolved throughout the years to adapt to the regulation while keeping an evocative message about the product’s health benefit.

THE NEW EUROPEAN REGULATORY CONTEXT: RESTRICTIVE BUT growth during pregnancy” are health claims. Two kinds of CHALLENGING generic health claims exist: - “General function” health claims (under article 13.1 of the For years, regulation was blurry as far as nutritional products regulation) refer to the role of a nutrient in body functions. were concerned. Nutrition and health claims were used with In December 2012, a new text (3) established a list of the no specifi c permission. Things have recently changed: since only 222 permitted health claims, mainly referring to

Food technologies ingredients to improve consumer's perception 2006, the European Union has established a new regulation vitamins and minerals. on use of claims (1) in order to make sure that consumers are - Claims on disease risk reduction and child development correctly informed about the real impact of what they eat on or health (under article 14 of the regulation). For now, only their health, and to homogenize regulation among European 7 claims referring to disease risk reduction were allowed countries. Since then, several additional texts complete the and 11 as far as children development is concerned. general rules. Using generic claims is an attractive solution to communicate today but the limited number of authorized claims may also To claim on the products health benefi ts, several options are result in a difﬁ culty to differentiate from competitors. Moreover, possible: generic claims have often unattractive wording because they are too specifi c or too scientifi c. Most consumers cannot Using nutrition claims understand claims such as “reduction of post-prandial vol 24(3) - May/June 2013

- They are defi ned by the EFSA as “any representation which glycaemic responses” or “contributes to normal homocysteine

states, suggests or implies that a food has particular nutritional metabolism”… properties including but not limited to the energy value and to the content of protein, fat and carbohydrates, as well as Acquiring exclusive or “new function” health claims the content of vitamins and minerals”. For instance “source of Finally, it is possible for a company to acquire an exclusive ﬁ bre” or “low sodium” are typical nutrition claims. claim (under article 13.5 of the regulation). That is to say To use a nutrition claim, the nutrient only needs to be a health claim that only the company who asked for can present in suffi cient quantity in the product as defi ned in the benefi t from. It is an excellent opportunity to differentiate regulation. However the use of nutrition claims has its limits the product from competition but it is a strategy that all as it is necessary for consumers to have suffi cient knowledge actors cannot afford. Indeed, to get an exclusive health Agro FOOD Industry Hi Tech in nutrition to understand the nutrient’s health benefi ts. It is claim, clinical studies and strong evidence are required, noteworthy that 75% of French people have heard of fatty which represent heavy investments with no guaranty of acids but 49% say they do not know what they are. The same success. Furthermore the EFSA agreement process is often observation is made for antioxidants: 70% of French people too arduous and too long for many food industrials to wait. have heard of them but only 43% know what they actually So far only one industrial managed to obtain an exclusive are (2). Given that consumers have a low-level knowledge claim: Provexis with its tomato extract Fruitfl ow® which “helps on some nutrients, nutrition claims can sometimes be a low- maintain normal platelet aggregation, which contributes to added value and they often do not allow distinguish from healthy blood ﬂ ow”. competitors. As shown above, this new regulation has its limits and most of the time, using legally-approved claims is not enough. Using generic health claims It is necessary to learn how to communicate differently Health claims are defined as “any representation which without impoverishing the message by looking for alternative states, suggests, or implies that a relationship exists between a solutions to keep on promoting products’ health benefi ts food or a constituent of that food and health”. For example while staying in the legal scope. Creative and innovative “consumption of beta-glucans from oats or barley as part of a marketing strategies eventually offer many ways to “claim meal contributes to the reduction of the blood glucose rise without claims”. This article analyses communication after that meal” or “folate contributes to maternal tissue alternatives based on actual examples.

Food technologies ingredients to improve consumer's perception Agro FOOD Industry Hi Tech - vol 24(3) - May/June 2013 31 . when they are tied with when they are tied Brands can even be Brands can even be “Love yourself”. These kinds of These kinds of “Love yourself”. ® with the slogan “They know why they why they “They know the slogan with ® took, launching in France the platform © : to encourage recommendation Consumers: help products comprehension and choice Distributors Healthcare professionals: encourage products’ prescription/recommendation “Our Successful Mornings” dedicated to the behavioral dimension of morning breakfast, the nutritional dimension being a complicated process for consumers. These websites offer a range of advice and information about the health problematic and about ingredient’s interest. Lesprobiotiques.info was developed in partnership with a well-known French website eld of information Doctissimo that is very popular for its large fi about health issues. This partnership raises the website’s credibility and places Danone as a real expert of probiotics. like it”, Kellogg’s replaced its traditional catchword “Keep “Keep catchword its traditional replaced Kellogg’s like it”, claim t” by the emotional fi France about Activia France good supports of products’ claims good supports of products’ Red Bull is ts in consumers’ mind. For instance health benefi of energy thanks to the brand unquestionably synonymous sports, and also thanks to the brand’s sponsorship of extreme you wings”. In 2013, the energy drink baseline “Redbull gives massively communicates through an brand goes further and on 2012 substantial actions including international TV spot jump. Felix Baumgartner spectacular Institutional commitment to nutrition ts benefi When communicating on products’ nutritional is to commit the whole cult, a solution becomes diffi process company or brand to a nutritional progress French cheese More and more food industrials like Bel (a to communicate company), Mc Cain or Uncle Ben’s choose In France, up about their corporate commitment to nutrition. pledged to this by signing charters rms have already to 30 fi nutritional that engage them in participating in voluntary ect the willingness of groups progress. These charters refl of their to improve the nutritional quality and credibility products. be done via a Commitment towards nutrition can also (a “public speaker”. This strategy was chosen by Bonduelle transformation) French company specialized in vegetables Foundation. with the creation in 2004 of the Louis Bonduelle c and both scientifi This independent entity, which provides to nutrition and societal support, speaks out when it comes regulation. health, thus partly freeing the industrial from that the “Partly” only because it must not be forgotten nutrition is to purpose of communication in health and deliver a fair and ethical information to consumers. Environmental communication Some food industrials have developed an environmental communication on nutrition about a well-known ingredient to evoke health messages without using any claims directly on products. This kind of communication is declined on tools that can be seen as education and training tools for: - - catchwords suggest benefi ts without using words referring without using words ts suggest benefi catchwords to be more effective This strategy has proven to health. acquired in previous on a reputation already when based campaigns. advertising image Capitalising on a brand important a brand in a food purchase When we know how understand why communication process is, it is easy to brands. efforts should not forget - For instance in France Danone has developed 2 websites. One is dedicated to cholesterol reduction: www.savoirreduiresoncholesterol.com and the other one focuses on probiotics: www.lesprobiotiques.info. This was also a decision Kellogg’s has ® ”. ® are particular , that is with its ® is useful when ® enhance naturalness enhance naturalness with slogans like “You Adding vitamins and Adding vitamins associated with well- star ingredients winter . Indeed naturalness is often . Indeed naturalness product name. Indeed, it is possible ”. For instance, Danone communicates in ® Allesensa is a probiotics-based dietary ® with approved health claims in suffi cient quantity suffi health claims in with approved with its probiotics or Ocean Spray ® Cranberry, probiotics, vitamin D and omega 3 Cranberry, probiotics, spring. BION Every year the brand features a little bottle wearing a scarf and a hat to remind people that Actimel supplement targeting seasonal allergies… without ever mentioning it! The communication on the product is indeed really smart: it can claim on the immune system function thanks to a few vitamin C content (the 15% RDA required to be able to claim) and then links spring to the stress of the immune system to suggest seasonal allergies. strategy consists in ts, one Finally, in order to suggest benefi conveying messages which evoke emotions to consumers, by substituting the health claim for a feeling or a mood ts. This is a more reminiscent of the product’s benefi subjective communication, focusing on visuals, emotions and imagination. This strategy can be referred to as “emotional claims focused its communication on are going to love winter” or “Enjoy winter with Actimel it gets cold and immunity gets weaker. On the contrary, Merck has just launched a new product in France focusing on synonymous with health in consumers’ mind and so can be synonymous with health without even mentioning it. Similarly, used to evoke nutrition cial additives, allergens, from” artifi the now famous “free edged sounds like a full-fl GMOs, pesticides, hormones... health message. in using Another strategy consists Valuing the «inside» Valuing the their communication industrials concentrate Some food on the product’s formula. strategies HOW TO COMMUNICATE DIFFERENTLY? TO COMMUNICATE HOW minerals health claims. allows using is to alternatives to claims One of the product and simplicity of the t without suggest a health benefi to say ingredients which it down on paper, thanks to their strong even having to write c studies or their mediatic use, scientifi notoriety, traditional buzz. t from ingredients as they all benefi good examples of such to be effective for a strong reputation and are considered like Danone’s consumers. Some have chosen this strategy Actimel to skillfully suggest a health benefi t through a product to skillfully suggest a health benefi cult thing being suggesting enough to name, the most diffi the regulation. be understood but not too much to respect an action Good examples of product’s names suggesting seeds or Kusmi Tea on mood are Regent’s park’s Happiness Euphoria. t by using graphism It is also possible to suggest a benefi health, pink evoking claims: colors (blue for cognitive for weight for urinary comfort…), shapes (brackets (a lion for management, half-moons for sleep…), illustrations strength, a cloud for stress relieve…). t is to Another way to suggest a product’s benefi contextualize its use. By linking the product with a Suggesting health beneﬁ ts Suggesting health beneﬁ count on When it is not possible to use claims or to nd strategies to suggest the ingredients, one has to fi hints at different scales of ts. Many product’s benefi t benefi the products can contribute to the general comprehension. rst one can be the The fi cranberries. These products do not need health claims to cranberries. These products do not need comfort. make consumers think of immunity or urinary time of the day, the year or the life t come up in the known issues, it is easy to make the benefi consumer’s mind. For instance, for many years, Actimel CASE STUDY: ACTIMEL® (DANONE) quoting any… Danone has a few tricks up its sleeves to adapt to One of the best examples of an the new regulation context while adaptation to the regulatory catching consumers’ attention! context by using alternative strategies to claims is Danone and its famous drinking yoghurt CONCLUSION Actimel®. Because of its composition in In order to protect consumers probiotics, the communication and to ensure homogenization main message was for many years among countries, Europe decided claiming enhancement of immune to regulate the use of nutrition defenses, as can be seen in the and health claims; but the result is TV commercial on the fi rst part of that only a small number of claims fi gure 1. Unfortunately for them, all can be used. Some industrials health claims about probiotics were can still communicate on their rejected by the EFSA so far and that product’s health benefi ts using is why the communication evolved permitted claims but most of them throughout the years. In 2012, as cannot and must fi nd new ways can be seen in the second part of of communicating differently. One fi gure1, the catchword became may consider this as a restriction Figure 1. Evolution of Actimel’s communication in the “The little bottle with a lot inside”: no UK (Source: Actimel’s Videos on Youtube.com). and big constraint; or adopt the health message is claimed but one opposite state of mind and see this can understand the suggested as an opportunity to re-think health message. the global communication Analysis of French TV of products by using all commercials throughout the product’s attributes. Valuation years is a good way to follow of the product’s composition, the communication’s evolution suggestion of health benefi ts, (see fi gure 2). capitalization on the brand - In 2005, the key message image, environmental

Food technologies ingredients to improve consumer's perception was a real health claim: communication, institutional “Let’s support our natural commitment… Many defences!” and scientific alternative strategies can be explanations could be used in order to convey nutrition heard about what the and health messages. product does inside the Other groups of claims are still organism. under discussion, in particular - In 2010, it became botanical health claims. This “Protection is the most transition period is likely to last natural gesture” and videos longer than expected because of animals protecting their of the controversial decisions

vol 24(3) - May/June 2013 babies in natural that were taken for other -

environments could be health claims in 2012. If they seen, to end up with a are examined with the same human mother giving an strictness, it is very likely that most Actimel bottle to her child. of the on-hold botanical claims This is a typical case of Figure 2. Evolution of Actimel’s French TV commercials from will be rejected and added 2005 to today (Source: Actimel’s Videos on Youtube.com). emotional claim® used to to the EU register as “non- evoke a health claim. authorized health claims”. This will - In 2012, the catchword became “The little bottle full of be a real additional constraint that will also be an opportunity for life”. No health claims are heard but the commercial new alternative communication strategies to appear. Agro FOOD Industry Hi Tech explains that 1 bottle contains 10 billiard L. Casei Because the regulation is very recent, no one exactly knows Danone’s ferments. The immunity message is suggested what will happen in terms of controls. It will depend on how by a sun allegory: a child wakes up and the rising sun communication messages will be interpreted by control reflects in the window to match his stomach at the same authorities and we are still waiting for a case law. Also the time he drinks a bottle of Actimel. watchdog organizations should react differently from one - In 2013, Danone is still full of surprises and launched a new country to another. That is why each industrial has to decide French product called “Actimel Vitamine C”. It could be how to place itself in terms of risks. Will you be the risk-taker or thought that this would be used to claim a positive action the careful one? on the immune system but not exactly… Still no health claim is announced. Actimel goes back to nutritional claims! The strategy used here is the “star ingredient” one, REFERENCES AND NOTES vitamin C naturally extracted from acerola is pushed at 1. The European Parliament and The council, Directive 1924/2006/ the centre of the communication. The health message CE, Off. J. Eur. Commun. L404, 9-25 (2006). thus evocated is more related to vitality than to 2. TNS Sofres NutriScope study, “Do the French have a good protection. knowledge of nutritional components?” (2010). Different alternative strategies, well-carried communication 3. The Eu ropean Parliament and The council, Directive 432/2012/CE, campaigns, messages evocating health claims without Off. J. Eur. Commun. L136, 1-40 (2012).