Conducting health and nutrition research for research’s sake is a worthy scientific endeavor. But if you want to make a particular food a must-have purchase for consumers, research alone isn’t enough. You’ll need to invest in studies that connect to consumers’ wants and needs and to your specific business objectives.  

That’s the move the National Mango Board (NMB) made when they engaged Wild Hive to provide strategic guidance for their health and nutrition research program. Wild Hive developed a comprehensive strategic plan to guide the National Mango Board’s research efforts and increase their efficacy. Here’s what happened as a result.

The Challenge: Research Without a North Star 

Prior to engaging Wild Hive, the National Mango Board (NMB) had been funding worthwhile health and nutrition research for seven to eight years. However, some studies weren’t clearly aligned with consumer interests, trends and the organization’s business objectives. Although the studies had scientific merit, the National Mango Board desired a more strategic approach to help ensure long-term ROI.  

The National Mango Board desired to:

  • Gain focus. The NMB wanted to make sure the results from their studies would ultimately tell a cohesive, meaningful story about mangos. 
  • Capitalize on marketing opportunities. Though studies were often academically interesting, they didn’t always translate into compelling messages for consumers.
  • Efficiently allocate resources. With a limited budget, the NMB wanted to ensure their funding efforts had the greatest likelihood of delivering results that could support strategic marketing objectives. 

These challenges are not unique to the NMB. Many commodity boards, CPG brands, trade associations and agricultural organizations face similar issues when trying to balance scientific research with marketing objectives.

Solution: Leveraging Health & Nutrition Research as a Strategic Marketing Asset

To address these challenges, the NMB partnered with Wild Hive because of our expertise in designing strategic health and nutrition research programs that fuel food, agriculture and nutrition marketing. We developed a Strategic Health & Nutrition Research Plan to transform NMB’s research program into a more valuable asset — a North Star for a fully integrated, research-backed marketing program.

This involved:

  • Analyzing consumer trends to understand the health interests driving consumers’ food purchasing decisions and their motivations for consuming or avoiding particular fruits. This gave us crucial insights into the current market landscape and consumer mindset and formed the foundation for a targeted research strategy.
  • Conducting a thorough literature review to examine all published research on mangos, both in the U.S. and internationally. This established a baseline understanding of existing knowledge and allowed us to identify gaps in the research that NMB could fill.
  • Overlaying the consumer trend analysis, literature review and NMB’s own target audience research. By looking at these key areas in tandem, we synthesized insights and identified the most promising areas for future mango research that would strategically support long-term marketing efforts.
  • Developing a strategic research plan that includeed multi-year goals, strategies and tactics to achieve those goals, focus areas to prioritize, criteria to ensure rigorous study design and methodology.
  • Implementing the plan over a period of three years. This included developing and distributing Requests for Proposals (RFPs) to top-tier researchers, evaluating proposals to determine which ones were most aligned with NMB’s strategic objectives and engaging Ph.D.-level expertise to assess and strengthen our research methodologies. We also commissioned directed studies with specific researchers to address key topics of interest to the NMB.
  • Revisiting and updating the plan. Every three years, we revisit the Strategic Health & Nutrition Research Plan, updating it to align with any shifts in consumer trends, insights from published studies and evolutions in the NMB’s marketing strategy. 

By investing in multiple funding cycles, NMB developed a pipeline of research and knowledge to inform our strategic direction.  

Outcome: Immediate and Long-Term Results for National Mango Board

Our health and nutrition research program culminated in three exciting results for the National Mango Board:

  1. Differentiated positioning: The development of a powerful positioning for mangos based on the latest scientific research, consumer trends and mango audience insights.
  1. Clear, impactful messaging: Compelling and credible health and nutrition messages based on rigorous, independently conducted scientific research. 
  1. Elevated awareness: Increased media coverage of mangos as a healthy fruit, expanding consumer and health professional awareness and improving perceptions.

The transformation of the National Mango Board’s research program from a series of unconnected studies to a coordinated, goal-oriented initiative has created both immediate benefits and long-term opportunities for the mango industry. By marketing mangos as a fruit with health benefits backed by sound science, the NMB is on its way to increasing consumer demand, driving sales, boosting market share and enhancing the industry’s overall credibility.

Wild Hive: Delivering Integrated Marketing Through Health & Nutrition Research

Is your organization facing similar challenges when aligning your research efforts with your business objectives? Wild Hive can help. By combining scientific expertise with marketing acumen, Wild Hive transforms clients’ research programs into strategic assets that expand knowledge and drive business growth.

Whether you’re a commodity board, a CPG brand or any organization looking to leverage health and nutrition research for market advantage, Wild Hive’s approach can help you reach your goals. Let’s talk.