What would you do if you had an incredible product that could help millions of people, but a matter of perception stood in your way? This is the incredible marketing challenge faced by Robb Wolf, Dr. Loren Cordain and their Paleo approach to nutrition.
What is the Paleo Diet?
Dr. Cordain and Robb Wolf are amongst a growing cadre of scientists, doctors and nutritionists that are attempting to raise awareness about evolutionary science and what it can tell us about how our ancestors ate. They argue that we are currently on a path that is completely out of whack with how our bodies are meant to be fed.
Their argument is straight forward. Our ancestors ate high fat, high protein, diets with a moderate amount of regionally and seasonally available vegetables and fruits. Our modern diet is made up of high carb, high sugar, grain based foods that are not easily processed by the body. The three most critical problem foods we digest are grains, legumes and dairy. Simply put, our bodies are still built to eat our ancestral diet and our modern diet causes some serious problems (obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular issues, and more).
The Paleo Marketing Challenge
Wolf and Cordain are on a mission and they aren’t interested in making fortunes doing it. Rather, they simply want to help folks understand how easy it can be to improve their diets; live longer, healthier and more productive lives; and eliminate a lot of undue self-imposed stress in the process. But the Paleo diet advocates face several massive challenges:
- Evolutionary science vs. religion
- Evolutionary science vs. modern industry-led nutrition
- Evolutionary science vs. the modern lifestyle
Let’s take a quick lok at each one of these marketing challenges.
Evolutionary Science vs. Religion
Let me lead this section with a disclaimer: The purpose of this post is not to take sides in this debate. Instead, I am attempting to look at the interesting marketing challenges faced by the Paleo movement.
Wolf and Cordain represent a science that flys in the face of many religious belief systems. The pro Paleo movement feels that science paints a clear picture of who we are, why we are the way we are, and how we should be behaving in order live healthy and productive lives. On the other side, anti-evolutionary proponents, especially evangelicals that believe in a literal interpretation of the bible, throw out the science for an alternative belief system that discounts almost everything that science has to offer.
What a challenge. By tying their nutritional beliefs to an evolutionary approach, they come in direct conflict with the views of millions of individuals.
Evolutionary Science vs. Modern Industry-Led Nutrition
Whether you come from the medical or nutrition sides of the debate, both of these fields are funded heavily by the modern agricultural industry and its many powerful lobbies. Follow the money and you will quickly discover that our nutrition curriculum and government organizations are led more by who provides the funding rather than good science.
Case-in-point – the government’s food pyramid – the food pyramid that many of us grew up with has been repackaged as My Plate is based on a food production system that has figured out how to make low-cost, high-profit food out of grains and sugars, despite the many studies that show the effects this diet has on the body.
So who do you believe? A couple of whacky pseudo scientist that make crazy claims about cavemen or a belief system that is supported by the government, medical industry, and big-business agriculture…
Evolutionary Science vs. Modern Lifestyles
Robb and Loren take direct aim at how we are living our lives. They challenge everything from how much stress we expose ourselves to, our love for passive entertainment and our complete lack of sleep. These guys have aligned themselves against some pretty tough adversaries:
- God
- Government
- Our own bad habits
Despite the odds, the Paleo movement is succeeding. How are they winning this battle? Here are several lessons to take to heart:
- They Live By the Scientific Method – Both of these guys live and breathe science. They understand the importance of following good scientific methods and using it to build a solid case. More importantly, they are willing to evolve their ideas as new, improved and contradictory evidence becomes available.
- Try It For 30 Days – Both Rob and Loren believe that there is no better way to see if their theories work than to give it a try. Each of them has developed a 30-day challenge and believe in the ultimate test – doing it. They are also getting support as more and more people try the programs, have success and then share their stories.
- The Power of Social Media – The Paleo camp, especially guys like Robb and Loren are trying hard to help others. Now they could have easily been packaging their goods as expensive and exclusive diet solutions. Instead, they are using social media to help get the word out. Though both of them are making a little money on their books, their ideas and methods are available on their blogs free of charge.
- When You’re Well Loved, Someone Will Inevitably Hate You – Rob and Loren get this principle well. Rather than sugar coat their ideas, they have developed their programs for a very specific audience. Though they would love to help a much wider audience, they have opted to focus on those people that are ready to listen to them.
If you are looking to lose a few extra pounds this year and are open to the whole evolutionary camp, you should check out Robb and Loren’s books. As marketers, we have a lot to learn from guys like these. Check out Robb’s podcast. He has occasionally discussed the idea of changing the Paleo name to help get the word out about the diet’s benefits.
