Ever since 2007 when the pet food industry was upended by the revelation that one Canadian company was manufacturing more than 100 brands of pet diets, the entire market has morphed northward in a nutritional race to the top – along the way amplifying ingredient strategies and high quality whole food recipes.

(more…)

It’s not just what’s in the bag or can…

By Bob Wheatley

Have you noticed changes at the pet store lately? More brands are occupying in-store real estate than ever before. The impact of ongoing trends in pet care driven by humanization of the pet relationship, followed closely with premiumization of the pet food business generally, have changed the competitive paradigm for brands and businesses in this space.

(more…)

Relevant: food brands that enable their customer’s desire for learning, creativity in the kitchen…

Optimizing relevance in a marketing environment where relevant is everything

By Bob Wheatley

We have come to a place where brands‐that‐matter have relationships with their best users that look increasingly like those we have with our closest friends and family. They look human: Trust. Reciprocity. Care. Helpfulness. Listening. All are markers, icons of human relationship qualities. Now the same can be said of brand connections that transcend the merely transactional to the incredibly meaningful.

And what’s lies at the intersection of commerce and relationship? Relevance. When brands work overtime (baked into the mission) to align themselves with their core users’ passions, concerns, interests and pain points, they are on the hunt for relevance.

(more…)