Alternative Proteins (AP), also commonly known as plant-based and lab-grown meat, is a foodtech segment that has seen soaring investor interest and mass media coverage in recent years. AP is hailed as an integral part of the future sustainable food system.
With the media attention showered on the space, the temptation is for AP startups to channel resources elsewhere instead of marketing. When a startup does not have a product immediately ready for market, marketing may seem like an unnecessary expense.
But should AP startups forgo marketing at this early stage? The reality is that most AP startups will not find commercial success, despite having visionary founders and products built on sound innovations. A strong pre-launch marketing approach could be the difference between success and failure.
Start by talking about it
Here are four compelling reasons why AP startups should consider a well-planned pre-launch marketing strategy:
- Creating investor awareness
Investor interest is high and growing, but there is also a rapidly growing number of players. Fundraising is constantly ongoing, and a startup will benefit from standing out in the increasingly crowded foodtech space.
Moreover, it is becoming increasingly difficult to raise capital for a startup that might not be profitable in the near term with the rising global interest rates. Hence, it is important for the AP startup to clearly demonstrate its market potential through the initial marketing efforts.
- Catalysing consumer awareness
AP startups can increase the credibility of their products. Most consumers tend to distrust novel innovations and startups. By building awareness and anticipation, AP startups can prime themselves for a successful launch by nurturing a small group of potential customers to evangelise the coming product and help attract new customers by providing social proof of product desirability.
- Building a robust feedback loop
It is never too early for AP startups to identify and pilot a reiterative information funnel that grows and improves as the startup matures. The fundamental key to commercial success is learning how to meet customer needs better than the market incumbents, and a good feedback loop is critical to that.
- Strengthening the talent pipeline
By creating more visibility in the public domain, social proof spills over into recruitment benefits. Competition for talent in this sector is fierce, and the ability to amplify your brand and attract strong talent is a critical must for any AP startup.
Given the potential benefits of a pre-launch marketing campaign, how can AP startups in the pre-revenue stage embark on such a campaign?
Also Read: Can alternative proteins help build a more secure and sustainable food system?
A major consideration for many startups is the potentially high marketing costs while already incurring major R&D costs before revenue flows. The following pre-launch marketing recommendations will suit those on a tight marketing budget.
Start by creating awareness and conversations
The experience at this early stage of the customer journey shapes people’s perspectives of the brand. So, what kind of marketing communication should startups focus on at this stage?
First, it is important for an AP startup to build its brandings around a personality, such as its more personable founders or key employees, to increase trust. Even though it is imperative to craft a compelling narrative about how the brand is going to revolutionise the world and the market gap it is trying to fill, the brand story also must centre around people.
Their motivation to be part of the venture. Potential customers will then be more inclined to trust the brand. Moreover, a brand story with a human-interest angle will also get traction in the news and social media.
Second, there should not be a focus on one-way marketing communication about the potential product/brand. By working on two-way interactions with a focus on empathy and understanding, start-ups can focus on the potential customers’ needs. These two-way interactions can be facilitated easily online by hosting regular discussions in Clubhouse and Discord, or webinars in Zoom.
The main obstacle will be to start a conversation that is relevant to the potential customers that they are willing to engage. AP often appeal most to the segment of customers who are often concerned about climate change, animal welfare, and the impact of industrial animal husbandry on their and their families’ health.
AP startups should focus on expressing their brand purpose explicitly and attractively in educating their audience on these pertinent issues. This programming builds trust and establishes a position of thought leadership.
Last, all available touchpoints of a startup should be ready to engage and provide key relevant information.
Robinhood, a fintech startup, had one million sign-ups for its waitlist for early access to the private beta for its investment app before the app was publicly available. Robinhood’s early-access landing page had a basic description saying, “Commission-free trading, stop paying up to US$10 per trade” targeting potential customers’ desires and needs.
Harry’s, a men’s razor brand, had also managed to have a successful prelaunch referral programme with a simple prelaunch landing page to get potential customers to sign up to learn about the launch of the new brand.
Getting followers and funding
Thirdly, AP products are being marketed based on credence attributes, which are attributes that are difficult to verify even after use. An example of a credence attribute is the impact of consumption of such alternative proteins on long-term health.
Consumers often rely heavily on word-of-mouth from family, friends, acquaintances, and even online influencers to help them evaluate such attributes. Hence, it is important for AP startups to get opinion leaders/influencers onboard early. AP startups can start small by engaging with micro- and nano-influencers to build relationships with them.
These influencers have shown to have a great impact on their followers due to the frequent and intimate interactions they have with their followers. This approach allows the AP startups to build ground-up engagement at the grassroots level that increases online conversations around their brands.
Finally, AP startups can consider crowdfunding websites (e.g., Kickstarter) for getting early feedback from consumers in those specific communities. Such platforms are experiencing a current renaissance with major consumer firms, including P&G and Lego, using them to get feedback on their pre-commercialisation innovations.
Also Read: How foodtech startups are bridging the tech gap in restaurant ecosystem
Of course, if done correctly, it will also be a valuable source of cash flow for the startups, as consumers might pay to have early access and/or support the R&D.
Understanding and meeting consumer needs are the roads to success
The foundation of a successful venture is not the technology behind the product but being able to meet the customers’ needs better than others. Engaging with potential customers at the early stages of the development allows for an AP startup to test potential prototypes and get direct feedback to improve the product concept.
However, testing prototypes is not always feasible given that some AP will need to be approved first by regulatory agencies. AP startups might consider using the concept of a minimum viable product.
Drew Houston, Co-Founder of Dropbox, created a Dropbox demo video to show how the technology is meant to work due to the technical difficulty of creating a prototype to work as expected. The interest from potential customers provided feedback to Dropbox and its potential investors that the vision of Dropbox is one that had traction in the market.
Marketing is not just about communication with the customers
Moreover, building the brand through pre-launch marketing will enable the startup to attract stronger talents at a better price performance since these talents believe in the vision and purpose of the brand. It also helps existing employees understand the brand vision of the start-ups. These employees can be strong brand advocates for startups to external parties.
Marketing generates value
In sum, AP startups should stop considering marketing as a cost centre and start to consider how marketing can create value for the customers, the enterprise, and other stakeholders.
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