Why vitamin brand Now is talking about price in new campaign

The idea for the campaign, the first work on the account from Now’s new agency Hanson Dodge since it was chosen last fall, is to show what good health feels like, not just what it looks like, said Amber Cerda, marketing director for Now.

The focus on price wasn’t so much driven by inflation worries as by Now’s long-time point of difference from many other natural brands, it’s value, Cerda said.

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“Providing high-quality products including supplements at an affordable price has been our mission since we were founded by Elwood Richards more than 50 years ago,” she said.

The company is still owned by the Richards family, while most of its competition is owned by publicly held companies under more pressure to raise prices amid rising costs to deliver strong and consistent margins.

“So in a category where most brands are charging premium prices, this is an area where we felt like we could stand out,” Cerda said.

Price does appear to be affecting the business. IRI data from EvercoreISI show vitamin and nutritional supplement prices up 8% for the four weeks ended April 16, but volume down 3%. An exception to that trend came from Procter & Gamble Co., which saw sales soar 44% on a price/mix decrease of 8%.

The IRI/EvercoreISI data don't cover much of Now’s business, which includes more than 900 supplement offerings distributed mainly in health specialty stores and e-commerce, Cerda said.

Now has averaged double-digit sales annual growth over the past seven years, despite being much less of a household name than many of its competitors. But the multi-million-dollar campaign, double what Now Foods has spent in the past on consumer advertising, aims to change that.

The effort stems from the decision, after years of project work, to seek an agency of record, particularly for help on media buying and strategy, Cerda said. Milwaukee-based Hanson Dodge, located not too far from Now’s Chicago headquarters, has worked on packaged goods and health brands, she said, “and we really just like their work, their media knowledge, their digital expertise and their team. We felt like they understood who we are as a brand, what we stand for, and that we wanted to do something different than we had in the past.”