Feeding Cats B.A.R.F.
Posted on | February 8, 2010 | No Comments
Author:
Jason Voiovich
Ecra Creative Group
Key Points:
1. Pet food product marketing mirrors human food product marketing almost one for one – just a bit delayed.
2. But cats don’t like “people food” – they like furry mice and pretty songbirds.
3. BARF – or Biologically Appropriate Raw Food – is a mirror of the “organic” trend in human food. It features the same value points and should follow the same market adoption curve.
How do you market mouse innards?
I enjoy a copywriting challenge, but this one might be a bit dicey.
Here’s the short story: In scientific study after scientific study, house cats have been tested on what specific foods they prefer. The test subjects are garden variety house cats and the stimuli are a variety of food options – many of which you would find featured on the front of cat food labels: Beef, chicken, lamb, rice, tuna, salmon, sardines, buffalo, gravies of various types.
What would you guess cats prefer?
If you believe the cat food commercials, you might be inclined to think your cat likes the same foods you do. Have a look at a brief survey of taste-tempting options I found in my local pet food aisle:
Chicken, Veal & Beef Tender Slices Canned Cat Food in Gravy
(Oooh, tender! With gravy!)
Wilderness Canned Cat Food
(Wilderness? Really?)
Natural Ultramix in Gravy Adult Feline Canned Formula
(Formula. That sounds scientific!)
Beef, Turkey & Chicken Feast Grilled Variety Pack Adult Canned Cat Food in Gravy
(Grilled? Are you kidding?)
Chicken, Beef & Turkey Feast Marinated Morsels Variety Pack Adult Canned Cat Food in Gravy
(What’s a mosel?)
Elegant Medleys Cheddar Cheese Souffle Adult Canned Cat Food
(Souffle! I don’t even get souffle!)
Tender Ocean Whitefish Feast Gourmet Canned Kitten Food
(Fish? Only a handful of cat species fish, and it’s not Felis domesticus)
Meaty Bits Senior Canned Cat Food
(Senior?)
Perhaps it would help if I mentioned the other two items on the taste test: Common field mouse and songbird innards.
Ask any cat owner whose kitty ventures outside: What does a cat like to eat? They’ll tell you. Cats eat mice and birds. And the scientific studies prove it time and time again. In fact, mouse innards beats out its nearest competitor nearly 10:1.
Okay, so we’ve established cat food (in fact, all pet food) is marketed more to you than it is to your cat. Product development and marketing also mirrors trends going on in the general food industry. As such, we shouldn’t be surprised to see more pork and more bacon on your pet’s menu. And that shouldn’t surprise anyone – you’re the one buying it. If you think it looks good, ergo, you pet will too.
Watch this commercial and tell me you’re not hungry!
Pet Food Industry News also identifies Hispanic outreach, green products, pet obesity solutions, and aging pet populations as key market drivers. I didn’t need to study the pet food industry to divine those trends.
Put simply: Pet food marketed to appeal to people is not news.
What is news, however, is a new trend – Biologically Appropriate Raw Food – “BARF” for short. (Acronyms do not get better than that.)
Here’s the “official” definition:
“The word BARF is an acronym for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food. Every living animal on earth requires a natural and healthy, biologically appropriate diet. And if you think about it, not one animal on earth, is adapted by evolution to eat a cooked food diet.”
In short, BARF advocates look at what you cat is designed to do – kill and eat live animals. Mice and songbird to be precise. And it is brilliantly adapted to do just that. Your cat is not adapted to eat cow, or pig, or fish, or chicken. All of the nutrients it has evolved to need can be found in the cute little animals it hunts, kills, and eats with impunity.
Of course, for those of us who dislike asking the cat to hunt mice in our home, or don’t like the dirty looks from your neighbors once kitty kat has ridded the neighborhood of little tweety birds, BARF is the next best thing.
But because there isn’t yet a BARF section in your local pet food aisle, dedicated evangelists have been taking matters into their own hands. There are websites on how to make it yourself. I’ll spare you the details, but suffice to say that it involves a meat grinder.
Is it a bit gross? Yes. Could you get over it? Maybe. Is it better for the cat? Probably, but debatable.
Is it a new market trend? No doubt.
And of course we have a market introduction model: Organic food. In fact, BARF has some of the same initial issues: Few suppliers, poor or inaccurate information, and dedicated zealots. To go further, as we’ve demonstrated already, pet food trends mirror human food trends. There already are a few “organic” pet food manufacturers (think AvoDerm, Blue Buffalo, and Castor and Pollux). The “Science” brands (Iams, Hills, and Purina One) likely will follow suit once there’s a decent market. Once the market expands to critical mass, expect “mouse” and “bird” in a can of 9 Lives or Fancy Feast. We should be able to track it just like we tracked the mainstream adoption of organic human foods.
It might take a while, and market growth likely will depend on more “palatable” packaging options, but BARF’s eventual success should come as no surprise.
We just need to come up with a better acronym.
BARFworld.com
Foodmaking Tips at CatNutrition.org
Need proof?
Pet Food Industry News – Trend Report
Tags: BARF > Biologically Appropriate Raw Food > pet food marketing
Southwest Airlines, a death in the family, and core values
Posted on | February 5, 2010 | 1 Comment
Author:
Jason Voiovich
Ecra Creative Group
We recently had a death in the family.
Without going into specifics, it required an immediate trip from Minneapolis to St. Louis. Preferably by plane given the timing.
Of course, booking airfare last minute is not cheap, but many airlines offer what they call “bereavement fares” in order to make immediate trips a bit more palatable. So I called Southwest. Heck, they’re new to this market and known for their friendliness. Surely, they’d be the right place to call.
Wrong.
Here’s the conversation (no hyperbole):
Me: I need to arrange immediate travel for my wife due to a death in the family. Does Southwest offer bereavement fares?
Southwest: Uh, noooo. Our fares are already the lowest in the industry. We don’t offer any sort of discounts for things like that.
So I sent an email complaint to Southwest. Not because the company did not offer bereavement fares (I really don’t care, I just needed to know), but because the response was so out of character for Southwest’s brand image. The response I got back from the company of course apologized, but this isn’t so hard to get right the first time. In uncertain situations, It all comes down to core values for the company. And every interaction is a chance to build or destroy the brand.
Here’s how the conversation should have gone:
Me: I need to arrange immediate travel for my wife due to a death in the family. Does Southwest offer bereavement fares?
Southwest: I am very sorry for your loss. I know this is a difficult time for you and your family. Please offer my condolences to your wife. I wish we could help with a special fare, but we can’t do that. If you’d like to book the flight, I can help you – I am sure it will be very cost effective. Can I help you with that now?
Not so hard. Little things build brands. And little insensitivities destroy them.
If Delta could manage empathy (they did when I called), surely Southwest can too.
Is six hours of social networking per month worth an advertiser’s time?
Posted on | February 4, 2010 | No Comments
Author:
Jason Voiovich
Ecra Creative Group
These are averages, but Nielsen data seems to shows significant slice of consumers’ time is spent interacting with Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites. That said, I thought the numbers would be quite a bit higher.
Of course, these are average numbers, and it also seems to underscore the large number of people who either (a) are not using social networks, or (b) are not using them that much. Here’s a quick graph that I think helps us understand the numbers.
Right now, Twitter (and Facebook) usage is highly skewed to a very small number of users. Blogging follows the 20/80 rule. I’m not saying this is not an important trend, or something marketers should not pay attention to, but the raw numbers still force us to keep social media in perspective.
Twittering classes, The Economist
Tags: Facebook > Social Media > social media advertising > twitter
TurboTax “GPS”, mixed metaphors, and mixed messages
Posted on | February 3, 2010 | No Comments
Author:
Jason Voiovich
Ecra Creative Group
I think I know how the creative presentation went:
Creative Director: You know, TurboTax is kind of like a GPS system, it guides you through the tax code. And it’s a self-guided process, just like a Garmin or TomTom makes it possible for you to do it yourself!
Intuit Management: Yeah, that sounds perfect! Run with it.
Creative Director: No, you don’t understand. That’s a neat metaphor, but we need to make sure it really fits. I mean, the software doesn’t “look or act” like a GPS device. People probably won’t get it.
Intuit Management: But we like that. It’s perfect. We don’t have time to rework the actual software, but that’s okay. You guys just work your “creative magic”.
Intuit Management: [Condescending smiles.]
Creative Director: [Stunned silence, followed by sadness and resignation.]
Intuit Management: What about the other idea in your briefcase there???
Creative Director: [Wipes away tears.] Oh, this one? Test marketing indicated that it’s a condescending spot portraying single women as dumb, boy-hungry, and gold-digging. The spots would air during “Housewives of Orange County” – or other shows like that. They’re funny in an ironic, yet predictable sort of way. It needs some work, though.
Intuit Management: I like it! Let’s use those too. We can target “men” with the GPS idea and “women” with the “Desperate Housewives” idea. Awesome!
Creative Director: [Stunned silence.]
Creative Director: No, you don’t understand. I don’t think we should use both campaigns. We need more time to work through these ideas.
Intuit Management: We don’t have more time. Shoot ‘em and run ‘em. We’ll get the press release queued up. You guys will probably win an award for this stuff!
Creative Director: [Stunned silence. More tears.]
TurboTax 2009: Like GPS for Your Taxes
The Bryant McKinnie school of brand management
Posted on | February 2, 2010 | No Comments
Author:
Jason Voiovich
Ecra Creative Group
It was his injuries. Right.
And all those reports of late nights and parties are all part of the “treatment regimen”, aren’t they? You’d think for a player selected to his first Pro Bowl, he’d be a little more committed.
But whatever his reasons, what he may not understand fully (yet) is the impact of his getting booted from the Pro Bowl to the McKinnie brand. The Pro Bowl is an annual showcase of the NFL’s best talent. It’s not really a “game” as such, but more of a chance for the league’s best players (and its most valuable brands) to go out of the season on a high note, giving one more chance for fans to see them before the long draught to next fall. Also, it is an opportunity for each team to show off how many players were selected from its squad – for the Vikings, that means disproportionate representation this year. That’s important for establishing a market value and national presence for the team.
For an offensive lineman, the exposure is even more important. McKinnie’s jersey might not be as popular as a Favre or a Peterson, but certainly, it’s in the second tier of the Viking’s roster – an impressive accomplishment for someone on the O-Line.
The negative attention isn’t just a sportsmanship issue; it hurts the brand value of himself and everyone around him.
McKinnie tossed for missing practice, ESPN.com
Tags: Bryant McKinnie > pro bowl > vikings
Toyota in Crisis: Tylenol Extra Strength or Ford Explorer?
Posted on | February 1, 2010 | 2 Comments
Author:
Jason Voiovich
Ecra Creative Group
Key Points:
1. A manufacturing defect in the accelerator assembly in eight of Toyota’s top selling vehicles could lead to unintended acceleration and result in accidents, serious injury, or death.
2. But none of that has actually happened – Toyota could have played the 3-Ds: Deny, Delay, and Dismiss. It would have been an understandable approach.
3. Instead, Toyota took bold action (stopping sales and production of affected models) to protect its most valuable asset – its reputation.
Unintended acceleration.
Sure, it’s astronomically unlikely to happen, but the thought of your new Toyota flinging itself into a busy intersection all by itself has a way of gripping the mind.
Here’s Toyota’s technical explanation: “In rare instances, there is a possibility that certain accelerator pedal mechanisms may, mechanically stick in a partially depressed position or return slowly to the idle position.”
“Rare” is not comforting.
So what does the world’s top automaker to do?
Well, if history was our guide, we could expect months of delay, denial, and dismissal. Foot-dragging on identifying a problem. Questioning that it even was a problem. And dismissing the problem as unimportant. From a strictly legal perspective, there have been no confirmed injuries in the Toyota situation, and certainly no deaths. To make too big of a deal out of the situation may invite lawsuits and actually create a larger problem than really exists. From a financial perspective, recalls are horrifically costly, even worse now that consumers are beginning to buy new cars again. And let’s not even get the dealers started. Broad recalls are a sales buzz kill of the first order.
For a bit of perspective, we can look back over the past thirty years of crisis communication for a couple of guideposts. For the sake of discussion, we’ll look at the Tylenol crisis in 1982, and the Ford Explorer crisis in 2000.
[A point one might make: Why wouldn't I use a "positive" auto recall case study for comparison? My response: Name one.]
As we all learned, Ford’s handling of the Explorer rollover situation could boil down to a general feeling that it was Firestone’s issue with tire manufacturing, and not something inherent in the design of the vehicle itself. In other words, why take the rap for something that’s not your fault? That’s debatable, but the company response was slow and painful, leading to years of litigation for the company and a turning point in the “safety” image of the SUV in general.
Tylenol, by contrast, could have hidden behind the “rouge employee” defense, arguing that it could not have foreseen the action. But instead, it took the bold step of recalled millions of products and halting production until a systemic solution could be found. The result was not only a revolution in safe pill bottle design, but also limited litigation and repaired image.
To put it simply, it doesn’t matter whose fault it is. If it’s your brand, it’s your problem.
So we come to the question again: What direction will Toyota choose?
Their answer: Halt production. Halt sales. Find the problem. Fix it. Recall vehicles. Fix them.
The answer may seem simple, but consider for a moment the tremendous implications of their decision. The gas pedal issue in question affects eight of Toyota’s top selling models: RAV4, Corolla, Matrix, Avalon, Camry, Highlander, Tundra, and Sequoia. It doesn’t affect the Prius, other hybrid models, Yaris, or Sienna. It also does not affect Lexus or Scion models. They sell roughly 2 million vehicles per year in the United States. A halt of production of only one month could mean the loss of roughly 100,000 sales. Or assuming an average profit of $3000 per vehicle, roughly $300 million. Each month.
We won’t get into the reasons Toyota found itself in this position. Needless to say, it is both a manufacturing issue (growing too fast?) as well as an image issue (the “king of the mountain” always is the biggest target). Or how Honda, Hyundai, Subaru, and Ford are positioned perfectly to peel away sales.
Doing what Toyota did took cahones.
But it was the right thing to do.
It comes down to the company’s core values. For Tylenol (Johnson & Johnson), it was protecting health. For Toyota, it is a focus on long-term decisions.
When you think about it that way, Toyota’s decision makes perfect sense. If it is to retain its long-term position as the world’s best automaker – the highest quality, the safest, and the most reliable – it needed to send the message that it was serious.
Because when Toyota starts selling these models again, it wants no lagging doubt. Only a bold response could even hope to do the trick. And I think it will work.
Related Links:
Toyota Official Gas Pedal Recall Information
Tags: gas pedal sticking > toyota
A crisis of PhotoShop
Posted on | January 25, 2010 | No Comments
Author:
Jason Voiovich
Ecra Creative Group
Key Points:
1. A recent spate of PhotoShop and stock art errors shines an uncomfortable light on the advertising and creative profession.
2. But the democratization of photography has brought some good as well – pushing down prices and allowing tighter deadlines.
3. However, images are central to brand communication; sloppiness and poor choices have a way of coming back to hurt later.
My dad warned me about this.
He worked in the ad business for the better part of 30 years up until the late 1980s. In those days, there were no less than a dozen people working on and reviewing layouts before they went to production. You see art directors, designers, layout artists, key-liners, photographers, photo separation specialists, typesetters, color correctors, copywriters, client reps – all working on the same job.
Of course, mistakes were made, but with several eyes on the work (and the unavoidable time each job took), “major” mistakes were rare.
He warned me specifically about Adobe’s benchmark (but at that time still new) product: PhotoShop.
He knew it would be both a blessing and a curse.
He predicted (rightly) that it would allow creative departments to work much faster, much cheaper, and with far fewer people. He also predicted (rightly) that it would lead to many more errors.
Boy, was he right.
Let’s take a walk down (recent) memory lane for a few laughs. Read more
Tags: bin laden > demi moore > emma watson > Gaspar Llamazares > richard dawkins
Obamatunistic Advertising
Posted on | January 18, 2010 | No Comments
Author:
Jason Voiovich
Ecra Creative Group
Key Points:
1. Weatherproof used an image of President Obama, wearing one of the company’s coats, in an outdoor advertisement in Times Square, New York.
2. Obviously, the White House was not thrilled. All public figures have a right to control their likeness for commercial use.
3. But Weatherproof likely understood the risk; the groundswell of publicity far exceeds the modest investment in the campaign itself.
The White House was not pleased.
Smack in the middle of Times Square in New York – one of the busiest and most-watched intersections on Earth – stood a larger-than-life billboard feature President Obama, in a Weatherproof jacket, in front of the Great Wall of China.
Tags: Barack Obama > Obama > Weatherproof
When food labels lie
Posted on | January 11, 2010 | No Comments
Author:
Jason Voiovich
Ecra Creative Group
Key Points:
1. A survey of “diet conscious” foods packaged foods and restaurant meals found them understates calorie counts by 8 and 18 percent respectively.
2. Little understood food labeling regulations allow average calorie counts to be off by as much as 20 percent. The long-term net affect can be significant.
3. Nutrition Facts are a trusted foundation for marketers to build advertising claims; when that trust erodes from an unexpectedly high margin of error, advertising loses its effectiveness.
I really used to like Applebee’s Cajun Tilapia dinner.
A small portion of blackened tilapia, corn salsa, steamed broccoli, and brown rice. Very tasty. Being on the “Weight Watchers” menu, and clocking in a 6 “Points”, the meal didn’t leave me feeling like I need to spend the next three days at the gym.
But I’ve had the meal twice recently. At two different locations. And it was different.
No, the label on the menu hadn’t changed, but the dinner certainly had.
Instead of the half tilapia fillet, it’s now a full slab. The salsa and the rice are the same – albeit a bit more of them – but instead of plain steamed broccoli, these veggies are swimming in butter.
Sure, it tasted good, and the price hadn’t gone up, but it left me wondering how it could possibly still qualify for the same calorie count and nutrition details it did before.
An odd thought, but I consider myself a bit strange when it comes to noticing details, so I didn’t think much of it.
However, I came to find out, I was not alone. Read more
Tags: fda > food labels > nutrition facts
Artsonia: Finally, marketing involving kids I can agree with
Posted on | January 4, 2010 | No Comments
Author:
Jason Voiovich
Ecra Creative Group
Key Points:
1. Artsonia creatively combines a child’s need for recognition, a parent’s need to collect memories, and a teacher’s need to fund an art program.
2. The firm is up-front about the way it makes money – from parents and relatives who purchase “gift-like” student artwork – as well as how it gives it back – 15% to the school’s art department.
3. It might be a bit idealistic, but creative, positive, and honest kid-focused marketing is a rare find, and should be more widely emulated.
I have a confession to make.
This is not easy, so here goes: I have thrown away some of my kids’ art projects.
It’s not that I don’t feel a wave of shame each time I move a piece of art from the refrigerator to the recycling bin, but what am I supposed to do with a wrinkled water color painting splattered with rouge ketchup and chocolaty breakfast cereal milk?
My wife and I have thought about some sort of scrap book, but that hardly works for some of the more “adventurously sized” pieces. (Teachers – seriously – there is no way my nine year old can make it from the door of the school to the car in the winter without dropping his 30 x 40 inch masterpiece in the snow).
Alas, this is a problem creative business development and marketing can solve.
And lo, here it is!
The name of this little enterprise is Artsonia. Essentially, it amounts to an online kids’ art museum. In this case, Artsonia has a deal with my youngest son’s elementary school. The teacher takes photos of the work, uploads them (by student ID code) to the Artsonia website, and we (as parents) get an email to let us know new art is available.
And I’m glad to have it, because honestly, I never saw this one:
Caption (written by the art teacher): “Students looked at the work of Vincent VanGogh and studied color theory. Students were directed to choose either mostly warm or mostly cool colors for the background. The trees could be any combination of colors. If one side of each branch is light and the other dark, it creates an illusion of 3 dimensions.”
Wow. I had to click on this one and check it out.
When I did, I had the option to get this mini masterpiece of mugs, T-shirts, and other knick-knacks. It comes with a link to forward on the ordering information to grandparents and other family members. That was my first clue marketing was at work here. And yes, so it is.
In addition to parents having a digital artwork archive available for purchase, the school has an incentive as well. The participating school makes 15 percent of the proceeds from sales to parents and relatives. And that makes sense if you think it; what teacher has the classroom time to photograph and upload student artwork if there weren’t a financial incentive? Sadly, many art programs have trouble getting funding.
Parents want a way to keep (and share) their kids’ art projects. Art teachers (and art programs) need the money. Kids get the pride of having their artwork displayed and shared. The community gets visibility into the (too often hidden) art programs within the school system. Artsonia can make a little money to provide the service. Win win win win win.
Smart idea.
Of course, there are those among us (myself included) of bemoaning any marketing aimed at children. That there is no way to ensure privacy. That there is no way to avoid exploitation for commercial gain.
I get that. In fact, in most cases, I agree.
But this is different. Artsonia respects kids’ accomplishments, understands teachers and parents need to understand what’s going on, and is upfront about the way it makes money.
Now, don’t you like this better than a soft drink company giving the school a kickback for selling your kids (basically) sugar water?
I do.
Of course, it helps that the Artsonia service itself inherently amplifies something positive, but that shouldn’t let other kid-focused marketers off the hook.
This sort of idealism may not be realistic for most marketing aimed at our kids, but it doesn’t hurt to set the bar a bit higher.
Nice work.
Related Links:
Artsonia
About
Jason Voiovich
Ecra Creative Group
Phone: 651.209.2778
Principal and co-founder of Ecra Creative Group, a Minneapolis, MN based creative services firm specializing in brand development, reputation process management, naming/trademark, and product launches to drive measurable business results.
