The Birth of a New 4Life® Product

As a 4Life distributor, you can feel great pride in the quality of products you share. Every 4Life product goes through thousands of hours of research and hundreds of tests to ensure you get the very best. Here’s an inside look at how 4Life products are researched, developed, tested, and delivered to market.

STEP 1

To begin, key 4Life employees attend a bi-weekly product concepts meeting to discuss new product ideas and products in various developmental phases. Many ideas are suggested by Founders David and Bianca Lisonbee, while others come from distributor requests, popular trends, or emerging needs.

President and CEO Steve Tew attends many of these meetings. He is intimately involved in the development of every new product.

STEP 2

Members of the executive team, including David, Bianca, and Steve, determine which new product ideas will be pursued. Then, a timeline is created.

STEP 3

4Life conducts months or sometimes years of research before a product formula is created. The Research and Development (R&D) team investigates ingredients based on uniqueness and efficacy benefits.

The International Product Registration (IPR) team conducts research to determine which proposed ingredients are accepted in specific countries. Then, IPR members begin the extensive international product registration process. The Product Marketing team researches packaging, pricing, market demand, and launch strategy.

If a certain ingredient is not accepted in a key market, 4Life might create a revised product formula. 4Life performs as many tests on market-specific products as it does for products created for worldwide distribution.

STEP 4

The R&D team extensively tests and reviews each raw ingredient before creating a tentative formula. 4Life has a strict vetting process for each ingredient supplier. Ingredients must be available long term, and the supplier must ensure sustained quality.

Quality testing is done throughout every step of the process to ensure consistency in identity, purity, strength, and composition.

STEP 5

The product’s delivery method must be determined once a formula is created. Will it be a capsule, chewable, or powder? Will it be contained in a box, bottle, canister, or bag? The R&D team also develops options for potential flavors.

STEP 6

Before completing a final production run, the R&D team conducts a series of pilot production and manufacturing test runs. Quality control testing is also done to ensure the product meets GMP guidelines.

Beyond the required testing, 4Life takes pride in conducting extensive pharmaceutical-level testing on every product.

STEP 7

Additional product testing can be done through numerous university studies. In these studies, cutting-edge research is performed on 4Life products to ensure they work as intended. 4Life also conducts focus groups consisting of employees or a small group of distributors who test product samples.

STEP 8

Employees often brainstorm many ideas before a final product name is chosen. It is important to select a name that can be trademarked in several markets and easily translated into different languages.

STEP 9

4Life designers create new product labels for executive review, while the writing team creates product copy from a marketing brief written by the R&D and Product Marketing teams. Eventually, a final label design is selected and sent to print.

The supplement facts panel is written by the members of the R&D team who developed the product formula.

STEP 10

A product launch strategy and sales collateral are created by the Marketing team, and everyone prepares to unveil the new product. Most often, this takes place at a 4Life international convention.

At last, the new product is ready for distributors to try and share!

Founder and Chairman of the Board David Lisonbee Talks New Products

How do you come up with new product ideas?

Ideas are most often borne out of prevailing health needs in the marketplace. I also often get ideas from my ongoing research about transfer factors and other promising nutrients.

What is your favorite aspect of the new product creation process?

I love watching the entire research and development process unfold. It’s satisfying to see a product progress from mere research and data into something that we can put into people’s hands to help change their lives.

What is the most challenging aspect of the product development process?

It can be very challenging to navigate the regulations for different countries. Thankfully, we have a great team led by Chief Operating Officer Danny Lee and Vice President of International Product Registration Catherine Larsen. They work tirelessly to ensure that we can get products approved in as many countries as possible.

How are new products named?

It sometimes resembles the process of naming a new baby. You might not know the perfect name until the “baby” has arrived! In all seriousness, naming 4Life products is a collaborative process. We like to have a name that reflects a key ingredient or benefit of the product itself. Often, we solicit the help of different departments to ensure we come up with the best name possible—and hopefully one that will be easily understood in other languages.

For example, I love the story behind 4Life Transfer Factor® RioVida® Tri-Factor® Formula. RioVida was born out of my research in Brazil and the amazing properties of the açaí berry. The name “RioVida” means “river of life” in Portuguese and reflects the bounteous benefits of the berries in the formula.