Sunday / May 29. 2022
menu-logo menu-logo
brand-logo
Subscribe
Subscribe
Sunday / May 29. 2022
  • Read
    • Daily News
      • Financial
      • Insights
      • U.S.
      • International
    • Cover Stories
    • Feature Articles
    • Company Spotlights
    • Exclusive Interviews
    • Executive Announcements
    • Forward Thinking
    • New Perspectives
    • Working Smart
    • From the Publisher
    • Digital Issue
  • Listen & Watch
    • Direct Approach
    • Iconic Insights
    • The DSN Podcast
  • Attend
    • Direct Selling University
    • Global Celebration
  • Achieve
    • Global 100 List
    • CCR Program
    • Best Places to Work
    • Bravo Awards
    • Legends
  • Join
    • Membership
    • VIP Community
  • Research
    • Digital Momentum Index
    • Stock Watch
    • Stock Ticker
    • Supplier Directory
    • Resources
  • About
    • About DSN
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
    • Store
    • Connect
  • Search
Subscribe

4Life Research: The Science Behind Distributor Success

BY DSN Staff Writer | November 01, 2016 | read / Feature Articles

Company Profile

Founded: 1998
Headquarters: Sandy, Utah
Founders: David and Bianca Lisonbee
Products: Health and Wellness


In a highly competitive marketplace, the key to a company’s sustainability lies in its customer acquisition and retention programs. This is especially true in the direct selling channel, where numerous companies offer similar products and services. So how does a company differentiate itself to ensure success for its independent business owners?

When David and Bianca Lisonbee founded 4Life Research in 1998, they believed the differentiating factor for their company would be an ongoing commitment to research—research not only to develop high-quality products that would enable customers to transform their lives, but, just as important, research that would empower distributors with credibility in a competitive marketplace.

That commitment has been the reason for ongoing success at the Sandy, Utah-based company, which now has hundreds of thousands of distributors and customers with offices in 25 countries across five continents. It ranked as No. 54 on the 2015 Direct Selling News Global 100 list of the world’s largest direct selling companies, with 2015 net sales of $321 million. Today, led by President and CEO Steve Tew, 4Life Research is a global leader in protein sciences.


“Among our unique value propositions is the investment 4Life makes in research and development, quality control protocols, and every step of the manufacturing process. Our science is a differentiating factor in the marketplace.”
—David Vollmer, Chief Scientific Officer


A Message of Science

When a company brings a message of science to the marketplace, fact-based research is absolutely essential for creating layers of credibility that will resonate with distributors and customers. At 4Life, those layers include partnerships and associations with academic and research institutions as well as leading scientists and experts in a variety of specialized fields.

“Among our unique value propositions is the investment 4Life makes in research and development, quality control protocols, and every step of the manufacturing process,” says Dr. David Vollmer, Ph.D., who is 4Life’s Chief Scientific Officer. “Our science is a differentiating factor in the marketplace.”

Vollmer chairs 4Life’s Health Sciences Advisory Board, an independent council of doctors, scientists and researchers across the United States who work to inform 4Life’s in-house R&D team of the latest and most innovative work being done in the area of protein sciences.

Once a new product has been identified, Vollmer and his team contact universities and independent firms to determine their area of focus and level of interest in doing the research. Such was the case with 4Life’s newest product, 4LifeTransform Burn™, a patent-pending and proprietary thermogenic blend that supports an accelerated approach to body transformation that was introduced at the company’s annual convention in October.

4Life

Burn’s hoped-for effects were substantiated through 4Life’s research in thermogenesis, the biological process in which the body breaks down fat and generates heat. “For the first time ever, we’ve used thermogenesis to show how 4LifeTransform Burn ignites the fat-burning process in the body,” says Vollmer.

4Life’s thermogenic research included an independent, preclinical laboratory study conducted at The Jackson Laboratory—a genetic testing laboratory—and an in-house 12-week pilot study. Vollmer and his team used a process called thermal imaging, the same technology used by the military to track the movement of people in the dark. In this study it was used to measure thermogenesis in the body, which shows how healthy a person is and how efficiently the body burns fat.


4Life Research’s use of thermal imaging for its research on the effects of 4LifeTransform Burn™ on brown adipose tissue is the first of its kind not only in direct selling but in any industry.

Supportive Pilot Studies

Text4Life founders David and Bianca Lisonbee with President and CEO Steve Tew.

In addition to the thermogenic research, 4Life conducted two in-house pilot studies on the Burn product during the 18 months leading up to the product release, collecting over a million points of data. Vollmer and his staff found several compelling data points to support the product’s ability to burn fat that will be of valuable assistance to distributors in sharing the product with customers.

The first was that Burn was shown to accelerate metabolism and double a body’s ability to burn fat. The second was that it triggered body fat loss without altering lean muscle. “That’s a really important point, because what you find a lot of times when you have these weight loss or weight management programs is you will see weight loss but a lot of that weight loss will be lean mass,” explains Vollmer.

Burn also decreased hunger cravings and increased feelings of fullness. “One of the things that we often see when we do these types of studies is that as you’re starting to lose weight you have these issues with hunger,” says Vollmer. “If you go on these caloric-restrictive diets, people complain that they’re always hungry. So we wanted to make sure as we were going through this process that we would mitigate that issue as much as we could. What we found, statistically, is the hunger cravings decreased over time and feelings of fullness increased.” A fourth data point showed that Burn, when combined with 4Life PRO-TF®, increased the molecular fat-burning marker, UCP1, by more than 50 percent. PRO-TF is a protein infusion that supports weight management, muscle performance and the immune system.

TextThe Direct Selling Association’s award for excellence in Marketing & Sales Campaigns, presented to 4Life for the launch of PRO-TF® and the 4Life Transform® brand.

How exactly do distributors use data points such as these without sounding like mini scientists, especially in light of the fact that other health and wellness companies—both inside and outside the direct selling channel—can espouse the scientific values of their products?

While 4Life places a strong emphasis on the science behind its products, the success in acquiring and retaining customers harkens back to the very reason the Lisonbees put research in the company name: differentiation. While the company fully supports distributors with product profile sheets and other marketing materials detailing the scientific research behind the products—even adding a university study on the PRO-TF label so that a distributor would not require a brochure—the dissemination of that scientific information is secondary to the brand experience.

Brand experience is the “show” and the supportive, fact-based data is the “tell.” There is no need for distributors to recite different combinations and compositions of ingredients. They have their experiences and their testimonies to share, including the ways in which the products have changed their lives as well as how the company has changed their lives. To successfully differentiate the brand, they focus on those questions customers most want to know: What does this company do? Who are they? How is customer service? What tools do they empower their people with to succeed? How is their messaging?


“We’re as passionate about marketing as our scientists are about substantiation because both are tools that distributors use to share our products with new customers.”
—Kelly Bellerose, Vice President, Product Marketing


Creating the Brand Experience

The hope is that Burn and the thermogenic research behind it will reach the level of success of the company’s previous offering, 4Life PRO-TF.

The April 2015 launch of protein infusion PRO-TF was the company’s most successful product introduction to date, not only for the $18 million in worldwide sales to date, but also for accolades received for its marketing.

‘“We’re as passionate about marketing as our scientists are about substantiation because both are tools that distributors use to share our products with new customers,” says Kelly Bellerose, 4Life’s Vice President of Product Marketing.

For the PRO-TF campaign, 4Life combined athletic endorsements, customer trials and testimonials, a research partnership with Auburn University, and a series of marketing collateral that included digital product profile sheets, the website 4LifeTransform.com and a 4LifeTransform app. The app and website were designed to support the field with their customer acquisition and retention efforts. The app, which has had over 32,000 downloads since it was introduced, allows users to build groups and access information about working out, healthy dieting, and the need for water and sleep. The website, which has had over 265,000 views from 165 countries, includes customer success stories and testimonials from renowned athletes—such as 2016 USA OPEN National Bench Press Champion Brady Stewart and Mixed Martial Arts fighter Pearl Gonzalez—who use the product as part of their training regimens.

“We wanted to empower distributors with a multiplicity of tools on many platforms, both digital and hard copy, and then the voices: academic, athletic and personal experience from customers,” says Bellerose.

The marketing efforts by 4Life have not gone unnoticed.

In June, the company was presented with the Direct Selling Association’s award for excellence in Marketing & Sales Campaigns for the launch of PRO-TF® and the 4LifeTranform® brand. This award came just a month after American Business Awards honored the company with two Stevie Awards—Campaign of the Year and Lifestyle Award for its app. Finally 4Life was one of five finalists for the recent 2016 SupplySide CPG Editor’s Choice Awards in the sports nutrition category for achievement in innovation and market impact.


“2016 has been a stellar year for our products and the 4LifeTransform® brand. Burn will, I think, give us the momentum we need to make 2017 another record-breaking year.”
—Danny Lee, Chief Operating Officer


An Emphasis on Innovation and Validation

4Life’s commitment to progressive science does not stop with research and development. The company also has invested in patent acquisition and manufacturing. The company now holds four U.S. patents and 32 international patents, with dozens more pending. In December 2014, it broke ground on a 46,000-square-foot plant in Vineyard, Utah, just 20 minutes from its corporate headquarters in Sandy. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in December 2015, and the plant became fully operational in the first quarter of 2016.

The Vineyard facility gives 4Life start-to-finish control over every step of the manufacturing process, including the batching, blending, encapsulating and packaging of the majority of the top-selling protein 4Life Transfer Factor® products. It is currently generating 500,000 bottles, which equates to 40 million capsules, per month.

“The manufacturing facility allows us to validate our processes to ensure superior blending, encapsulation and packaging,” says Vollmer. “One of the first things we did was undertake a validation campaign that was essentially pulled out of the same type of validations done in pharmaceutical companies and applied that to the processes in the new facility.”

The company believes the new facility, which currently employs 50 production and warehousing workers, will guarantee the delivery of quality products for years to come.

“2016 has been a stellar year for our products and the 4LifeTransform® brand,” says Chief Operating Officer Danny Lee. “Burn will, I think, give us the momentum we need to make 2017 another record-breaking year.”

Posted in Feature Articles
Related Articles
Aligning Your Vision, Mission & Values May 18, 2022

Aligning Your Vision, Mission & Values

Read more
Why Some of Retail’s Biggest Brands Are Exploring Direct Selling May 06, 2022

Why Some of Retail’s Biggest Brands Are Exploring Direct Selling

Read more
25 Simple Steps to Build Your Corporate Culture April 28, 2022

25 Simple Steps to Build Your Corporate Culture

Read more
brand-logo
The News You Need.
The Name You Trust.
Subscribe

Breaking global news, emerging trends and powerful stories conveniently curated to help direct selling executives stay informed, engaged and a step ahead.

  • Read
  • Listen & Watch
  • Attend
  • Achieve
  • Research
  • About
  • Connect
5800 Democracy Drive
Suite 100
Plano, Texas 75024
info@directsellingnews.com
Copyright 2022 Direct Selling News | All Rights Reserved
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
Cookie SettingsAccept All
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT