The trade association has been looking to breathe transparency, and as such pride, into the dietary supplement industry through various initiatives, of which the one with NAD only plays a small part. CRN recently announced a series of multi-year grants supporting an advertising campaign featured in industry publications. It's objective was encouraging supplement marketing that is truthful and not misleading.
Industry publications, including Functional Foods & Nutraceuticals, Natural Products Insider, Nutraceuticals World, Nutritional Outlook and now Nutrition Industry Executive, are giving CRN's advertising initiative special rates in order to promote industry self-regulation in marketing.
"We are pleased to partner with CRN on this very important campaign to promote improved truth in advertising among dietary supplement companies," said Daniel McSweeney, publisher of Nutrition Industry Executive.
The ad campaign features the phase "there's a new sheriff in town: you", tagged with "we're aiming to clean up our industry." The project is looking to solicit the support of credible science-backed manufacturers and marketers in distancing themselves from the negative reputation of delinquent advertisers by bringing companies making blatantly false claims to NAD's attention.
The campaign forms part of a marketing initiative being conducted by CRN. It includes conference presentations, distribution of flyers explaining the program on Capitol Hill, as well as requests for mainstream publications and advertising agencies to be more selective in the types of advertising they run.
CRN is also giving multi-year grants to the NAD to help it expand its review practice of national dietary supplement advertising. CRN will have no role in determining which advertisements NAD chooses to review or whether the claims are determined to be truthful and accurate.
The association has also been strategizing an industry-wide media project to counter the influence of bad news about the industry. CRN hopes to counterbalance consumer misinformation by kicking off a large-scale movement to generate good news instead of waiting to react to bad news.
CRN has said in the past that while the effects of bad news on the industry's reputation may not have affected sales yet, they could in the future.
The results of a recent survey indicated that while the number of Americans taking supplements appeared to be steady, consumer confidence in these products is declining.
The CRN-funded Ipsos-Public Affairs survey found consumption has remained close to 65 percent since 2003, despite the fact public confidence in the safety and effectiveness of supplements has dipped from 78 percent in 2003 to 69 percent in 2006.
