GLP-1 medications are transforming the weight landscape: helping control blood sugar and promote weight loss by slowing digestion and reducing appetite.
Around one in 10 Americans now take GLP-1 drugs: and this figure is only set to rise. That represents a huge opportunity for food and beverage brands to tap into this audience with products adapted to their needs.
Products are now reaching shelves with a clear focus on GLP-1 users. There’s Nestle’s Vital Pursuit, a new line of foods intended as a companion to GLP-1 weight loss medication. There’s Danone’s Oikos Fusion, the first yogurt drink specifically catering for weight loss medication users.
But what’s the right tone to set in GLP-1 marketing?
And is there a risk that GLP-1 products find themselves marketing solely to what is still a relatively small niche?
Healthy halo effect
Gary Stibel, founder and CEO of consultancy New England Consulting Group, believes GLP-1 drugs are a gamechanger.
The sheer number of people on GLP-1 drugs already illustrates the size of the opportunity, which is only set to grow.
But positioning food and beverages around GLP-1 drugs also has a halo effect: because consumers understand these products will be nutritionally optimized and intrinsically ‘healthy’.
GLP-1 users need more protein, more nutrients and more hydration: but so, argues Stibel, does much of the population.
“If you do a good job of capturing people on GLP-1s, you’re also going to do a good job of capturing people not on GLP-1s," he said.
Take hydration: a key need for GLP-1 users but also for the wider population as a whole (nearly half of the US population simply doesn’t drink enough water, according to research from Civic Science).
“By doing a good job of focusing on why hydration is important, particularly if you’re on GLP-1s, you’ll capture an even greater population who aren’t on GLP-1s,” he said.
Highlight protein, fibre and other nutrients
But while 1 in ten Americans may take GLP-1 drugs, that still means that nine in ten don’t.
For John Scheer, co-founder and chief creative officer of healthcare brand agency Hermann Scheer, the answer is to focus on these wide benefits that appeal to all, rather than specific GLP-1 positioning.
“Slapping “GLP-1 friendly” on a label feels clinical and creates an implicit stigma — it signals to the majority of shoppers who aren’t on the drugs that this product simply isn’t for them,” he says.
“Smarter health-focused brands are instead introducing high-protein, high-fiber, and nutrient-dense options using terms like “balanced” and “nutrient-rich,” while avoiding direct references to GLP-1. This approach is more inclusive and more durable".
GLP-1 friendly claims
In some markets, this may transpire to be a necessary strategy. Regulators may consider GLP-1 references as a disease-re lated or health-related claim. And with the market still in its infancy, no cases have been tested by the courts.
This type of messaging could actually widen audiences to previously untapped segments, he added.
“For example, ‘helps you stay nourished when your appetite is smaller’ is a message that resonates with older consumers managing muscle maintenance, and anyone intermittent fasting - as well as GLP-1 users,” he said.
