Psychology Pays Off In The Dog-Treat Market

Any marketer of pet products knows that dog lovers tend to share certain attitudes, likes and, well ... pet peeves.

The real challenge is taking profiling to the next level: What differentiates a pet owner who's a loyal customer or prime prospect for a specific brand?

Alcone Marketing Group, just named agency of record for Del Monte's Milk-Bone and Meaty Bone treats, is deadly serious about sniffing out these subtleties. Indeed, qualitative interviews and online research with dog owners conducted by the Alcone Consumer Lab were key in helping the Omnicom division shape its winning pitch, according to SVP/Group Account Director Anne Sullivan.

So what makes Milk-Bone buyers tick? Sullivan shared a few tidbits with Marketing Daily.

Turns out that many are empty nesters who have "transferred their love" to their dogs, creating a parent/child-like relationship, she reports. And while it's a truism that all dog owners tend to think their pets are "better, cuter and smarter" than those other canines out there, the Milk-Bone buyer seems even more inclined to view his/her pet as being "the only dog in the world."

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For these devoted masters, says Sullivan, "Even their dogs' imperfections make their pets superior ... They view their dogs as worthy of top honors, worthy of being the dog on the [dog food] box. Often, they'll use their dogs' pictures as screen savers."

Despite (because of?) this tight bond, however, the Milk-Bone buyer "does not like to hear his dog being called by a 'cutsie-wootsie' name," Sullivan says. "And they don't like to talk about their own nicknames for their dogs in public."

Virtually all consumers interviewed were aware of the Milk-Bone brand. And with Milk-Bone now celebrating its 100th anniversary, the research also probed attitudes about product anniversaries--finding, to no one's surprise, that by reminding people that a product has been around for a long time, anniversary promotions "tend to validate that it's a great product."

Meanwhile, the factors driving Del Monte's focus on pet food aren't hard to psyche out.

The consumer marketing giant has been experiencing weakness in consumer edibles sales, but its 2006 acquisitions of the Milk-Bone portfolio from Kraft (for $580 million) and the Meow Mix brands from private equity firm Cypress Group (for $705 million) are buoying its overall performance.

Del Monte attributed most of its 12.6% net sales growth in second-quarter fiscal 2007 (ending November 2006) to the two pet brands.

It's certainly no secret that all things pet-related are hot these days: Overall sales of dog biscuits/treats/beverages jumped 5.2% last year, to account for $658.9 million of total dog food category sales of $2.96 billion, according to Information Resources, Inc. (IRI).

And Del Monte's strengthening its already strong position in the dog arena. Milk-Bone Dog Biscuits remained the No. 1 treat last year, with a 13.5% dollar share. Del Monte also manufactures private-label pet food/treats--and private-label treats overall were in second place, at 11%. Del Monte's Pup-Peroni held fourth place (5.2% share), and Milk-Bone Flavor Snacks Biscuits were in sixth place (4.1% share).

Still, there's plenty of dog-eat-treat competition, including No. 3 Beggin Strips (Nestle Purina, 8.9% share) and Greenies, dental health-oriented chewies that took the market by storm after their introduction by S&M NuTec eight years ago.

According to a new pet-food category report from MarketResearch.com's Packaged Facts division, Greenie's IRI-tracked sales leaped from $16,000 in 2000 to $30 million for the 12 months ending May 06--leading some analysts to predict that the upstart would soon overtake Milk-Bone. Instead, in the wake of claims that Greenies were sickening or even killing some dogs, the brand's sales dropped 10.6% last year, and its share dropped by nearly a percentage point, to 3.8% (7th place).

But with the backing of new owner Mars Inc., Greenies is now fighting back with a reformulated version. And Packaged Facts analysts report that TV commercials may be in the offing.

Lesson: Every dog treat has its day.

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