The health and wellness product markets have always been substantial, but over the past decade, they have grown even larger, partly as the result of effective and novel pharmacy digital marketing approaches as well as increased innovation in the space.
As a result of this, whilst there are brands wholly dedicated to health products, others companies instead pivot into the product space, with mixed results.
Here are some examples of brands that are not typically associated with health and wellness products attempting to do, as well as times when healthcare brands attempt to branch out into other markets.
Bofors Toothpaste
Whilst not a traditional household name outside of fans of Second World War artillery, Bofors was a relatively well-known name in Sweden who attempted after the war to pivot into making what it described as “peace products”.
Their most infamous product was a toothpaste that contained microbeads as an abrasive to help clean teeth, but after rumours spread (that were ultimately never proven) that the beads could stay in the body and become carcinogenic, the arms dealer’s reputation for products that did not cause harm was severely affected.
Colgate Kitchen Entrees
The legend of Colgate’s cancelled foray into the world of frozen ready meals is a fascinating example of how a brand can sometimes be too big and too powerfully associated with one sector of the market to have a chance in any other.
Colgate in the 1960s attempted to branch out into meals but the brand association led to what can only be described as confused disgust. Some believed that the meals were designed to clean people’s teeth similar to dog dental products, although no proof of that exists.
Ultimately the idea was scrapped.
Ben-Gay Aspirin
On the face of it, topical heat relief company Bengay could have potentially succeeded in translating success from one form of pain-relieving product to another.
The problem was that the most prevailing association consumers had with Bengay was the strong spicy menthol taste caused by a mix of menthol, wintergreen and the active ingredient of chilli peppers. This flavour is not one people wanted to consume in tablet form, so the product failed.