The Secret Ingredient

Branding is difficult enough. You come up with a product name after brainstorming and testing, you get it trademarked, you promote it, and you hope the buying public is going to relate to it the way your tests indicated.

Some products seem to go an extra step. You’ve got the brand name and you’ve got some special formula, or secret ingredient. For example, Scope® has T₂5®. What’s T₂5? I don’t know for sure — probably just some combination of flavors, but it’s branded and trademarked.

Clorets comes with Actizol and Chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is the pigment plants use for photosynthesis. Everybody knows that. What’s Actizol? Beats the hell out of me.

The latest one I’ve seen is one of those skincare products being hawked on the eye of hell by Victoria Principal, as part of her Principal Secret line. (By the way… Victoria Principal, Principal Secret, Victoria’s Secret… I wonder if anyone has a problem with that.) Vic is pushing the Reclaim system, with “Argireline,” also known as Argireline Molecular Complex™. Not only that, but the line also utilizes Principal Secret HydraMoisture Technology® and Age Braker® benefit boosters. What more could you need?

So what’s the point of coming up with a secret ingredient and giving that a name as well? Is it a hope that if the product name is forgotten at least the secret ingredient name will be remembered? That doesn’t make a lot of sense. Is there some belief that “X with Y” is somehow easier to remember than just “X”? Are customers at the skin care counter at Filene’s, after getting slathered with some age defying goo saying, “Well, this is nice, but do you have anything with Argireline Molecular Complex, HydraMoisture Technology and Age Braker benefit boosters?”

Tags: Marketing, Branding, Trademark, Secret Ingredient, Scope, T₂5, Clorets, Actizol, Victoria Principal, Argireline, HydraMoisture, Age Braker