Pet Food Forum presentation challenges industry to consider new pet ownership paradigm
By Robert Wheatley
If anything our agency has a long-standing love affair with the pet care category. It’s a business we have a passion for. And that comes out routinely in our efforts to position ourselves as thought-leaders and public relations/social media experts in generating pet care brand growth.
This week I had the wonderful privilege of presenting at the Pet Food Forum convention here in Chicago. Delightfully, the folks at Watt Publishing (Debbie Phillips in particular) who produce Pet Food Industry magazine and this annual conference for pet food manufacturers, allowed me to collaborate on a unique presentation with David Lummis of Packaged Facts research.
Both David and I share a personal interest in emerging evidence that there is a tangible, demonstrable, documented connection between pet ownership and human health and wellness benefits. This is a transformative idea for pet ownership and may well be for the pet care business generally. Bottom line: successful brand communication springs from relevance of the message to the consumer. And what could be more relevant than your pet supporting your own health?
Dr. Marty Becker, perhaps the nation’s most well-known celebrity vet and pet care advocate wrote a book called the “Healing Power of Pets” where we describes pet ownership as a “Human Life Support System.” Marty deserves credit and a big thank you for helping me gather data for this presentation.
Human health — virgin territory for pet brand building…
Right now the go-to-market platform for most pet care brands is focused on celebrating the emotional bond that resides at the center of the relationship between pets and their two-legged parents. More recently there’s been an avalanche of pet food brand communication centered on superior pet food ingredient story telling. A phenomenon we call “premiumization” has taken root and drives the entire industry. The massive 2007 pet food recall opened the doors to public discovery of what pet food ingredient terms mean and ushered in a new era of redefinition and re-staging of higher quality pet diets. That said, the focus on ingredients breeds too much similarity (we call this specsmanship) in brand conversations with consumers.
No one has really moved as yet to expand their brand voice to address the connection between pet ownership and improved health and wellness for the pet parent. Hence our goal at the conference to get this on the industry’s radar screen…
What rich territory to mine for engagement when you consider the chance to expand the pet care value proposition to include protecting, elevating your own health. The pet and pet parent relationship is an amazing story of emotional bond in itself. The symbiotic nature of this – one protects the health and wellbeing of the other – is just exciting. Brands that get this right can redefine the conversation and drive a wedge of differentiation in how they go to market.
YouTube functionality supports converting engagement to sale
By Robert Wheatley
Scanning the recent edition of Google’s recent self-published e-zine Think Quarterly, I ran across an article on functionality improvements at YouTube that permit viewers to buy items they like within the production via a point/click hotlink to another web platform.
Video is an engaging and entertaining medium. With high involvement categories that naturally attract an enthusiastic fan base, you can immediately see the business-generating opportunities when taking advantage of viewer interest and converting “in the moment” to a purchase opportunity.
The site above, You-Tique, is a great example of a fashion business aggregating a series of trend videos around everything from “What’s New for Spring” to occasion based ideas, such as what to wear for a hot date. The use of a Stylist expert helps set the credibility and value equation at the right level right out of the gate.
From there viewers can watch a model wearing the products and click to buy while viewing the video. It’s easy, pretty painless and, in my opinion, way more effective than looking at still photos of a product with narrative information alongside.
Zappos has figured out that online e-tailing gets compelling when you combine the right products with exemplary service. So who knows if the folks behind You-Tique have similar policies for returns and friendly live support. That said, the concept of watch and buy is just plain captivating.
You get richer story telling, context, validation and other benefits that outshine static web site galleries by adding the flavor of video production to the whole proposition. May not be right for every product category but this peek at the future is exciting none-the-less. Think Quarterly says the click through rates for You-Tique have been stellar…
How a strategic mission can fuel the next historic move in marketing and PR.
By Robert Wheatley
Most of us have experienced a point in our careers when the stars aligned as our PR campaigns and marketing programs achieved dramatic perhaps even monumental results. A moment in time when we almost can’t believe what we’ve just witnessed in business growth, consumer buzz, perhaps major media attention — or to leap-frog a much bigger competitor with a better idea the world says yes to.
Life’s achievements, career or otherwise, are to be savored — and we hope dearly, to be repeated. No one-hit-wonder here. Nope, not a one-trick pony, right? We always say this under our breath with a slight tinge of trepidation that maybe the big outcome will be hard to come by a second or third time. So we push ahead eager that some of the magic and creative lightening will strike twice and hit the results jackpot again. Dumb luck you think? No….
So what is the grist of this success made of these days? Is there a consistent theme within these experiences and projects that metaphorically or mathematically blew the doors off? It is highly probable they were big bets representing a strategic swing for the fence. Some risk capital, personal and otherwise, was expended. Let’s explore some evolutions in the current path to remarkable marketing achievement….
Finding Your Mission…
Lately we’re seeing some organizations up the ante and scope of their marketing and outreach efforts by enveloping their brands in an initiative that draws from a more cinematic scope and mission.
Take ConAgra’s recent announcement of a multi-brand campaign entitled Child Hunger Ends Here. No small cause and one that resonates with moms everywhere who understand and appreciate the plight of less fortunate children. The project unites a portfolio of their packaged foods brands under a single banner.
Or Pepsico’s massive “Refresh Project” – an initiative that falls from the company’s efforts to emphasize social values while working to embed greater meaning into their brands and businesses. Refresh invites investment proposals from all comers at the local level for arts, music, community and education projects.
And the comprehensive, “Live Music Series” lifestyle program from Jim Beam bourbon that helps unlock the social connections inherent in their business category. Beam is sponsoring and presenting an array of music events, offers and experiences. What resonates here is the commitment to relevance with their core target audience’s lifestyle passions and aspirations.
By definition we’re wading into territory populated with larger-in-scope, transformative projects that carry with them the potential to impact brand and business behavior. And in doing so fulfill the definition of what we would call a “BIG” idea: bigger in agenda, bigger in reach, bigger in ambition and hopefully attached also to bigger outcomes and long-term benefits.
Efforts in this vein surely will work harder to break through the rust of rampant, epidemic indifference that exists virtually everywhere. Sounds good, but what’s the path look like? Let’s examine five key elements that together bring some magic to the table when working to elevate the brand’s mission and meaning to a higher level:
1. A historic sense of gravitas, mattering and purpose – consumer behaviorists tell us that people want to be a part of something bigger than themselves (And so by the way do employees, too). Projects that spring from a foundation of greater meaning, value and symbolism in turn infuse the business with superior significance and worth. There’s just a richer conversation to be had than the year-to-year rework of product feature and benefit messaging
2. Momentum to ante-up a clutter-busting focus of resources (not tonnage in spend but in cross-channel deployment) – more horsepower is secured when the concept also waves the flag of moral imperative or corporate calling. The aggregation of assets on a single platform creates potential homerun clout. Much needed in a marketing environment already riven with attention deficits and loss of grip in conventional media channels
3. The concept is drenched with inherent merit, married to simplicity – and thus it immediately gains power and demands attention. Said another way the intellectual space a brand can expect to own exists in direct proportion to its meaning and value to the consumer. Projects of larger scope won’t work successfully if burdened by too many agendas or alternative messaging priorities all competing for brain time. Instead the simple thrust of hunger, community betterment and music are liberating in their ability to finally get somewhere with a human who invests very little mental territory with any one idea before moving on
4. Relentless devotion to consumer insight – These platforms all spring from understanding consumer aspirations, values and passions. Hunger, what gives? It’s the common thread of value and importance moms place on their primary role as caretaker of their children’s welfare. This is an over-arching common trait and mission within moms’ understanding of what matters. Matching the brand agenda to this prevailing behavior embraces the emotional ties so important in building brand relationships
5. Corporate reputation and brand reputation no longer separated – both are intertwined. Consumers watch and observe businesses to see if actions match words. Are an organization’s beliefs and values of equal priority with the demands of commerce and balance sheets? You are making a statement about what you believe in, what is important as a business and as a brand. A strategic mission creates an internal and external flagpole all stakeholders can rally around and salute. In doing so the faceless corporation gets an endearing face and the business results can benefit from this humanizing experience
Yes there’s a process required to correctly sync an organization’s DNA, values and understanding of the consumer’s lifestyle priorities with a mission that makes sense. But in equal measure it requires one other thing to make this “jackpot” moment recur. Fearlessness.
Go for it. Life is short and no great thing is accomplished by staying in the comfort zone.
There’s been a fair amount of marketing media buzz of late about the recent promotion from Kellogg called Share Your Breakfast. It asks consumers to share a photo of their breakfast – and with each post a donation is triggered towards a morning meal for children who have trouble getting the right nutritional start on their day. Just brilliant. By all accounts to date it’s successful, too.
Sure it’s relevant to moms and their concerns plus the message is simple, therefore sticky and compelling. But what’s really going on here? Below is a statement we’ve included in a few client and new business presentations that sums it up:
“Science now proves what brand strategists have always sensed. We human beings have a need to believe in and act upon something that’s greater than ourselves… Let’s realize the significance of this discovery and impress upon ourselves that a brand is a belief system. Want greater rewards? Then impart your brand with greater meaning…”
One of the poster child examples of this might be TOMS Shoes, a business designed from the ground up to embody this idea. In their unique case, the company gives away a pair of shoes to needy children in foreign countries for every pair they sell. One-to-one is how it’s described. And the company recently announced plans to take this concept to the next level – which we’ll assume for now will be some expanded foray into new product categories with the same premise its core.
Have You Found Your Higher Purpose?
The concept of finding a brand’s higher purpose isn’t just an articulation of cause marketing strategies. It could be some other element of passion within a target consumer’s lifestyle that your brand can help enable.
Our point about this concept of higher purpose though, is not so much recommending an “add on” project to the annual marketing plan. We see it as fundamental to relationship creation between brand and user. If you are willing to consider it that way, then higher purpose is part of the fabric of successful brand building in the age of consumer control.
A Key to Powerful PR…
Moreover this kind of thinking delivers the grist for powerful public relations and social media programs. It can take a campaign to another level once you’ve discovered through insight research what your consumer’s truly care about. Imagine if you will the compelling voice a brand can secure as advisor and partner in helping consumers do what they love to do. Everyone has a passion for something. It’s in how you position the brand as a “friend” to be helpful and supportive that the magic can happen. That’s often in the form of transformational ideas that imbue your brand with greater meaning and in doing so greater value.
To be sure that value can be found in the dynamically different and laudable efforts of companies like TOMS Shoes — where helping others is baked into the business model. I for one look at that with deep respect and admiration. It’s unselfishness at its apex, and as it turns out a great business too.
In our last post we talked about five ways to become a credible source of brand-owned media (content creation). Foremost in that discussion was an important point: how to become a TRUSTED, and therefore valued, source.
An article today at Marketing Daily stresses the point about credibility. Why does this matter?
There are so many voices, so many places to get information the consumer is now in search of what is reliable, bankable, believe-able in the midst of all this noise. Recent studies show an increase in consumer preference for traditional media sources like newspapers because of the trust factor. There’s still an underlying sense that professional media organizations continue to employ highly trained staff and have ethical standards that require them to fully verify a story’s assertions and details before publishing.
Nonetheless, we are at an important inflexion point in media where brands can affordably become a source of content themselves. It’s transformational. And while this is both inevitable and unstop-able in the scheme of things, it’s also vital we understand the consumer’s underlying needs and concerns as this marketing communications picture continues to evolve.
Validate, corroborate and prove the assertions brands make…
What do consumers want? They want validation of what’s being said from sources they trust and respect. You’re saying yeah, but isn’t the “real person like me” supposed to be the nexus of validation? That’s changing. In the midst of so much media content, thought and opinion – consumers are looking for voices they believe to make sense of it all and provide guidance.
Outside influencers, experts and credentialed knowledge brokers facilitate this desire for validation. Brands proclaiming their expertise in a subject area is one thing, following the same rules professional media organizations employ to verify assertions through expert quote-able sources is entirely another.
o This is how we make it true, real, credible for the consumer. We in effect borrow equity from the third parties who have established their own credibility in a subject area relevant to our business.
Content creation is not merely an option for brands these days. It’s vital and important as the media landscape continues to evolve from “talking at” people to conversation. How you go about doing it will spell the difference between success and discovering you have no audience because trust has not taken root.
This is the first in our series of question/answer posts about effective communication, best practices in PR and social media and an occasional look inside Wheatley & Timmons.
Any burning questions you would like us to weigh in on? Let us know!
New prescription for growth all about burrowing in on your best prospects
By Robert Wheatley
I have a confession to make: I’m a music fan . Big time. And have been almost all of my life. I sang my way through high school. Played guitar in a band. Had a vocal music scholarship when I started college. Ended up as the promoter and producer of all the rock concerts that appeared at my University. Had family and personal acquaintances in the rock concert promotion and band management business (Heart). Even today one of my Chicago friends is now a senior player at LiveNation, one of the largest live music organizations on the planet.
So what is it with me and music? I can’t really answer that. Born that way maybe. I’m also a culinary fan. Wine fan. Antique and art fan. Auto buff. Writer. Fan of parenting (and my daughters) generally. Talk to me, inform me about these things and I’m listening. Intently.
In the last post we explored the sea change in American attitudes about life and what matters, as people now hunger for greater meaning, purpose and belonging more so than consuming. So too, brands and businesses that identify and mine “consumer tribes” coalescing around lifestyle aspirations and interests have a better shot at sustainable growth. Why? Because the value added by these brands is aligned not just with commerce and direct selling but also being a facilitator of activities and experiences the consumer cares about.
Take for example the DIY home decorating and fixing game. There are tribes of consumers who get significant emotional and personal payback from taking on projects aimed at improving or changing their homes. Brands that become facilitators and advisors in this endeavor can earn a place (relationship) in the consumer’s life by virtue of their unselfish behaviors. And why bother? The relationship precedes the willingness to pay any attention to marketing and brand communication.
Virtually every category has its heavy users, or fan-base of individuals who are more engaged and involved, based on their unique personal interests…Do you know them? Study them? Listen to them?
Get Focused.
Witness the tightly focused business model of Internet site Songkick – a relatively new rising-star brand on the music scene that is quickly putting a differentiated foot-print on the live concert business. They are working hard to listen to and follow their best customers.
Music and sports share something in common: the emotional relevance they retain with their greatest fans. When the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup, hundreds of thousands of Hawk enthusiasts lined the Windy Cities’ streets to cheer and celebrate with the team. It was an amazing example of the power of sports to motivate people.
Music holds a similar value proposition. To some it’s an integral expression of their lifestyle interests. Who knows what is exactly at the root of this? Could it be some special gene that resonates to music in a powerful way? Bands and musicians are heroes to be sure. For some concert going is important and a reflection of how they define themselves. I would know. Sure Songkick follows the larger acts, but their unique effort to aggregate information about local bands helps drive their value and relevance to fans.
Go Deep.
Songkick helps facilitate fan devotion and involvement by helping people easily track information, events and news about their favorite artists. And post photos and share experiences they’ve had at concerts. Yes they’re making money from ticket sale commissions. That said the online presentation and interaction is more about the music than the commerce. Thus we see another example of earning a place in the music-centric consumer’s life.
Mine Relevance.
How would you describe a music lover’s lifestyle? How can you add value to it? What other attributes and benefits can be developed for those who see music as more than background ambiance or a date night piece of entertainment? The more relevant you are the more valuable you become. How close can you bring the music lover to the music creators and players? It’s an interesting proposition. Brands that matter to their users will gain greater ground in the long haul than those that currently move ahead on the basis of habit, history/tradition or ubiquity.
DIYers, home cooks, travel buffs, fashionistas – there are people out there who care, who pay attention, who will listen, who are engaged right now because of their personal interests and preferences. What’s the way in? Well that’s the $64,000 question. If you treat customer relationships more like friendships then you start to get the picture. Help them in-order to engage them.
Hyper-consumption falls as new era of meaning and purpose takes hold
By Robert Wheatley
We are sitting at the threshold of a new epoch in brand marketing and communication. One where old voices tempting consumers to look for the thrill in upward mobility and finding the joy in toys is being replaced by a soulful search for things more meaningful, more substantive.
Now more than ever there is a need to align your brand with a new set of consumer-driven values, to chart a different course with a refreshed voice and message, more in sync with this seminal shift in consumer attitudes. Are you ready? Read on…
The economic “thwack” on the side of the head…
Leave it to one of the worst economic disasters America has seen to finally bring some closure on the continual debate between judging one’s life by the things you buy vs. the “softer values” of contentment, happiness and belonging. Hyper- consumption may well be the biggest casualty befalling strategies for marketing and business as the economy searches for a new path to growth.
While the cauldron of behavior change continues to boil…
Sure enough the pocketbook difficulties (owing more but having less) faced by consumers here and around the world remain bitingly fresh. According to a recent report published in Food Business magazine, consumer spending at restaurants declined 2.2% in 2009 from the previous year. While that may not sound like much it is nevertheless quite remarkable. The data just released by the Economic Research Service of the US department of Agriculture indicated it was the first year-to-year decline reported since 1949, and the largest single drop in the restaurant business since the height of the Great Depression in 1938.
Today Mintel research reveals that beverage alcohol sales were off by 4.9% in the on-premise channel (restaurants, bars and clubs) over the same period. As we cut back in restaurant visits, we’re moving our adult beverage consumption to the home front, up 1.2 % over the same period and over 21% since 2004.
Hey buddy, can you spare a dime?
In a Forbes magazine report showcasing a new consumer attitude study from ad agency Euro RSCG , we find that saving rather than splurging is preferred now by 87% of Americans. And that 79% of us have way more respect for people who live relatively simple, debt-free lives than we do the bling-centric luxury lifestyle folk. Says Forbes: “Robin Leach has been sucker punched by Ed Begley Jr.”
Having possessions for their own sake and a sense of a life well lived are being separated from each other. Eight in 10, according to the study, believe that society has become too shallow, focusing on things that don’t matter. In a way you might say the “hyper-consumerist” life didn’t pan out the way consumers thought it would.
So what does this mean?
The data helps us see a new picture emerge:
80% of consumers are now shopping more carefully and mindfully.
54% are paying attention to the environmental and social impact of the products and brands they buy.
57% believe that cause participation matters.
More is less today about accumulation of goods. Instead our focus is on community, simplicity, a sense of purpose and belonging.
Successful brands in the digital age grow because they’re learning to align themselves as enablers, facilitators and supporters of consumer lifestyle interests and concerns. So, too, the message in brand communications and PR must adjust to acknowledge the desire for greater meaning, for personal growth, giving back and cause involvement – living simpler and less cluttered lives.
How can your band and product portfolio help consumers live a more satisfying life? And help them realize their desire for greater meaning? For belonging and sense of community?
There’s not a moment to lose. Your brand, your budget and outcomes are at stake. The world of communications has changed, and your PR strategy and tactics must evolve with it. Or be prepared for little to no bottom line benefits from your spend.
Why does this matter? Being in the presence of a message (PR driven or otherwise) does not mean any useful interaction has actually taken place. Your goal is to impact consumer behavior. But there’s a vast difference between communications that is built correctly to accomplish that vs. messages “out there” in media that perpetually circle the engagement airport — never quite landing.
Here are the key questions you should be asking yourself right now…
1. How does the PR strategy connect and align our brand in a relevant and meaningful way with the lifestyle interests and passions of our core customers?
Relevance is key to securing engagement — so consumer insight and understanding is a precursor to building effective communications. There must be clear and specific linkage between PR programs and the consumer’s self interests that position the brand as an enabler, supporter, educator and facilitator of your consumer’s lifestyle passions. Otherwise she’s not going to pay any attention to what you put out there.
2. What proportion of your budget is dedicated to Web-based communication vs. mainstream media?
We have ample evidence that word of mouth drives business results. And now we know that Internet based communication is increasingly the genesis of influence, conversation and discussion about businesses and brands. Yet old habits (always hard to break) push spending and programming frequently down the well-worn path of conventional print and broadcast media. It’s not that these channels don’t matter, they do. But the poor red headed stepchild in many cases is the very media channel that can activate conversation and buzz. So is it time to re-configure the proportional spending to place more assets in web-based media channels? Yes.
3. Social media may no longer be a tertiary place to participate, but are you creating scale underneath your social media strategy?
Unlike any other media property that has come before it, the unique characteristic of social platforms is quite simple: they ALL begin with an audience of zero. It is your content strategy that can help aggregate an audience over time. How well you do this will impact the overall value and benefit of social media investments. Achieving scale is a combination of building and distributing useful, entertaining and valuable multi-media content (read video) along with special offers and benefits – and then integrating social media through every consumer touch point in your marketing communications toolbox.
4. To what extent are you now investing in creating media that fuels the budding relationship with your core users and brand fans?
“Owned Media” is now the third “core” leg of the media communications stool alongside earned and paid. Brands are now publishers and content producers themselves. The Internet has enabled cost-effective distribution. However PR campaigns have historically been built around enticing and convincing third-party editors and gatekeepers to do a story (earned media). And coverage certainly comes imbued with the associative value and credibility from implied third-party endorsement. Equally important however, brands can now talk directly to consumers through custom editorial content thus assuring the message remains unaltered or diluted. Have you launched your video channel yet?
5. Look before you leap. To what extent have you refined your listening tools to be sure you understand what consumer’s are saying to each other about your business?
Pushing messages at people doesn’t work any longer. Relevance is king. And part of the equation is honing your listening investments to be sure you fully understand the conversation that’s taking place around you. There are online-based tools both quantitative and qualitative that serve this purpose. A full suite of listening platforms should be “always on” with analysis following closely behind to assure you’re aware of what’s being said, by whom and where. You can’t effectively engage without this knowledge.
These five areas are vital to effective PR strategy and tactics, tied to your ability to impact behavior. They act synergistically to make communication effective. In the absence of these tools and approaches, you’re resting outcomes more on hope — and hope is never a strategy.
From left to right, Kerri Erb and her beagles Frankie and Flora; Bob Wheatley and Goliath; Betsi Schumacher and Otto; Ruth Keefover and Millie
Well it’s officially “Take Your Dog To Work” day and here at the agency we celebrate with gusto. Our dogs are patrolling the halls, searching each other out for some one-on-one nose to _____________engagement. Everyone is on their best behavior and enjoying the camaraderie.
My dog, a gentle giant named Goliath, is a 170-pound Newfoundland who has a habit of stopping traffic wherever he appears because onlookers first think I’m sporting a pet black bear. He’s sitting at the foot of my desk right now, a sort of big furry sentry watching the entrance of my office. If I make a move of any kind to stand up, walk down the hall, flinch, nod or whatever, he’s right there with me never more than a few inches away. My four-legged shadow.
And that in a few words explains the basic premise of our relationship. Never far off. Always with me. Always anxious for interaction. He’s consistent and faithful in that regard more so than most humans I know. I’m sure he has his bad days but for the most part I would characterize him as permanently chipper, good natured and happy. Sure he pleads directly for the tummy scratch or head rub by using his paw to push my arm in the appropriate direction. His head, by the way is seriously the size of a basketball. You wonder at times what’s going on in that brain of his.
It goes without saying we like each other. We have this thing, this sort of unsaid communication that’s always on. He watches me intently for cues on the next thing to do, go or see. So yes, this is a relationship. Pretty solid one at that. I don’t mind getting slimed which is par for the course with a big-jowl Newf. He doesn’t mind getting yanked along during a walk when I don’t have time for the sniff-every-object routine. We hang out.
So I get the pet food business growth juggernaut. I understand the premium-ization of pet food. I know why pets are now family members and accorded the rights and privileges thereof. We love them through our stewardship and care. They reward us with faithful, enduring, calming and uplifting attention. Pet products enable us to convey our love for them. It’s powerful stuff.
Other lifestyle acquisitions fail us routinely. They break. They cease to amuse. Don’t live up to our expectations. Become passé. Their value always tied to the moment of utility or entertainment where they hold court however briefly. Pets endure and transcend all of this. Now if only they could talk.
By Robert Wheatley
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