The writing behind one of the most innovative food brands in 2024

✅ Today's Fix: Leverage the FODMAP principle

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So often we (you, I, every man and his dog) talk about solving problems that cause *pain*.

Pick a problem, one with lots of pain, and solve for that.

The problem though, is that there is very often a huge gap between who you assume has the pain and who *actually* does.

Today, I want to discuss becoming more scientific and more focused on people’s behaviour to listen for signals of their pain.

Which sounds weird, and I don’t mean it to.

Let me explain…

Build from personal struggle

In 2015, Hayley Bay was in a lot of pain, and it made sense why — she finally got diagnosed with IBS.

If you struggle from bowel-related illnesses, which, if you’ve read my stuff for a long time, you’ll know I fit squarely into this category, you’ll know what that pain is like.

I, like many others, know that if you’re having gut issues, life sort of falls by the wayside. Life literally revolves around meal times and avoiding a bad stomach:

• Too much fibre, you’re in trouble.

• Too much spice, oh dear.

• Too much, well, just too much = a bad time.

When you’re in a bad place with your gut, you’re best friend is strategic experimentation. Trying and testing small amounts of things, seeing what works, and then doing more of what works, less of what doesn’t (it’s product iteration for foods).

An evolution of this and a well-accepted concept in the world of gut-related issues is FODMAP, which is basically things you should and shouldn’t eat.

FODMAP DIET

Then ask what is missing

• Helpful — yes.

• Complete — no.

The FODMAP diagram is good as a guide, but like if you wanted an actual edible meal, like say for instance, to make a curry, you’d be a little stuck.

Convenience was the missing ingredient (and to be honest, it often is).

There were no sauces, for example, that were low FODMAP. So someone struggling with IBS or other gut issues would have to look on the back of the jar, go through all the ingredients, and figure out if they could eat it.

Low FODMAP sauces didn’t exist —So Hayley created them.

She launched her product range in 2018 with stir-in sauces — focusing on getting them certified as low FODMAP friendly. Within a year, she was in 136 stores.

The brand has gone from strength to strength.

What I think is brilliant about this story is the fact that Hayley picked a signal that indicates people are struggling (in pain) — and used that as an identifier to then align them with her product.

Let’s break it down so you can do the same.

Step 1: Pin-point a personal pain

So you’re starting a business, a dog toy company.

Your product is different, it’s a dog calming toy to stop your dog getting worked up every time somebody goes by the house. You don’t like him being in such a state, and also, all the barking is driving you up the wall.

• Problem: My dog won’t stop barking.

• Pain: I can’t concentrate, and I’m feeling frustrated.

So you build something to calm him.

It’s a chewy toy that maintains his attention, you can stuff it with treats, so he’s sniffing away and trying to get the treats out. He’s so focused on that, he’s forgotten about the postman at the front door.

Great — step 1 complete, you’ve built from personal pain.

Step 2: Use this GPT to find the *signal*

When you are building from pain, don’t stop at highlighting the pain.

Most people do this:

• Step 1: What problem am I solving?

• Step 2: What pain am I killing?

That’s it (like we did above).

But what you need to do is ask yourself:

How do I know other people are in this pain? «This is the magic question.

Because, of course, these are the people who are most likely to buy your dog toy.

What you can’t do is walk past everyone’s house to listen out for the dog mum shouting at the top of their lungs. That’s probably not the most sustainable way to build this thing.

But what you can ask yourself is this:

‘What is my FODMAP signal?’

What you’re trying to do is use a well-established idea or framework as a signal for interest. Because someone is Googling ‘FODMAP’, you know they are interested in eating differently, and you can assume they might well have some sort of condition that means they need to eat differently.

You want to leverage that concept for your brand. Here’s a GPT prompt you can use:

FODMAP PROMPT

I run a business that helps [describe audience] by [describe your offer].

What are 5 specific products, tools, strategies, or workarounds my audience is likely to have already tried, which: 

– Signal they’re experiencing a recurring pain or problem,
– Suggest the basic or generic advice hasn’t worked for them,
– Indicate they’re actively searching for a more tailored or advanced solution,
– Show they’re aware of the problem and willing to spend money to solve it.

These are the FODMAP-style signals I can use to find, speak to, or build for people who are already deep in the problem.

Step 3: Apply to your writing

Now it’s your job to apply that everywhere, your copy should directly reflect the signal you are trying to leverage.

Here’s how Bay’s Kitchen does it:

‘IBS INSPIRED FOOD’ links the broader condition to the product they are selling. It means when you land on the site and ask ‘will this help with my IBS’ or ‘is this IBS friendly’, the answer is — yes.

And btw, if you’re worried you are limiting your market by being this specific with the people you serve, remember 5-20% of the global population suffers from IBS. And how many more people have symptoms that are not diagnosed?

Contrast that with the knowledge that barely any (if any) companies say they are designing their product with IBS in mind — you have (potentially) a HUGE market captivated.

‘Subscribe to a Low FODMAP Box’, only the people with IBS or those who are having issues with what to eat, are likely to know what a FODMAP is. In this way, the writing speaks directly to those people. Again, captivating a very specific, very engaged audience.

‘Award-winning low FODMAP foods’ again, this not only says we care about you if you’re struggling, it says ‘we’re the best at this stuff’. It comes back to creating a category of your own and not being better, being the only.

So if you’re starting your next thing and want to stand out from the crowd, use the FODMAP signal prompt to help you.

You’ve just made your business 1% smarter ✓

Much love,

Eve

Founder - Part-Time Creator Club

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