Marketing Musings of a Dog Enthusiast
I attended the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit this morning and was able to see the Honda Element decked out with its Dog Friendly package. I’ve read about this option before in both the trade and dog-centric press, but this was my first opportunity to see it in person. The package includes … Read more
Marx Promotion Intelligence reported that overall Free Standing Insert (FSI) activity rose by 8% in 2009 to more than 272 billion coupons dropped. Pet retailers and pet products were important contributors to this increase. PetSmart rose from 4th in 2008 to 2nd in 2009 in terms of overall FSI pages; Target continues as the #1 … Read more
The Pioneer Press reports on TwinCities.com about Minneapolis-St.Paul area animal shelters use of social media to publicize and place rescued pets. They discuss the social media strategies of the Animal Ark, Animal Humane Society, and the Minnesota Valley Humane Society All three organizations have established both Twitter and Facebook accounts. The AHS also has a … Read more
The Snif Tag collar based RFID tracking system for pets was dropped as company founders re-purpose the technology into a product that tracks hand washing by health care workers. The product, which originated in the MIT Media Lab’s Physical Language Workshop, launched in late 2005 and was profiled in high profile media including Wired and … Read more
Petfood Industry reports news from Tyson Foods fourth quarter earnings report regarding its Freshpet line of refrigerated pet foods. Freshpet is currently in test rollout with national retailers and is reportedly finding high consumer acceptance; club stores are next in their distribution plans. The Freshpet website describes the product as lightly cooked and emphasizes that … Read more
Aqua Pure Breed started following me on Twitter, introducing me to another entry in the bottled water for dogs category. This product offers innovative user-friendly packaging; it comes in a wide-mouthed plastic bottle that serves as a bowl. In addition to plain spring water, Aqua Pure Breed comes in two enhanced varieties, one for joint … Read more
Petfood Industry reported that Halo pets has signed on as a sponsor for Freekibble.com’s iPhone app, Kibble Katch. Freekibble donates 10 pieces of kibble for each click on a trivia game on their site. The food is donated by corporate sponsors which manufacture premium natural petfoods, including Castor & Pollux and Canidae on the Freekibble … Read more
I’ve seen dog sport drinks, dog beer, and now I’ve discovered a bottled spring water marketed especially for dogs. Sport Dog water, which launched in 2007 is available for order online through the Thirstmonger site and also has distribution in the Eastern US through Royal Pet Supplies. This bottled spring water meets all FDA regulations … Read more
DMNews reported on Petco‘s use of email marketing, including the recent addition of content promoting organic pet foods. These emails are supported by in-store seminars about organic foods as well as the Petco-sponsored Facebook page, Generation Natural Pet. The article goes on to describe more details of the Petco e-communications strategy including species targeting, pet … Read more
This article isn’t directly about dog food, but may give the industry some food for thought. USATODAY recently reported on comments critical of Kellogg’s for labelling Cocoa Krispies cereal with a claim that the cereal boosts immunity. If you do a Google search on dog food and immunity, over 150,00 results appear, including links to … Read more