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Month: June 2013

Best Friend Products to Import Alzoo

AB7, a French manufacturing company, named Best Friend Products the importer of Alzoo, a complete range of health care and cosmetic pet products that includes and all-natural arsenal of repellent collars and “spot-ons.”

The Pennsylvania-based company will handle their independent pet specialty customers in the U.S.

The complete line of Alzoo products includes dog and cat collars, dog and cat spot-on products, a shampoo, spray, and powder as well as an herbal collar for horses and an anti-mosquito bracelet for people. The product can also be used alongside a repellent powder, shampoo or a lotion spray. Alzoo also offers a line of a dozen litter fragrance and deodorizers, some seasonal.

Although just arriving in the U.S., AB7’s bio-sourced products are already sold in over a dozen European countries, South America, and Asia.

Sustainability Toolkit Available

The Pet Industry Sustainability Coalition, also known as PISC, recently launched Version I of their web-based Pet Industry Sustainability Toolkit during a webinar attended by a host of companies.

The Toolkit was developed as an evolving roadmap, and tool,  for pet companies interested in reducing the environmental and social impacts of their products.

Led by Executive Director Caitlyn Bolton, the Toolkit Launch Webinar reviewed the Coalition’s three-part approach to advance sustainability through sharing knowledge, tools, and resources across the industry. Toolkit developer and CEO of Natural Capitalism Solutions Toby Russell familiarized webinar attendees with the Toolkit by reviewing the major sections, ranging from a big-picture roadmap all the way down to the nitty-gritty components like the “quick and dirty audit.”

The Toolkit launch reinforced the Coalition’s strong collaborative values by integrating existing sustainability tools already in the market place, including the Energy Portfolio by Energy Star and the Higg Index by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition and the Outdoor Industry Association.

The Pet Industry Sustainability Coalition strives to be the leading organization for sustainable advancement in the pet industry. We promote creative collaboration throughout the pet industry that prioritizes business minded solutions for sincere environmental improvement.

 

All Things Aquatic

If you sell aquatics in your store, or are a manufacturer or distributor of aquatic products, there is one place you must be in November, the Aquatic Experience in Chicago Nov. 15-17.

A production of the World Pet Association, the show will feature everything from saltwater to freshwater with pond and aquatic reptiles, as well as livestock and equipment experts. There will also be educational sessions, fish auctions and a show floor filled with hobbyists from entry level to the most sophisticated aquarium keepers.

The idea for the  Nov. 15-17 show started about a year and a half ago during a meeting in San Francisco between a number of manufactures, and with the helped of WPA, the group began to lay the groundwork to make this event possible.

“The major sticking point to getting an event like this off the ground was time,” Mike Elliot, of Aquatic Life, said. “None of the manufactures discussing an aquatics only show are able to commit the time require to help coordinate and run an event of this size. After many discussions with WPA, we were able to come to an agreement for them to cooperate to help make this event happen yet allow the monies generated from this show to be used specifically for aquatics building activities, further funding for tanks in the classroom, home show exposure for aquatic decorating ideas, research funding or threatened species breeding, etc.”

Doug Poindexter, the president of WPA, said it’s something they has been exploring for a while.

“We have heard from a number of the aquatic companies that they wanted an aquatics only show,” Poindexter said.

Event organizers said they expect a lot of aquatic companies, who don’t attend many of the other shows, to attend this one.

“We are working hard to make the event something retailers will support, through attendance and solicitation of their customers to visit, entry level hobbyists will enjoy, advance hobbyists will find meaningful and anyone thinking about an aquarium will find inspiration attending,” Elliot said. “This event is intended to benefit anyone with aquatics in their DNA: retailers, consumers, manufactures, breeders, fish wholesalers, etc.”

From a retailer standpoint they will see only aquatic vendors there, Poindexter said.

“Not only that, but it’s going to include freshwater fish, saltwater fish, coral, reefs, it’s going to bridge all the gaps,” he added.

While this is the first Aquatic Experience show, Elliot says they have ideal plans for the future.

“Ideally we would like to be able to do one of these events on the east coast, in the Midwest and on the West Coast annually,” Elliot said. “Our initial thinking is this event would move north and south within those areas from year to year, unless of course the support is so strong in one or more markets that moving the event just doesn’t make sense. Our intention is to expose aquatics to as many folks as possible in each market.”

Information can be found at www.aquaticexperience.org

Nestle Purina Buys Petfinder

Nestle Purina PetCare Company signed a purchase agreement to buy Petfinder, the largest on-line pet adoption website, from Discovery Communications LLC.

This is Nestle’s first major acquisition of a digital property, and will allow them to broaden their support for pet welfare organizations and strengthen its role as a leading provider of on-line pet-related information, the company said in a press release.

The transaction is expected to be completed in July. Other details of the transaction, including the acquisition price, were not disclosed, citing confidentiality.

“Petfinder is the on-line leader in linking prospective adopters with adoptable pets, and a resource for pet owners’ life-long relationship with their pets,” Joe Sivewright, president, North American Pet Food, Nestle Purina PetCare Company, said. “We value Petfinder’s existing framework, which is fully aligned with our commitment to pet welfare organizations and our belief that pets and people are better together. We plan to strengthen that solid framework with our extensive nutritional expertise and vast knowledge of pet welfare.”

Petfinder has been a leader in the animal welfare movement, culminating in more than 22 million adoptions since the site’s founding in 1996. Since that time, the company has expanded its services beyond connecting prospective adopters with adoptable pets, such as re-adoption research and pet care resources.

“Discovery has been a proud owner of Petfinder, and we are extremely supportive of its animal welfare mission,” JB Perrette, chief digital officer, Discovery Communications, said. “As we have re-focused our ad-supported digital mission on being the number one non-fiction video/media company across all screens, we were eager to find a great new home for this unique company. We are confident that Nestle Purina is a noble steward of the Petfinder mission and will further fuel the company’s growth. Discovery looks forward to continuing our relationship with Petfinder through support of the Petfinder Foundation and through our valued advertiser relationship with Nestle Purina.”

Going Natural

This is the Publisher’s Letter as published in the June issue of Pet Age.

The topic of health is becoming more prevalent now-a-days, than ever before. When you open up a magazine, turn on the TV or read the news, usually you can find something about a health related study, or how you should eat healthier. It’s a conscious choice we are starting to make as individuals, to help better our lives. Now, that we have helped ourselves, we are starting to turn our attention to our pet’s health.

The natural segment of the pet industry has continued to grow each year. It’s something that we feel is so important that we have devoted a pullout supplement in our June issue of Pet Age to just natural products. In it you will find information about natural nutrition, treats, grooming and bedding. Each one of them is about some of the top products you can find in that category, and other information you may need to help sell your natural products.

All-natural products are something I am extremely passionate about, not to just do the right thing, but to keep myself healthier. I personally do a 90 percent organic diet, do yoga and exercise every day.  All of the cleaning products in our house and laundry detergents are organic and contain no VOCs. The things I do, a lot of people do and they are bringing their lifestyle to their pet.

The nutritional section is about the different organic, grain-free, raw, frozen and vegan pet food options that are now available. It covers the different high-quality ingredients that can be found in different natural food.

The treats section covers the expansion of the treat industry. It also features a couple of companies that put their own different homemade touches on their treats. The natural bedding section covers its recent expansion and the different materials that are used to make all-natural bedding products.

Finally, the grooming section covers the ever expanding natural options that are available in this segment. Also, how the products continue to evolve as more scientific studies are being discovered.

The natural section in the pet industry continues to be an extremely interesting, and evolving, area, as more research is done on how to give pets the best possible life. It is one that excites us, being able to show you several different options to have in your store and to give a little background on each of them. While there are so many all-natural products out there that we can’t get to all of them, we hope this shows a small, interesting portion of it.

If you haven’t started selling natural products in your store, this is the push to do so, as it will only continue to grow. If you’re already selling natural products in your store, then we hope this either pushes you to expand your selection, or it helps you to learn more about the products you already have on your shelves to give better information to your customers.

We hope this supplement serves to educate you and provide you with information that you didn’t know and you could share with your customers.

– Craig Rexford

Marketing Your Pet Retail Business

Editor’s letter as published in the June issue of Pet Age.

Like most journalists, when I got burnt out from years of long, crazy hours spent covering breaking news, I jumped ship and went to the “dark side” – public relations. I went and worked for a public relations firm as their social media coordinator.

While it’s not as bad anymore, it traditionally was a move others in the journalism industry would frown on it. In reality, it was one of the best career moves I could have made at that time.

Not only was I doing social media marketing, but I was working with veteran public relations professionals who knew how to get placements for clients in major publications, snatched big name interviews with well-respected news personalities and went well beyond just pitching, but also worked with marketing professionals to create a full 360 degree plan for clients.

It instilled an important lesson. Good marketing and public relations can really help a business, company or in the case of this month’s cover story, your retail store.

Spending money on marketing or public relations may seem like something a small business doesn’t need, but it’s the furthest thing from the truth.

We’ve built this issue around one simple, but complex, concept, marketing your business. It may sound simple, but standing out in a crowd of consumer options can be a very difficult task.

For our cover story, we talked with both marketing and public relations professionals to give you an example of the differences between them, how they work in tandem with each other and some ideas you may want to use to help promote your business.

Our guest columnist in this month’s business strategies section talks about the tough decision on whether or not to hire a public relations firm, or do it yourself. It also includes tips on how to find the right public relations person, or firm, for your business.

It may cost more than you would like to spend, but marketing and public relations are so important to small businesses; and, not just any marketing and public relations, but good marketing and public relations that comes with a strategy.

If you don’t come from a marketing, or public relations background, it is well worth the money. Just as John Cullen, principal of Bulldog Marketing and Sales, suggests in his video, “10 Signs You Are Pet Business Clown,” on our website, you can build the cost into the price of the products you buy at your store.

When coming into the pet industry, most likely you did it because you are passionate about pets.

If that’s the case, you should be spending as much time as you possibly can to run your business and make it successful, and leave the marketing and public relations to the experts.

When you work with someone who is passionate about marketing or public relations, together you can build a very successful strategy to move your business forward.

Standing Out

Anyone who runs a business knows the importance of publicity, but what exactly does that mean?

Some people will say it means public relations, others will say it’s marketing, and yet others will say all a retailer needs is social media. Well, it’s a balance of all of those things.

When confronted with the decision of hiring a professional to perform these services, many times people lump both marketing and public relations into one category. And, while some agencies or departments can do both, there is definitely a difference between the two, experts say.

“A lot of people offer marketing, branding and public relations and I think that’s where some of the confusion is,” Nancy Hassel, the founder and president of Long Island Pet Professionals, said. “People will come to me for my public relations skills and then want marketing too, but I am not a marketing expert.”

This is why, she explains it’s important for retailers to understand the difference between the two, as well as know what the person they are hiring has the skills to do. If the expectations are set from the beginning, it makes for a more profitable relationship on both ends.

If a business owner decides to do their own, it becomes even more important, because depending on what the end goal is, it may dictate which approach they take – marketing or public relations.

“One of the easiest things I do, to explain public relations to someone who doesn’t know what is, is by having them explain how they do public relations,” Hassel said. “They will say they took an ad out in a paper for grooming and some people come in and think that’s public relations; and then I show them an article from a public relations professional. I will explain to them that public relations is not taking an ad out.”

Pet Age talked with a variety of marketing and public relations experts on both sides to help clarify the differences and help business owners make a better informed decision about what is best for them. Many, even shared their strategies for success, and in a lot of cases while the two are different, they tend to work best in tandem.

Marketing

Jeffrey Sussman, a marketing professional, author and teacher, has found that using events to draw in customers tend to do extremely well for all kinds of retailers wanting to market their business.

“I would have a retailer set up an event, or contest of some kind, and to increase sales for the customers, everyone who entered the event or contest would get discounts on products,” Sussman said. “One example is, I had a pet store print coupon books for the contestants, so there were coupons for each month. We tried to make them seasonal, an example being flea and tick coupons for the end of spring beginning of summer. This way, it kept customers coming back because they felt compelled to use the coupons at their store and not to shop at the other stores.”

In terms of attracting customers, getting publicity for the store is the best way according to Sussman.

“With media, it’s important to have a press release or a media alert, but your story should have a quality about it that’s inviting, something that is different or unusual,” Sussman said.

Sussman said that social media and websites are useful, but in his opinion, are overrated.

“I have a Facebook and a LinkedIn and if I wanted to notify people who are connected to me, I certainly can do it,” Sussman said. “If there are not people connected to me, they are not going to find my notification. I am going to have to reach out to them. When you have a brand name and are well known, social media can be very effective.”

Colleen Sheehy Orme, a marketing professional, said to always think of your brand and emotion, they drive sales and help your business.

“Don’t lose sight of your brand, and emotion drives customers to purchase,” Orme said. “You’re already in an emotional business. People treat pets like their babies. So that is giant advantage pet retailers have over other retailers.”

One of the big problems Orme sees with business owners is they try to be the CEO, the chief of everything officer.

“The advice I give to business owners is easy, but difficult for the average owner because they are passionate about their business and they have built it with their own blood, sweat and tears,” Orme said. “Keeping this in mind it is critical to ‘Keep the emotion in the product and not the execution.’ What does this mean? It means be passionate about what you have built, but when dealing with customers remember that businesses should be non-emotional and professional. The emotion should be in the product, what moves the person to buy it. It should not be in the owner, say if there is a conflict or potential problematic consumer interaction. You hear it all the time, but it’s true. The customer is always right.”

While many businesses feel that a down economy may seem like the end of the world, Orme said it’s the time for businesses to stand out.

“Competition is going to the wayside, that’s an opportunity to stand out,” Orme said. “Most businesses have become strong and defy the odds because they believed and they are stubborn. Their greatest strength can be their greatest weakness. They could be stubborn by not listening to the customers. They sit there and talk about what they are used to doing, and they don’t adapt to the change that needs to be made.”

“Consulting with someone may be worth more than just remodeling your store or redoing your website,” she said. “They spend money but they don’t spend it where they need to. With your business, don’t find quick fixes. You need to go back to your brand and emotion. Go back to the beginning.”

Email Marketing

Jason Richelson, founder of ShopKeep POS, thinks email marketing is the best way for retailers to go. It is how he marketed to customers when he was in the retail business and it’s how his point-of-sale system uses marketing.

“ShopKeep is a full POS system, it prints receipts, collects cash, lets people use credit cards, and it even collects Paypal. It’s everything you expect from a point-of-sale system plus more,” Richelson said. “We are a very merchant focused company. We think about what merchants need for small business marketing. When I was a retailer I did a lot of email marketing and it worked great, social media is great but email worked the best.

“I found that when I would ask people for their general information, including their email address, around 90 percent of the people would give it to me. That’s what ShopKeep POS let’s you do, it lets you collect email address to make groups with them and send targeted emails to people to help promote items in your store.”

Along with Richelson, Sussman also suggests using traditional marketing to get people’s contact information and to build your marketing contacts. If you have a bunch of contact information, it sets you up in the future to do email advertising or target marketing.

“Hold an event and have a sign-in or sing-up sheet where you get the people’s names and their email addresses and whatever other information you need,” Sussman said. “Something that draws people in is charity, not only people but the media also. If you donate a portion of your sales to something, usually your sales go up. While celebrities drive people in, the big name celebrities are often hard to get but politicians are also very good celebrities. Local politicians are always in need of publicity and to raise their profile and it will help draw people into your event.”

Direct Mail

Adam Jacobson, the executive vice president of Pet Pantry Warehouse, uses a lot of direct mail and target marketing, to reach his audience. He created a club card to rival local big box pet chains that had come around.

“We have a club card that gives customers discounts on most of the merchandise in the store,” Jacobson said. “Then we remarket to those direct customers based on previous purchases. We also create internal newsletter that we print and provide at the stores.”

Jacobson uses a referral network with local groomers, trainers and veterinarians to help promote their newsletter by providing content. The newsletter is published bi-monthly and has promotions that are based on a 30 day cycle.

“I can’t imagine companies not doing it this point in the game,” Jacobson said. “We assist them by marketing them in our stores. It allows us to provide our customers with the most relevant information. Within that newsletter we use it to promote the pet food that is on sale those months.”

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Phyllis Ershowsky, principle of PKE Marketing and PR Solutions, said a lot of people that have their own business want to save money and feel they can do public relations themselves, when in her opinion, they should be concentrated on running their business.

“It may be challenging and scary that you have to spend money on marketing and public relations,” Ershowsky said. “But it will be a very cost effective to invest in a professional, and it’s not something you have to jump into right away.”

Before you jump into finding public relation professional, Ershowsky said you should take your time finding someone.

“In the public relations industry there is an accreditation called APR (Accredited in Public Relations),” Ershowsky said. “There are people that not only have worked in public relations for several years but also have taken additional courses and become accredited. Once you find that person, take a look at their website and their work. See if it’s something that relates to you and your business. Then see the relationship. Are the two of you on the same wavelength? See if you are compatible.”

Choosing a PR Firm

Enid Traub, the director of marketing for Dogtopia, said when choosing a public relations firm that you should take a look at their clients.

“Get references, speak to one of their current clients and a previous client if possible,” Traub said. “Remember that the references they offer are clearly going to say positives, so ask questions geared more to the style of communication and the manner in which they work. Find out who will actually be working with you day to day, often the people who pitch you on the business are not your account team.”

“Make sure you feel comfortable and like the people, you’ll be spending lots of work time with them,” she said. “Understand the PR firm’s fee structure and if you are working with a retainer, make sure you have a clear understanding and agreement on how much time will be spent on your brand and what activities are included.”

When first meeting new clients, Hassel first asks what they want her to promote that is news worthy.

“I have to first find out if they have anything or if they are just trying to get into the press, or if they have something I can make newsworthy, that’s the first step,” Hassel said. “Besides print, I also try to get our clients on the local news station to speak about different news topics on the shows. After they get in the news I suggest they hold a small event. Now that people know about your place you have to give them a reason to come. I have clients have a happy hour or a pet photographer in the store and a portion of proceeds go to charity, but that isn’t always necessary; though the press like it.”

Social Media

Ershowsky said her company believes in advertising in the traditional ways of advertising in print and television. But, added that social media is a great way to keep the conversation going.

“Social media lets you talk on an ongoing basis,” Ershowsky said. “If you have a customer that asks why you discontinued a product, that they really wanted that product. You can talk to them and explain why, but also, most likely, you are going to put that back on your shelves eventually to get more sales. Also, if someone has a complaint, you can now fix the situation with them.”

Hassel said social media is great but don’t let it take away from your website.

“Some people will spend all their time working on social media,” Hassel said. “Some people over the past year or two years don’t have a website, but really just a placeholder and they just use Facebook. The problem is not everyone has a Facebook, as crazy as that sounds.”

“I always go to the person’s website first because it should have all the info I want to know about a person or company. But if there is just a placeholder and it has a copy write date of 2011, I lose interest. The same can be said for the media if you pitch them a story.”

Lorin Grow, the founder of Furry Face, didn’t originally have a social media presence and didn’t have a website.

“The way we got into it, is we didn’t have a website and we had been through several previous attempts to create a website,” Grow said. “Many of them were just templates and they were not right for us. The website actually came from a customer that regularly came in my store. They made it and it was everything we hoped it would be and ended up winning an award. As a joke I said, ‘What else do you do?’ They told me they did public relations, I had no idea what that meant at first.”

The company Grow worked with, helped their social media presence.

“I run the day-to-day happenings on our social media pages,” Grow said. “Each month, the public relations team will run a campaign that lasts the entire month. It starts with a brainstorm session and we all agree on the campaign, they design it and submit it to me. I may tweak it or change it and then they change it and submit it back to me.”

Grow said the public relations team has helped her save time and helped her with any issues she has.

“I remember I was trying to promote something on Facebook and Facebook kept kicking it out of its system, my pr team was able to help me and did it in a matter of minutes,” Grow said. “They introduced me to Offerpop.com, I didn’t know what it was and I didn’t have time to research it. They told me everything about it and all I needed to know.”
“The public relations team looks out for me and my company’s exposure to make sure we are best represented. I pay a flat fee for the year and they are available to me as needed.”

Traub said the public relations firm they use is an extension of Dogtopia’s home office team and allows them to have a high level of public relations expertise without adding additional marketing staff.

“In working with a PR firm, we benefit from multiple team members with extensive experience contributing to the success of our business,” Traub said. “This is essential.”

From Farm to Friend

We recently talked with John Gigliotti, founder and CEO of Whole Life Pet Products, about why he decided to create a line of freeze tried treats and how he sources his products.

Q: Tell us about Whole Life. 

Gigliotti: We manufacture the highest quality, safest, best tasting treats on Earth. Our company is built around three basic understandings. First, we understand how much people love their pets. Second, we understand the trust consumers must have in us and take that responsibility very seriously. Last, we understand a pet’s biological needs or their natural instinct for pure protein based nutrition that is void of filler and anything artificial.

Q: How did you get the concept for these treats?

Gigliotti: When I decided to start my own brand, I was immediately drawn to the idea of a treat company.
At that time, grain free and single ingredient treats were just becoming popular.  I did a lot of research on food processing and preservation.  I looked at things like baking and dehydrating and then became fascinated with freeze drying.  It’s the only process that allows you to take an ingredient and preserve it in its natural state without the use of chemicals, additives or preservatives.

The only freeze dried treat at that time were liver treats which were wildly popular with trainers.  I wanted something that would appeal more to family pet owners.  I began testing the concept with different cuts of meats like chicken and turkey breast, beef filet, lamb, fish, etc. and was amazed with the results.
That was our beginning.  We invented the freeze dried chicken breast strip.  I’m very proud of that.  It’s still our most popular item.  We inspired a lot of copycats, but there is nothing like ours.

Q: Your tag line is “Farm to Friend…For the Life of Your Pet.” How did you come up with that?

Gigliotti: I started in the retail business and quickly discovered there were a lot of products out there but very few that pet owners could really trust.  Words like “all natural,” “super premium” and “ultra premium” have no legally enforceable definitions in the pet treat category. I saw companies marketing attributes and ingredients, trying to convince consumers that their product was better because it had cranberries or blueberries or some other magical ingredient.

Whole Life is about understanding the emotional bond people have with their pets and our marketing is designed to connect with people on an emotional level.  The idea of Farm to Friend came from us being transparent in our sourcing and that we can draw a line directly from the farm or fisherman we buy our ingredients from right to the pet.

Q: What makes your freeze-dried treat different from others out there?

Gigliotti: The quality and cut of our meats and fish.  Its visual-you can see the difference.  We don’t use scrap and trim which is the standard in our industry.  We buy like a high end restaurant would.  It’s more expensive and we feel it’s worth it.  Our customers seem to agree.

Consistency.  We buy from the same farms and fisherman every time we purchase raw materials.  We don’t use brokers and shop around for the lowest price on meat.  We find a farm with exceptional quality and safety standards and we build a long term partnership with them.

In house production.  We are experts at our craft.  Freeze drying is a finicky process and takes time, experience and a lot of patience to become good at it.

Safety.  We are insane about the safety of our products.  Our safety protocol is unmatched and we are always poking holes in it to make it better.  Every ingredient we buy is tested before it reaches our facility and every batch, every day is tested when it comes out of our freeze dryers.  Nothing reaches our packaging department until test results are back and are negative.  You could eat off the floors in our facility and I owe that to our incredible staff who takes quality and cleanliness very seriously.

Q: For a small business, you have sure made a big splash in the industry. What’s the secret to your success? 

Gigliotti: In my opinion, people make or break any business and I am very fortunate to have an incredible team of people to work with on a daily basis.  When you are growing rapidly and things are changing almost daily, you need talented people who embrace change, who adapt quickly and who can execute under pressure.  That’s our team.\

Q: What’s next for Whole Life? 

Gigliotti: As my production manager Dave would say….Total World Domination.  On a serious note, we plan to stick with freeze drying for a while.  We are just hitting our stride in this category and there is so much more we want to do.