Without looking it up, do you know what SMA stands for?

[hunkermunker]

I was a bit surprised - surprised I didn't know until I read it this week, that is! I thought I did.

[oopsacoconut]

My MIL told me when DD was born it stood for 'Superior Milk Alternative'

[CharCharGabor]

Haven't read thread - is it Synthetic Milk Added? Sure I remember reading it in a link months ago.

[hunkermunker]

I bet they WISH it stood for that, OAC!

[sambo303]

goodness oops how charming

hunker I had no idea, it doesnt sound especially tasty but more like it comes from a lab like 'formula'. Everyone I know uses Aptamil, they tell me it's the best. So, what does Aptamil mean/stand for. Perhaps oopss MIL can advise?

[tiktok]

Aptamil is a made-up name, and it has made-up-name ingredients ('immunfortis'. WTF???)

I have posted on here before saying this so forgive repetition: Aptamil is the aspirational formula, the 'posh' formula. Not because it has anything special or different about it, but because this is how it is marketed...as a premium, slightly-more-expensive product, with a classier-looking packaging.

It is heavily marketed to HCPs, who then obligingly recommend it by name to mothers.

Middle class mothers using formula almost all use Aptamil, and often name check it here and in real life ('he gets x ml of Aptamil in the evening') rather than just saying formula.

[sambo303]

thanks tiktok, all my friends are middle class so that must explain why they choose Aptamil. I didnt think they'd tasted each one and gone for the most delicious.

[KingRolo]

I have noticed that tiktok.

I think the use of the line 'When you're ready to move on from breastfeeding...' in the TV ads is very clever, implying as it does that they really understand that breast is best but, come on, you can't do it forever and everyone needs to move on at some point.

[earplugs]

And the name "Synthetic Milk Adapted" was referenced and I was surprised I hadn't known it already and I wondered whether it was hidden for a reason, because people don't like thinking of "artificial milk" and "synthetic" makes me think of nylon and other sweaty manmade fibres - and I wondered whether it would be a bit of a marketing own goal to make what it stood for widely-known.

Or maybe its because the full name didn't fit on the tin??? Sorry not being flippant, but surely the name of the product must be of a certain size to be easily recognised and 'Synthetic Milk Adapted' would be a stuggle to get on?

I also think if they were that bothered about trying to hide it, then they would have name changed by now to something equally as stupid as Aptamil. I understand the whole brand recognition thing, but doesn't seem to have done CIF or Snickers and harm

[HumphreyCobbler]

This thread has reminded me to buy the book. Thanks!

Will it send my blood pressure sky high? It sounds as if it will..

[tiktok]

Branding is massively important in formula - and formula is one of the products you have a relationship with, for obvious reasons, and which people are very loyal to.

Soap powder used to be like this and to a certain extent, still is (I sat next to a detergent brand manager at a dinner party once - he told me that what a woman's mother used, or didn't use, is a very powerful factor, even these days. It's funny, because my mum had a Bad Experience with Ariel once and I have never bought it, and will probably never ever do!)

Introducing a new formula to the market is very difficult as you need to build up trust with the consumer - it's one area where people will deffo not buy for the 'fun' value of having something new.

[TrillianAstra]

Guessing without looking - something like "Smart Mothers' Alternative'.

[TrillianAstra]

Oh, I thought you were surprised because it was something really 'hey, this stuff is so great' that they wouldn't be allowed to say nowadays, whereas in fact it's the opposite.

I think in the US they call it 'baby milk' to distinguish from the other kind of milk that you buy (cow's milk), which is not suitable for babies. Not to suggest that human milk is not for babies.

[jimbobsmummy]

All brand names are designed to advertise and create an 'image' and there is no reason why baby milk/formula should be any different really. I don't have a problem with that really.

Lots of brand names we easily recognise stand for things that we wouldn't find terribly appealing.

E45? WD40? TCP? Names we all know but do you know what any of them stand for? I do, but they wouldn't particularly encourage you to buy the product. What about the origins of the name Coca-cola?

In many ways SMA is better than others, at least it says what it is. Better that than Aptamil (a made up pseudoscientific name that sounds like 'apt milk') or Cow and Gate (just made up and absolutely meaningless!)

[KingRolo]

jimbobsmummy - the difference is that infant formula is a baby's sole source of nutrition for the first 6 months if not breastfed. It's not the same as shampoo or washing powder - things you arguably don't acually need.

E45, WD40 and TCP etc aren't food products are they so they are a little different.

I believe there should just be one generic type of formula available to avoid the mega-corporations making vast amounts of money out of what is an absolute necessity for babies whose mothers can't breastfeed or don't want to.

[KSal]

maybe I'm too much of a capitalist for this thread, but isn't the whole point of 'brands' to differentiate yourself from the crowd of other products on the market.

Aptamil is pretty clever marketing in my opinion. Even if you ignore the immunofortis stuff, it sells itself as a breastmilk substitute (which thay all are, frankly)... although if my daughters nappies were anything to go by it must be a fairly good approximation - i didn't notice any difference when i changed over from BF to Aptamil.

[jimbobsmummy]

The advertising principles apply exactly the same to formula as to anything else though, because whether we like it or not, in reality it is just a product like any other.

It is a bit different because you may have no choice but to buy it, and there are of course different emotional reactions to formula rather than say E45.

But both are about brand awareness, so if you need a product you buy that particular one rather than another. So SMA rather than Aptamil, where in fact there is really no difference between them. Or E45 rather than a cheaper generic tub of aqueous cream, for example.

[tiktok]

KSal : "isn't the whole point of 'brands' to differentiate yourself from the crowd of other products on the market."....er, yes, isn't that what we are saying?

In the case of formula, the market has to be segmented in purely marketing terms, as the actual differences between the products are very small. At the same time, the underlying would-be selling point of them all is 'closeness to breastmilk'. They all try to sell themselves on that basis and then need something else to forge a relationship with the potential buyer...hence the different logos, package colours, places where they advertise and so on.

Aptamil has been a success (if you regard 'success' as managing to convince midwives, HVs and mothers that there is anything special or even very different about it) and has forged an indentity against many more established brands.

[jimbobsmummy]

Oh and all first stage ones are breastmilk substitutes, that is what they are designed to be.

The follow on milks are sold as 'not to replace breastfeeding' - which they aren't designed to - now that is very clever marketing. Mainly because it gets them round the ban on advertising the standard milks and allows brand promotion they couldn't otherwise do.

Its just business really.

[KingRolo]

They aren't actually allowed to advertise formula for babies under 6 months, that's why they invented 'follow-on' milk for babies over 6 months old which is virtually the same as the other stuff - allows them to advertise on TV and get their brand out there.

[KingRolo]

X post!

[MrsBadger]

fascinating re middle-class mums and Aptimil

similar niche for Hipp Organic (because it's organic, innit)

for the one day when a freezer failure meant dd couldn;t have ebm I asked for Hipp merely because it doesn't smell of fish [bleurgh]

[TotalChaos]

despite feeding DS on it for several months, it never one occurred to me to look up what it stood for . Suppose at least the full name is accurate, better than Cow and Gate etc...

[KSal]

tiktok - is there really so little difference between them all?

the point i was trying to make about Aptamil branding is that although they are all breastmilk subsitute at that stage, Aptamil is the one that says it in big letters on the box. They have specifically targetted themselves at mums like me who want to be made to feel batter that they are not breastfeeding.

I guess I accepted a long time ago that businesses are out there to make money... and yes that does mean regarding success as "managing to convince midwives, HVs and mothers that there is anything special or even very different about" their product.

[KSal]

erm... better... not batter!!

[StealthPolarBear]

Before I got involved in pregnancy / motherhood I assumed it was somehow related to the instant mashed potato brand!
Trillian - do US mothers get formula free?