Ellen Schutt was responsible for the creation of Nutraceuticals World. She spearheaded the initial research and magazine concept, recruited a stellar editorial advisory board and top-notch columnists and produced varied content that has proven its success over the past 12 years. In her role as editor-in-chief, Ms. Schutt handled all the day-to-day duties associated with running a monthly magazine and also became an expert on the industry’s suppliers, manufacturers, channels, markets, ingredients and issues. She has built a strong network of knowledge and contacts that continues to serve her today. Ms. Schutt, who has been associated with the natural products industry for 15 years, also has experience in the raw materials sector as marketing director at RFI Ingredients, a manufacturer of natural, certified organic ingredients. Her role later expanded to include a sales function where she ran the company’s custom formulations division, which was acquired from Garden of Life in 2004. Since 2006, Ms. Schutt has been running her own consulting business, Schutt Solutions, where she has worked with a variety of clients handling business development, strategic marketing, competitive research and analysis projects and new product and market development. She is also a partner in LaunchNatural, which focuses on launching high growth natural product companies into the U.S. natural retail market. As part of her LaunchNatural involvement, Ms. Schutt is chief mom officer for Xigo Health, an exciting new supplement company with a focus on moms. For Xigo, she writes blogs, coordinates a variety of social media initiatives to interact with moms and provide tips on keeping families healthy.
 
Health E-Insights: What was your best marketing success?
   
Ms. Schutt: I’m proudest of my involvement with the start-up of Nutraceuticals World magazine in 1998. The magazine is still thriving today so I guess that counts as a marketing success. It was so exciting to come into this industry as someone living a LOHAS lifestyle and meet so many wonderful, like-minded people and it was a thrill to build a successful magazine from the ground up. Once I found this industry, I have never looked back and love the energy and true ‘I want to make a difference’ attitude of the people in this business. 

 
Health E-Insights: Is brand promotion important?
 
Ms. Schutt: Because of the information overload world in which we live, I think the tagline could be, ‘If you build it, they may not come.’ Because of this, I believe brands without promotion are irrelevant because they are unknown. Unless you are lucky enough to hit with a viral YouTube video, you need to have a very specific and broad-based promotional strategy to build your brand.
 
Health E-Insights: Which brands do you feel do a good job when it comes to promotion?
 
Ms. Schutt: Pop Chips is one that pops into my mind at the moment (pun intended). I think they have done a great job with a fun and whimsical Facebook campaign, for example, not to mention the fact that I love the product. I entered a Facebook contest to win a month’s supply of Pop Chips but I was kind of hoping I didn’t win because I don’t really want that many bags in my house. Another perennial favorite for me is Stonyfield Farm. The company has come such a long way and I love that they are using their success to promote more than just their products. I remember interviewing Gary Hirshberg years ago for an ‘Industry Innovator’ article at Nutraceuticals World and then, as now, they are a company that truly walks the talk with everything they do. 
 
Health E-Insights: How much do you Twitter or Facebook?
 
Ms. Schutt: My main client right now is a great start-up company called Xigo Health and my role with them is chief mom officer, where I am interacting through social media with our core market of moms. As part of this I tweet and post to Facebook regularly as well as write blogs and interact with other mom bloggers. It’s been a very interesting experience and an amazing new world to discover. So many people now spend large blocks of the day online and this is a way to have conversations with them that are relevant and immediate.
 
Health E-Insights: If you could change one thing about the supplement business, what would it be?
 
Ms. Schutt: I would like to see our business more respected in the mainstream world. Between the less-than-flattering media reports and plenty of self-induced drama, we are not as successful as we could be, and I wish we could clean up our act, both in reality and perception, once and for all.

 
Health E-Insights: Of all your talents and successes, what do you want to be remembered for?
 
Ms. Schutt: I’m too young to have done the most successful thing I will do on a professional level. Hopefully it’s still to come. And since I’m a parent, I think I want to be remembered for having successfully raised two vibrant, well-adjusted and happy young men. At ages 10 and 7, they are on their way, but the teenage years still loom.
 
For more information and interview consideration, contact Sheldon Baker at [email protected] or visit his website at www.BakerDillon.com. And check out his blog at www.NutraInk.com.