The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Yale grads’ hangover fix gets new name
Sales go global for Mentis
NEW HAVEN » After publicizing their hangover supplement this spring shortly before graduating from Yale University, Liam McClintock and Margaret Morse came face to face with their first real-world business lesson.
A company wasn’t too thrilled after seeing McClintock’s and Morse’s name for their product. So the two received a cease-and-desist letter from an attorney. The original name had already been trademarked.
The error gave McClintock pause.
“We’re done,” McClintock said, believing their nascent product targeting hangover causes would have to cease production. The two already had raised more than $45,000 in March and April through crowdfunding and moved almost 25,000 packets of the product this year. After consulting with a lawyer, they were told they had to change their product’s name.
That’s how Mentis was born. The two said the name previously had been suggested when their company was founded.
“We just scrambled and got lucky the packing hadn’t gone into production yet,” McClintock said. “We were able to change the package. We worked to completely rebrand.”
Mentis comes from the Latin phrase, “compos mentis,” which translates to “of sound mind,” harkening back to their product’s aim.
“It was a great learning experience,” Morse said. “We were able to really improve the brand through this.”
With their name situation cleared, McClintock and Morse are shifting their focus to launching global sales for their product. The supplement works by combining ingredients that increase alcohol clearance and improve the liver’s ability to break down alcohol’s by-products. The supplement is available for sale on their website and is being manufactured in New York. The product had been made available at some local retailers in Greater New Haven, but McClintock said they found it was hard to get much exposure on shelves. It ended up hurting their margins.
“We’re focusing on online sales, because that’s what’s best for us,” McClintock said.
It’s now being sold exclusively online, a factor that’s allowed them to tap into international markets. McClintock said they’re working on manufacturing at least 30,000 additional packets.
“This is exciting for us. We’re seeing international expansion,” McClintock said.
It’s shipping to Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Taiwan and Belgium. And, the sales are helping spark interest in distribution. McClintock said there are some “regulatory hurdles” the company will need to address, but those markets are promising. Some markets, such as South Korea, show interest but can be difficult to enter.
“There’s a lot of demand out there,” McClintock said. “They love American products. They have the issues that we have with hangovers.”
The two have even reached out to other companies creating similar products. McClintock called them competition, but there are other readily available products he feels his company will need to challenge.
“The way I see it, it’s not a zero-sum game at all,” McClintock said. “Our real competitors are, like, Gatorade and coffee.”
They will also need to work on marketing their product so people are aware hangover supplements even exist, especially ones such as Mentis that rely heavily on research. McClintock said about 2 percent of Americans know such supplements are available. It’s one of the reasons the two decided to focus on online sales, where they think they will be better able to provide more information on its effectiveness.
Much of this is due to lack of exposure to the product, Morse said
“It’s changing consumer behavior to be aware of the positive effects of the product,” Morse said. “People haven’t been exposed to the product.”
Early reviews for the supplement have been largely positive, with referrals coming mostly by word of mouth. McClintock said he’s only gotten one negative review so far, from a man who demanded his money back. They’ve also found most consumers have been a bit older, which McClintock said probably has something to do with the belief that hangovers get worse as a person ages.
“Your time becomes more precious,” McClintock said.
That was somewhat surprising, given the product was created and marketed primarily for young professionals who wanted to enjoy a night of drinking and still be prepared to hit the ground running at the office the next day.
“College students, they tend to be less responsible; they’re not necessarily thinking about their (next) day,” McClintock said.