Significant Business Opportunities Abound

By Robert Wheatley

Pet food is an amazing business. Significant growth rates are forecasted over the next five years. Pet parents are emotionally involved and inquisitive consumers. Even in this troubled economy, pet owners how no signs of cutting back on their purchases for Fido. If anything the trend to trade up to more expensive natural diets — employing higher quality nutrition and ingredients — continues to pick up steam.

The upside business opportunities are significant. So competition is getting hotter. To capture consumers who are trading up, new entrants into the natural and organic segment are emerging. Mass brands are looking to enter the business with line extensions and new brands. Most authentic natural brands historically have been sold at specialty retail outlets that cater to the top quality pet diet products. However, big box outlets like PetSmart and Petco have also recognized the move to premium diets and established “natural” aisles in their stores. The game is on!!

In 2008 our agency represented the Nature’s Variety pet food brand, a market leader in raw frozen diets and also a major player in grain free nutrition, too. Our campaign for them helped deliver 20% sales growth last year. Additionally the Publicity Club of Chicago recognized the agency’s strategic effort with a Golden Trumpet award in Consumer Marketing; a Silver Telly from the Telly Awards in Direct Marketing; and our Rotation Diet program was a one of five finalists for the Golden Sabre, the top national award in the Public Relations field.

An investment firm acquired Nature’s Variety and brought in their own team, so we moved on. Our goal: take our pet food expertise and know-how forward to another growing brand looking to win big in this increasingly competitive category. To that end we’ve developed a short movie that profiles some of our insights in the evolving pet food business. Here it is: