I had a call this week with the founder of a DTC protein brand.
Their founder is sharp, branding is on point, and their product is really high quality.
Not only that, but their product has a unique differentiator–its protein comes from crickets. Yes, those little bugs are packed with protein and are arguably the most ecologically-friendly source of protein you can find.
With these qualities, you’d expect the brand to be doing well. But, for some reason, their site isn’t converting.
What could be the problem?
The brand I’m talking about is hi! – a plant based protein boosted with superfood cricket powder.
On the call I was told that they want to think of the cricket powder as an after-thought. Act as if it’s just another ingredient.
There’s already cricket protein brands preaching the benefits of eating crickets vs dairy so that sounds like an interesting idea. But, my first thought is: what does the market think?
Let’s find out.
Consider their positioning:
“The first plant based protein with superfood cricket powder”
there are three customer demographics that come to mind:
Meat Eaters (could replace their current protein with this)
Vegetarians (could switch from pea protein)
Vegans (more strict, could also switch from pea protein)
For each of these demographics, there’s two questions we need answers for:
Does this messaging resonate with you?
Would you ever eat cricket powder?
Meat Eaters
Being a meat eater, I decided to ask myself these questions.
1) Does this messaging resonate with you?
When I see the words ‘plant-based’ I think ‘not for me’.
I have nothing against plant-based products. In fact, I consider myself a conscious consumer of meat. I understand the moral trade-offs and try my best to buy the highest quality meat I can (organic, pasture-raised, local, etc).
I’m probably in the segment of meat eaters that would consider switching to something plant based but it would take a lot of convincing.
2) Would you ever eat cricket powder?
Sure! As long as it’s both as effective as the current protein I’m using and doesn’t taste like bugs I’d be happy to. I know that crickets are the most ecological source of protein and personally, believe it to be the most ethical form of protein.
What does this tell us?
With a sample size of 1, we’ve found that the ‘plant-based’ messaging causes some meat eaters to immediately think “this isn’t for me”. The good thing is, if we can get them over that hurdle they’re at least willing to try our product.
Vegetarians
1) Does this messaging resonate with you?
After the call I had dinner with my girlfriend Emily. She happens to be a vegetarian.
I said to her: “I had a call today with someone who makes this awesome plant-based protein powder but it uses cricket protein too because—”
her face stopped me.
The first thing out of her mouth was “ew.”
Now that’s not because she’s a vegetarian. It’s because she hates bugs. Seems like the whole cricket thing isn’t going to be an afterthought for her.
2) Would you ever eat cricket powder
That’s fair, I said, though there’s a more important question: as a vegetarian, would you ever eat insects?
This is a moral question that plant-based eaters need to wrestle with. Where do they draw the line?
Emily said she does think that animals and insects are different.. but she still would never eat them. For her, eating bugs doesn’t offer enough benefit vs eating plants that she would actually even spend the time thinking about it. It’s easier to just not wrestle with it.
What does this tell us?
Emily’s first thought was ‘ew’. That’s not a good sign. Clearly the cricket-as-an-afterthought is going to be a hard sell. Second, we’ve learned that vegetarians are probably just going to say no to eating bugs unless there’s a massive incentive for them to do so.
Think about it. If a vegetarian hadn’t eaten in 3 days and the only thing to eat was cricket powder, I’m sure they could sell themselves on the morality of eating bugs. The problem is, your customers aren’t starving. They have thousands of other options.
Vegans
We’re skipping question #1 here - you’ll see why.
2) Would you ever eat cricket powder?
I didn’t feel it was necessary to call up one of my vegan friends and start interrogating them about their eating habits. So, I asked Emily:
“What do you think vegans would say?
Her response:
“No chance. A lot of vegans won’t even eat honey because some bees happen to die during the process of harvesting it…”
Some bees ‘happen to die’ during harvesting it and vegans won’t eat honey. Do you think they would eat ground-up crickets?
Obviously vegans aren’t the target market here.
What have we learned?
Here’s what we learned through some introspection and a single conversation with a vegetarian:
Plant-based eaters are not the target market for cricket protein
Meat eaters don’t resonate with a product that’s labeled ‘plant-based’
You need to sell people on why they should eat cricket powder regardless of their eating habits
Compare that with hi!’s positioning:
the first plant based protein with superfood cricket powder.
Are you starting to see the same problem I am?
Good. Now pick up the phone and start talking to your damn customers.
That’s all, folks
Alright, that’s it for issue number 6. Hopefully you loved it but if not, remember, I’m still working on becoming a better writer so bear with me.
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Do yourself a favor and give hi! a try. The product is amazing and seriously, look up some of the research on eating cricket protein. It’s morally, environmentally, and nutritionally superior in many ways to all of the current options.