Animal Instincts

Consumers are a pet brand’s real best friends.

No, they don’t make purchase decisions. And no, they don’t have the communication skills required to be influenced by marketing messages (at least, we think not).

But pets can now be found in more U.S. homes than ever before, and their owners are spending a sizable amount of money keeping them healthy and happy.

“People invest lots of time and resources in making the best choices for their four-legged family members,” says Bryan Brown, director of communications for Iams, the dog and cat food brand of Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble.

The Pet Food Institute, Washington, DC, estimates that there are about 75 million cats and 59 million dogs currently kept as pets in U.S. households. About 34 percent of households own at least one cat, and about 37 percent own at least one dog. According to a study by trade magazine Pet Food Industry, Americans spent $9.8 billion on food, litter, and other pet supplies in 2000, a six percent increase over 1999.

Specialty retail chains such as Petco and PetsMart have been expanding rapidly to meet the growing demands of pet owners. San Diego-based Petco added 52 stores last year to bring its total to 530; it plans to open an additional 55 in 2001 on its way to a goal of 1,200. PetsMart, Phoenix, launched 50 stores in 2000 to bring its total to 545, and will cut the ribbon on another 36 this year. “I think it’s a matter of people paying more attention to their companion animals,” says Petco director of communications Dan Cowan.

There are, naturally, also a bevy of Web sites dedicated to helping raise just about any animal you can imagine. (Brash and ambitious online retailer Pets.com, however, found life as a stray too difficult and was acquired by PetsMart.)

Increasingly, supermarkets, drug stores, and mass merchandisers, which in the past had limited their pet SKUs to dog and cat products, have opened the aisles to creatures both fish and fowl.

Walking the Dog

Likewise, pet brands have stepped up their efforts to win over pet owners. Soon-to-be Nestlé S.A. division Ralston Purina, St. Louis, used to channel promotion dollars almost exclusively into FSIs, says brand manager Jim Allen, but recently has sought to become more “visible.” Since 1998, the Purina Dog Chow brand, for example, has sponsored the Incredible Dog Challenge, a series of athletic competitions for canines featuring such activities as diving, agility courses, and something described as “relay dragstrip racing for dogs.”

Purina’s involvement has taken the competitions from small, local affairs to a series of six regional events and a national championship broadcast on ESPN, Bristol, CT. This year, USA Network added coverage by airing an hour-long special on the first regional event in St. Petersburg, FL. Kicking Cow Promotions, St. Louis, handles.

Purina’s old media strategy was “warm, fuzzy commercials with a pet and its owner, which was more staged,” says Allen. “This hour-long program left a deeper impression. There’s more to [marketing] than just a coupon.”

In 1999, Purina’s Meow Mix adapted its most-famous TV spots into a mobile tour in which the S.S. Meow Mix traversed the country getting consumers to warble the brand’s jingle for a shot at prizes. A repeat performance in late 2000, dubbed Jingle Your Way to L.A., had consumers in 30 cities singing their own versions for a shot at a trip to the finals in Los Angeles, where actor Tony Randall served as judge. (Wayne Newton presided over the first year’s finale.) This year’s winner got $10,000, a lifetime supply of product, and a shopping spree on Rodeo Drive. Radio promos supported. Marketing Drive Worldwide, Wilton, CT, handled.

P&G bought Iams and sister brand Eukanuba last year and quickly gave the brands a push. Iams was given distribution outside of pet specialty stores while Eukanuba (which is still available only in specialty stores and veterinarian offices) received promotional energy via FSIs and increased advertising.

To boost sales of the “super-premium” Eukanuba line, Iams late last year dangled an in-store offer for a 14-month dog calendar with rebates and coupons on purchases of 15-pound bags of dog food and a free storage container with purchases of 30-pound bags; cat owners scored Kitty calendars for buying four-pound bags. Noble and Associates, Springfield, MO, handled.

“Iams and Eukanuba are not household names yet,” says Brown. “We think we have some opportunities to expand awareness.”

Redeeming Rover

Pet brands have hit the FSI circuit in full force this year. (Pet treats was the third fastest-growing category in FSIs in 2000, per Lincolnshire, IL-based NCH NuWorld Marketing.) Recent drops included an FSI from Nabisco’s El Paso, TX-based Milk-Bone dog biscuits brand carrying a pair of dollar-off coupons and a self-liquidating offer for a ball toy (for two UPCs and $8.99).

In honor of National Pet Dental Health Month in March — hey, dogs need hygiene, too — Hackettstown, NJ-based M&M/Mars Co.’s Pedigree brand ran an FSI offering $10 discounts on dental cleanings for consumers who sent in two proofs of purchase for Dentabone biscuits and a copy of the vet bill. The FSI also included a 50-cent coupon for future purchases.

Pedigree borrowed a page from the cereal aisle with a premium offer that sank Pound Puppies plush toys into bags of puppy food. An SLO overlay dangled the three available toys for two UPCs and $2.99.

Meanwhile, The Clorox Co., Oakland, CA, got cause-minded in the first quarter by teaming with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, New York City, for a continuity program. Consumers who bought specially marked packages of Fresh Steps Scoop litter collected “Paw Points” that could be redeemed for prizes including bean-bag toys, cat beds, and animal carriers. Each purchase also triggered a donation to Fresh Steps Home, a partnership between the ASPCA and the brand that rescues stray cats.

Tongues and tails are wagging.