A consumer foods company.

A timed-release glucose bar for the nutritional management of hypoglycemia.

The company identified the need, and then formulated a nutritional supplement to help people with insulin-dependent diabetes manage nocturnal hypoglycemia. This new offering would compete with an existing nutritional bar marketed by a competitor for the same indication. The company is a small firm with limited financial resources.

Launch this timed-release glucose bar against a large, well-entrenched competitor.

My research showed that segmenting the patient population for this product presented a major opportunity. Children were most prone to nocturnal hypoglycemia, and their parents were key decision-makers. And that led me to developing the key insight: Clinical efficacy wasn't the critical issue for this timed-release glucose bar, peace of mind was. And the taste of the product was the key to patient compliance. This led me to recommend a strategy of selling directly to the consumer. A direct response campaign built around a creative platform of "fun dreams" delivered the message of "rest assured" and directly addressed the issue of taste which, respondents told us, was a competitive weakness. I was directly involved in the development, and subsequent assessment of the campaign’s effectiveness.

Sales began skyrocketing and have been close to tripling each month. The company has more than doubled in size over the last 12 months, and has attracted a significant array of financing resources for further growth in other medical food product areas.