According to Global Industry Analysts, Inc. the US Market for infomercial products is projected to grow to $252 billion by 2015. For those of you paying attention that is a whopping 5 X the entire pet industry! The word infomercial conjures up visions of cheap, garbage products hawked by loud mouth spokes people. Now this still exists, but so do more sophisticated infomercials by well respected brands like Bose. See the Bose example in the video below.

What is driving the growth of infomercials? Primarily the lackluster economy. GIA, Inc. lists the following…

1) More people are staying home increasing the need for entertainment products.
2) Consumers are preparing their meals at home increasing the need for food processing, knives, etc.
3) The convenience of being able to shop from home – hassle free.

What does this mean to you as a Pet Product manufacturer? Well, a lot.

If your product is really problem/solution and easy and fun to demonstrate infomercials may be for you. Infomercials put the power back in your hands and the hands of the consumer and away from the retailer. You build the demand with the consumer via :60 spots on TV along with an 1-800 number and direct response style website to take orders. The beauty? Retailers will come to you after consumers start coming into their stores looking for your product. It’s a great model. It brings things back to the way they should be. The manufacturer has the power. The retailer simply becomes a means of distributing a product.

It is getting harder and harder to get distribution in the pet industry. Even if you are lucky enough to get a pet chain to take a shot on your product, what happens next? How will you promote it? Most people don’t know how or have the funding to do so.

Now, let’s get real. Infomercials aren’t cheap. The costs to go in this direction are about…

1) TV Production $15 – $25,000
2) Media test $10 – $15,000 for 1 week
3) Fulfillment and Call Center Set up and ongoing order taking $3 – $6k/month

So your upfront expenses are going to be somewhere between $30 – $50k. Sound like a lot? It is. But what is the cost of spinning your wheels and getting nowhere?

BUT… if you are successful and do all of your homework up front you can be profitable and drive brand awareness at the same time.

Oh, and just about every retailer today has an “As Seen on TV” section – including both Petsmart & Petco. It’s a great way to side step the whole process and let the consumer decide.

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Product (25%) – This is the actual product itself.  It needs to be great.  It needs to be better than great!  It needs to be the BEST product in its category to break through.  The product component is very important but still only 25% of the overall success.

Brand Name (15%) – Your brand name is extremely important and it should be benefit driven.  In other words, the name should describe what the product does or its main benefit.  If you have an unlimited marketing budget you can name it something abstract and create the meaning behind it.  Also, keep it simple – 1 to 2 syllables and easy to spell.

# of SKUs (10%) – You need between 12 – 18 SKUs to create a real line in the mind of a retail buyer.  Use sizes, flavors, shapes, scents, colors, etc. to get there.  One SKU products are great for infomercials but not for retail.  You need a brand block on shelf to be successful.

Rep (15%) – The ability of your rep to get an appointment with key retail buyers is very important to your success.  If your current rep can’t get you the appointment, get a new one.  Also, make sure you go with your rep on the first few calls to key accounts so you get the feedback first hand.

Packaging (20%) – You may be surprised that I give packaging a 20% contribution to your success – don’t be.  Yes it is almost as important as the greatness of your product.  If your packaging sucks so will your sales.  Create a great package.  Don’t settle for second best or sloppy packaging.  Get a professional to design it.  A lot of professional designers do freelance work for as little as $40/hour.  Go out and find one.

Marketing (20%) – How good is your marketing plan?  Will it drive trade and consumer awareness enough to get noticed and get people to buy?  It better or you will be out of business in 6 months.  Marketing & PR are just as important as ever.  In the world of YouTube, Facebook & Twitter it is never been easier or less expensive to reach your target audience where they gather.

Well, there you have it – the Anatomy of a Successful Pet Product.  How does your product stack up?

Need help?  We offer a 30 minute FREE consult.  Just contact us to set an appointment.

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10 Pet Marketing Commandments

1. Thou shalt have more than 1 pet product SKU.

You need to build a brand block on the shelf. One SKU products have so many disadvantages – from a buyer not wanting to do the paperwork to being hard to find at retail. Use sizes, colors, scents, etc. to create a minimum of 10 – 12 SKUs which will constitute a product “line”.

2. Thou shalt have great packaging.

Many start-ups try to enter the pet industry with poor brand names, logos and packaging. Your product may be excellent so give it a real chance in the market with great packaging. You can get professional looking packaging much cheaper than you may expect.

3. Know thy pet category.

Before you enter the pet industry know the pet category you are entering. If it is a hotspot lotion you need to know the market potential – how many dogs suffer from hotspots? How many consumers purchase hotspot creams & lotion at retail vs. from their vet. How much does the average hotspot solution cost? How many hotspot solutions are available at Petco & Petsmart? How competitive is the category? This will give you a better idea of what the real opportunity is.

4. Thou shalt get the right pet rep.

Having the right rep is the difference between sitting in front of a legitimate buyer at Petco or Petsmart and endlessly cold calling a buyer and sending samples. Most work on commission only so the risk to you is minimal. Get the right rep and get a real appointment. Stop cold calling and wasting your product on samples.

5. Know thy competition.

Know your competition’s products, pricing and key accounts. Can you match or beat their pricing? What are their strengths, what are their weaknesses? How many competitors are there in your category? Follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. What are they talking about? Is there packaging & marketing better than yours?

6. Thou shalt have a pet marketing budget.

You MUST have a marketing budget to promote your pet product. The typical rule of thumb is 10-15% of gross revenue for marketing. If you are spending less you are at risk. Keep in mind the difference between success and failure is awareness – among the trade and consumers of your product. If you are not generating awareness you aren’t generating sales.

7. Thou shalt go to Global Pet Expo.

If you are series about being in the pet business you need to join APPA and attend Global Pet Expo. It is the only trade show that really matters. Once you grow you can spend the money and attend Superzoo and Backer.

8. Know thy pet customer (retailer).

What are the account’s margin requirements? What are their price points of your competition? Does your product fall into a focus area for them? How many stores do they have? What would an opening order look like? How do they define success for your product category?

9. Thou shalt advertise your pet product.

This is related to #6. You need a budget to spend on advertising. First advertise to the trade in Pet Product News, Pet Business and Pet Age. As you build enough distribution to be found in chains and independent pet stores you can begin advertising to consumers – Dog Fancy & Cesar’s Way are good starting points.

10. Thou shalt conduct pet marketing research.

Test everything — your name, product concept, advertising, etc. It’s never been easier or cheaper with products like Survey Monkey. Post the questionnaire on your Facebook Page and create Twitter updates about it. Ask for honest opinions and you will get the answers you need. If you really want to do research the same way Procter & Gamble does it will cost you, but not that much with Zoomerang.

I hope you find the commandments helpful. I wish you the best of luck in your pet business.

Need help? Bulldog offers a FREE 30 minute Pet Marketing consultation. Contact us to set an appointment.

Want to learn more? Visit the Pet Marketing blog.

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1)      Not understanding the Market for Your Pet Product – you need to know what the real potential for your product is.  For example, you have a hotspot remedy.  Great!  Now, how many dogs suffer from hotspots?  If you don’t know, you shouldn’t develop a product for it.  All product development efforts should start with knowing how many people could potentially purchase your product.  You should have a good estimate of units and dollar volume.  So in this example, if you find out from a reliable source that 25% of dogs suffer from hot spots in any given year then your potential volume could be 78 million dogs (source: APPA) X 25% = 19MM.  So if EVERY dog owner buys your product the total volume potential is 19MM and if you sell your item for a retail of $4.99 the total dollar volume is $97MM.  Now not EVERY person is going to buy YOUR product for hotspots.  There are a lot of other considerations.  How many people will simply do nothing or visit their vet… but I would say you could turn it into a $1MM+ business if you do everything else right.

2)      Using Cost Plus Pricing for your Pet Product – This is a common mistake of inventors or first time entrepreneurs.  You take your cost, let’s say $3 and double it for a 50% margin, 100% markup for a cost to retail of $6.  The retailer doubles it for another 50% margin or 100% markup for a retail price to consumers of $12.  Makes perfect sense right?  A 50% margin is healthy for a startup – maybe too healthy.  Most operate at breakeven or even a negative gross margin for the first year or so.  Back to our example… your item is now $12.  Problem?  Your competition or comparable items are all $9.99 or less.  This is a big problem.  The retailer WILL NOT CUT HIS MARGIN TO SELL MORE OF YOUR PRODUCT.  It is your responsibility to price your item right.  Most product companies are based on economies of scale – sell more and your manufacturing costs drop.  Keep that in mind.  You should use the retail price you believe the ultimate consumer will pay and work backwards to your cost.   If you can’t get the product for that price then either work at a loss for awhile to build volume or don’t get into the business.  Look for something else to make or go get a regular job.

3)      Not doing any Marketing Research for Your Pet Product – I’m sure you think your product is great.  If you didn’t you wouldn’t have created it.  I’m also sure IT IS great.  However, just to be sure ask some people what they think.  Ask your neighbor your co-working or friend.  Show them the product in its packaging and simply ask would you buy this product for X?  X= estimated retail price point.  Now if you want to go further use Survey Monkey and create a more formal survey.  You can post the link on your Facebook page and Tweet about it. Try to get around 100 people to take the survey.  Show a picture of the product with a few sentences explaining what it does and include the suggested retail price point.  If you are worried about secrecy just use a text descriptor to give a general overview of your product.  Ask some questions about it and see if the responses are as enthusiastic as you expected.  Research doesn’t have to be expensive, but it is essential.  The best part is if the results are positive you can use them for your retail sales presentation.

4)      Not Developing Enough SKUs – This is a recurring theme in my blog posts and pet marketing video lessons.  I keep repeating it so it eventually sinks in.  I am going to repeat – MOST 1 SKU PRODUCTS WILL FAIL.  It’s simply not worth a buyer’s time to do the paperwork for 1 SKU.  In addition, the buyer knows it won’t do well.  Why?  It will get lost on the retail shelf and never be found.  It’s not that hard to develop more SKUs.  Think large, medium and small size.  Different flavors, different scents.  A good rule of thumb is to shoot for 10-12 SKUs to create your product line and “brand block” on shelf.

5)      Not Getting Help Early Enough – I have many prospects take advantage of my FREE ½ hour consult.  What I hear more often than not is that tens of thousands of dollars have been spent with little or no results.  Don’t be one of these prospects.  I have spent the last 20 years (the last 10+ in the pet industry) making mistakes and doing testing.  Take advantage of my mistakes!  I know what works and what doesn’t.  I am sure you are really smart, but it takes awhile to understand the pet industry and how to successfully introduce a product into the market.

Want help? Contact us for a FREE Half Hour Consult.

Want more FREE Pet Marketing advice?  Download my FREE whitepaper, “Confessions of a Pet Product Marketer”.

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John Cullen of Bulldog Marketing & Sales will answer these questions and more in our interactive podcast interview.

Some of the things John will discuss include:

• What are your top 4 tips for getting a new pet business off the ground?
• How has the economy been affecting pet product sales? Strong areas? Weak?
• How do you get your product into the bog box stores? What’s involved?
• What are the best types of online advertising tactics you recommend and why?
• What are the best and most cost-effective OFF-LINE ad tactics you recommend and why?

Listen to the recorded Podcast here…

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This Pet marketing video reveals 5 insider secrets as to how the pet business really works.

The video answers the questions…

- Do pet products sell themselves?

- What does it take to get my product into a pet distributor or pet chain?

- Can I be successful with a one SKU pet product line?

- Does a great pet product need marketing?

- Are pet products really price inelastic?

In the video, I’ll  walk you through the 5 secrets step by step and offers insights as to how you can answer the questions above for your own business leading to greater success.

Enjoy the video? Would you like to learn more about Bulldog Marketing & Sales and what we can do for your business? Visit us at http://www.bulldogms.com or call us at 718-218-4Pet.

We offer a free consult. To schedule YOUR free consult visit http://www.bulldogms.com/contact

Want more FREE pet marketing advice, tips & tricks? Visit the Pet Marketing Blog http://www.bulldogms.com/blog-page

I hope you will share your feedback and comments here and on the YouTube video page.

See you online soon.

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1. I put together a Twitter list of the top 10 pet marketing experts.  Check it out…Pet Marketing Experts.

2. Here is a quick video covering pr, SEO and blogging for your pet business.  3 Pet Marketing Tactics You Can Use Today To Sell More Tomorrow.

3. Here is my white paper, “Confessions of a Pet Product Marketer” which is chock full of free pet marketing advice.

4. If you liked #3 there is also a fun video of the same name.  Sometimes it has problems loading, so if you have an issue just hit reload.

5. Here is a nice sell sheet outline.  You need one of these to sell into distributors.  Pretty handy.

Well that’s it for now.  If you are looking for more free pet marketing advice, checkout my Pet Marketing Blog.

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I finally got around to starting my Pet Marketing Video Lesson Series.  Glad we are off and running.  Here is the first video in the series. I hope you enjoy it. Please feel to leave comments/questions/feedback here on the pet marketing blog or on YouTube.  I’ll be checking both.  Thanks.

This is a short Pet Marketing how-to video that covers 3 simple marketing tactics to help pet product manufacturers and services sell more. Topics covered include:

1. Public Relations – Write a press release and submit it to petpr.com and reach pet influencers like pet trade magazines, pet bloggers and TV news producers that focus on pet.

2. SEO – Start learning about search engine optimization, do keyword research to figure out what people are searching for when they are looking for your product or service and optimize your website’s title tag to include the keyword.

3. Start a blog – Blogging increases web traffic and inbound links (which helps with SEO). It also helps you become an authority in your product or service category.

Need help? Get a Bulldog.
Pet Marketing Help

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Have you listed your blog at Technorati?  You should. For more details visit http://technorati.com/.

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The pet industry is a strange breed. However, I can’t be too harsh because it is also the industry that has employed me for over 10 years. Just for reference I started my career in marketing research and the consumer packaged goods industry. I’ve also spent a few years in Consumer Electronics.

In a nutshell the pet industry is at least 20 years behind CPG or CE. However, it is changing. Luckily the dog food companies owned by Colgate and P&G keep things professional. For most, it is an industry where anyone with a zip-lock bag of home

No offense to my old client, but this is not the right approach to Pet Marketing.

baked dog treats can slap a label drawn with crayon on the front and be in the pet biz! The barriers to entry are low and the potential for riches great (at least that is how the story goes).

I started the pet marketing ad and consulting agency, Bulldog Marketing & Sales, Inc. to help start-ups become more professional. It has been a struggle. It’s not easy professionalizing an industry where many people attend trade shows in a t-shirt and flip-flops. Add to that the pig headed nature of entrepreneurs (me included!) who thinks they know everything and you have a recipe for disaster!

So if you are thinking about getting into the pet business or are already in and not seeing much success here are a few tips to help you get off to a good start.

1. Develop a good, benefit brand name and logo. Get professional help if you need it. So many times I work with clients that have a pretty good product, but the name is terrible and has nothing to do with the product itself. Making it worse, the logo looks like it was created by a second grader (and probably was).

2. Create a real packaging design. In most cases, the packaging is the most important piece of marketing you can invest in. It is your “silent salesman”. Will it stand out among the competition on shelf?

3. You need more than 1 SKU. Yes you do. No really, yes you do. Depending on the category you need 6 – 12 SKUs to have an impact. Buyers hate 1 SKU lines. So do I and so should you.

4. Set a marketing budget. You need one. There are so many options today to market your product and not spend an arm and a leg. You need to spend something. If you think business is free, don’t spend anything and save yourself a lot of time and effort and NOT start the business at all.

Want more helpful tips? Read my pet marketing whitepaper or watch my video.

And of course if you need personalized help navigating this crazy business, give me a call at 718-218-4PET or email me at john.cullen@bulldogms.com.

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