AG1 is 16 years old, sells at a premium price point, and has scaled into a global leader largely through digital and influencer marketing. But the brand’s senior brand and creative director Julian Harvie is throwing cold water on the usual D2C playbook: customers do not care about your product the way you do.
Speaking ahead of NutraIngredients’ Sports & Active Nutrition Summit Europe in London, Harvie said the real unlock is to drop the ego and lead with what consumers are trying to achieve.
Lead with relevance, not raw proof
AG1 has third-party certifications and clinical evidence most brands would kill for. Harvie’s take? Keep it in your back pocket. “Most consumers don’t care or they don’t understand those things,” he told NutraIngredients. Harvie says brands should stop leading with “we’ve got 44 times gold clinical trials” because people do not pay attention. It is brand-first, not customer-first.
The switch is to make the science feel personal. Harvie pointed to a question like “did you know the supplements industry is less well regulated than dog food?” That kind of stat immediately reframes why third-party certification matters to the buyer.
Use stat-led hooks to earn attention
AG1’s creative approach relies on thought-provoking facts and questions. Think nutrient density differences between a carrot today and 30 years ago, or the claim that 90% of people in the UK aren’t meeting daily fiber needs. These hooks interrupt the scroll because they say something unexpected about the consumer’s world, not about a powder.
Science is a retention tool
Where proof does heavy lifting is after the sale. Once someone is paying £80–90 a month, benefits can feel less tangible as their baseline improves. Scientific backing becomes reassurance that the subscription is still the right choice, Harvie explained.
That’s a useful split for any D2C brand:
- Top of funnel: lead with customer problems, surprising stats and relevance.
- Middle of funnel: connect those problems to your solution without drowning people in specs.
- Retention and post-purchase: deploy proof, certifications and expert credibility to reduce churn.
EU rules force a tighter creative playbook
AG1 faces a much stricter promotional environment in Europe than in the US. Testimonials cannot make claims the brand cannot legally make, so thousands of glowing reviews are effectively off-limits. Medical ambassadors such as Dr Rangan Chatterjee are restricted from endorsing supplements in ways that imply medicinal effects. Even UGC creators often have to reshoot ads to remove problematic claims.
Harvie acknowledged the frustration, especially when smaller players appear to push boundaries. But the guardrails also create a positioning opportunity: disciplined, compliant marketing can protect trust in an industry where consumers have huge intent but are often exposed to overhyped products and misleading promises.
What to steal from AG1’s playbook
The larger lesson is the Jobs to be Done frame. Harvie put it bluntly: customers care about their family, their kids and what they want to get done. The product is a tool for an extraordinary life, not the extraordinary part.
So before your next campaign, ask one question: are we joining the customer’s existing story or trying to make them join ours?
Source: NutraIngredients.com
