Marketing Musings of a Dog Enthusiast
Tyson Foods recently announced they purchased a minority stake in Freshpet, a manufacturer of refrigerated pet food. This news inspired Packaged Facts, to send an e-direct reminder about their Fresh Pet Food in North America study which was released in July, 2008. Freshpet will apparently gain access to Tyson’s distribution network and manufacturing facilities, while … Read more
The Truth About Pet Food reported on a pet food class action lawsuit that was thrown out in Nevada. Owners who purchased WalMart’s house brand Ol’ Roy canned food felt deceived by the product’s “Made in USA” language on the label. This product was one of those that included Chinese ingredients tainted with melamine. The … Read more
At last weekend’s Detroit Kennel Club show, I took some time Sunday morning to do another vendor review. Even though it appeared they sold less vendor space this year than last, I knew there was no way I’d get through the whole gamut, so I confined myself to one of the short sides of the … Read more
Celebrating its 100th year, Milk-Bone announced the results of its “Milk-Bone Moments” contest to select its first ever spokes-dog. Dog owners submitted photos or videos and an essay to enter. People were able to vote on the Milk-Bone website (the contest ended in November, but the link is still there.) The winner is a Great … Read more
MediaPost reports that Pedigree is re-purposing some of the ads shown on the Westminster Kennel Club broadcast through the DogTime media Sparky Media Center widget. Another Westminster advertiser, Toyota Venza is also participating with Sparky as are other leading pet brands. Although Pedigree was the sole dog food sponsor of Westminster, apparently the brand is … Read more
MediaPost reports that MRM Minneapolis has landed advertising duties for Purina’s Chef Michael’s dog food. The wet food, which is sold in 3 oz tubs wrapped in a colorful cardboard sleeve, comes in eight different flavor varieties. A dry version is scheduled to launch later this year. Curiously, I could find no mention of the … Read more
MediaPost reports that the dollar value of pet food sales actually rose in the wake of the 2007 pet food recalls as owners shifted their purchases to higher end foods which promised more control and transparency regarding manufacturing and food sources. This information was reported in the latest release of the “Pet Food in the … Read more
There’s a great interview with Marion Nestle, author of “Pet Food Politics” by Christie Keith on the Pet Connection blog. I loved that book and am very much looking forward to publication of her next one “What Pets Eat.” The interview talks about the 2007 pet food recall, different ways to feed pets, and general … Read more
Having recently been encouraged to use Twitter, I’ve started my usual obsessive learning curve with any new thing of interest. After signing up to follow my friends and some leading lights of the tech world and web analytics, I turned my attention to finding other dog fanciers. Which led me to the Dog Show Secret … Read more
Packaged Facts continues to churn out pet food industry research with their latest report, “Health, Humanization and High Quality Ingredients” An excerpt from the product description page: “At the same time, one thing marketers and retailers at all levels of the market cannot afford given the faltering U.S. and global economies is complacency. More than … Read more