Figure 1:
Good Dog Logo. Adapted with Magic Media by Canva. (2024, June 13). https://www.canva.com/design/DAGH8vATPRE/cBd6Nt-IFvU7MVLGVlUudQ
Good
Dog
Figure 2: Dog
on a Farm. Adapted with Magic Media by Canva. (2024, June 13) https://www.canva.com/design/DAGH8vATPRE/cBd6Nt-IFvU7MVLGVlUudQ.edit
MSH Brands
and Good Dog know you want the best for your pet and the environment. That’s
why they set a goal to reach net zero carbon
emissions by 2030.
MSH Brands is one
of the top five global pet food companies. MSH Brands sells dog food under its
SBU Good Dog. Good Dog is known for its quality nutrition and offers
various products in the United States and Canada. Good Dog sells wet dog food
in pouches, dry kibble in recycled paper bags, supplements, and several chewy
and biscuit treats. The company distributes 20 percent of its products online
through the Amazon marketplace and 80 percent through various physical
retailers like supermarkets and pet stores and bulk retailers like Costco and
Sam’s Club. Good Dog’s annual revenue was
250 million in 2023, which accounted for 3.6 % of MSH Brand’s total
annual revenue. Good Dog constantly seeks innovative ways to improve its
products for dogs, humans, and the environment to align with its company goals.
Problem
Pet owners in the
United States spend nearly 52 billion dollars annually on pet food and supplies
(Shahbandeh, 2024). Dog food
owners are becoming more concerned about their pets' health (Future et al.,
2023). One
study followed 2,639 dog owners and their dogs' diets (conventional meat, raw
meat, or vegan) for one year and found that dogs fed a vegan diet experienced
seven percent fewer health issues than those on a raw diet and 13 percent fewer
issues than those fed conventional meat dog food (Knight et al., 2022). “Organic
vegan pet food is expected to register at a 7.8% annual rate. Organic dog food
has numerous benefits for canines, including fewer skin allergies and disease,
fewer digestive disorders, excellent general health, and a higher quality of
life” (Future et al., 2023, para 2).
Customers want
environmentally sustainable pet food options. Global warming, climate change, a
growing population, and food scarcity concern many companies and consumers and
are causing a shift toward conservation efforts. Meat production creates twice
as many greenhouse gases as agricultural production (Xu et al., 2021). However,
the pet food industry currently consists primarily of meat-based products,
which many consumers consider environmentally unsustainable and unethical.
Product
Overview
Figure 3: Good Dog Food Packaging. Adapted with Magic
Media by Canva. (2024, June 13). https://www.canva.com/design/DAGIcayT4fg/Dk7i_fLYfg51khU2G8b_eA/edit
Good Dog’s current brand
portfolio includes Good Dog wet dog food in pouches and Good Dog Kibble in recyclable
paper bags. These two products are the most popular under the company’s branded
house strategy, with the Good Dog Kibble being the original flagship product. Good
Dog’s Wet Food is the company’s cash cow because the company sells enough of
the product to keep producing the product with limited marketing support
(Kotler & Keller, 2016). The company also offers dog treats under the Nom-Nom
branding and pet dietary supplements under the name Non-Nom Health. The
company distributes 20 percent of its products online through the Amazon
marketplace and 80 percent through various physical retailers like supermarkets
and pet stores and bulk retailers like Costco and Sam’s Club. Good Dog’s annual
revenue was 250 million in 2023.
Made of
papaya, kale, lupin beans, pea protein, butternut squash, broccoli, pumpkin,
blueberries, and hemp seed, the new organic,
vegan dog food will be a brand extension under the Good Dog branding but
offered as a premium, higher-end product. The new product extension is Good
Dog Good Bites, which will include vegan, organic kibble and three
varieties of canned wet food: Vegan Casserole, Veggie Stew, and Squashetti. The
dry food will be sold in compostable bags made of bamboo, and the wet food will
be sold in recyclable cans for more sustainable packaging. Over the next few
years, Good Dog will initiate a can-return program to disperse collection bins
in popular stores like PetSmart and Wal-Mart to collect the containers,
sterilize them, and reuse them. The
product positioning statement is: Good Dog vegan dog food is the first vegan
food available in the United States and Canada that is made entirely of
plant-based, sustainable ingredients that are better for our pets and better
for the world.
Product
Benefits
Figure 4: Good
Dog Good Bites Packaging. Adapted with Magic Media by Canva.(2024, June 13). https://www.canva.com/design/DAGIcayT4fg/Dk7i_fLYfg51khU2G8b_eA/edit)
Companies can
benefit from offering new products as brand extensions because product
acceptance will be easier since Good Dog already has an excellent reputation as
a brand consumers can trust. It will also be easier to get retail stores to
stock the products since they are already familiar with the brand (Kotler &
Keller, 2016). From a marketing funnel perspective, the campaigns can focus on
teaching the audience about the new product over brand awareness (Kotler &
Keller, 2016).
One disadvantage
of brand extensions is that consumers may have too many product choices, or the
products overlap consumer needs, so revenue is diverted from other available
product offerings (Kotler & Keller, 2016). However, this is not likely to
occur for the Good Dog brand as the products cater to somewhat different market
segments. The Good Dog Kibble appeals to various dog owners as it meets the
needs of dogs of any age and weight. Good Dog wet food appeals to price-sensitive
consumers who want quality meals for their pets at the lowest price and an even
smaller segment of consumers with older dogs who require softer food. Nom-Nom
treats appeal to the segment of dog owners who can spend a little more on their
pets occasionally. The Good Dog Good Bites extension will meet the needs of
consumers concerned about the environment and their pets' health and are
willing to spend more on organic, vegan products that satisfy their needs. Eventually,
Good Dog’s strategy will scale back the production of the original kibble and
wet food products as the organic, vegan products are adopted in line with the
net-zero carbon emissions set by MSH Brands.
Who is the target
market?
Target Market
Peter Drucker says, “The aim of marketing
is to know and understand the customer so well that the product or service fits
him and sells itself (Kotler & Keller, 2016, p. 2).
Building a consumer profile of various attributes, behaviors, and interests will help a company better understand the targeted market's needs. Demographic attributes are age, gender, marital status, and family size. Psychographic characteristics may include lifestyle, attitudes, interests, and ethnicity. Geographic features pertain to a consumer’s location, such as country, city, zip code, and sales regions. Behavioral attributes are buyer status, amount, frequency, purpose, and price sensitivity (Juska, 2024).
Overall, dog food owners are becoming more
concerned with the health of their pets (Future et al., 2023). One study
regarding preservatives in dog food found that dog owners are more concerned
about their pets’ diets than their own (Pedrinelli et al., 2024). According to
one survey, 6.2 percent of dog owners claim vegetarian diets, and 5.8 percent are
vegan, which is higher than the general population (Dodd et al., 2022).
Moreover, apart from one vegetarian, 1.6 percent of vegans feed their pets a
plant-based diet (Dodd et al., 2022. The survey also found that concern for the
welfare of farm animals was a common concern for 39 percent of pet owners. The
most common concern regarding a plant-based diet was nutrition for the pet.
Among vegans surveyed, the main reason for not feeding their pets a plant-based
diet was cost (Dodd et al., 2022). Forty-one percent of the dog food consumers
purchased last year was premium, and 24 percent was generic. However, the
market has shown interest in differentiations from the majority as some product
differentiations that consumers purchased last year were natural (19%),
grain-free (14%), organic (10%), limited ingredient (8%), added probiotics
(8%), gourmet (7%), specialty(7%), raw (6%), added glucosamine/chondroitin
(5%), added herbs and botanicals (5%), and personalized food (4%) (Chu, 2024).
Pet owners in the United States spend
nearly 52 billion dollars annually on pet food and supplies (Shahbandeh, 2024).
According to overall sales, retail stores remain the most popular shopping
channel as retail stores generate approximately 34 billion dollars, and online
shopping generates 18 billion dollars annually (Shahbandeh, 2024). The
demographic information age range is 25 to 64-year-olds, who accounted for 74.3
percent of the annual pet store revenue in 2023 (Shahbandeh, 2024). The pet
ownership age demographic by generation is 16 percent Gen Z, 33 percent
Millennials, 25 percent Gen X, 24 percent Baby Boomers, and two percent Builder
(71 and older) (Chu, 2024). Gen Zers will be the future trendsetters in the pet
food industry. Gen Z accounts for only 16 percent of pet ownership in the U.S.;
however, they were the only demographic to show a substantial increase in pet
product purchasing over the last year (Chu, 2024). Therefore, MSH Brands'
primary target markets are Gen-Zers and Millennials who own one or more dogs
and seek vegan food options for their pets. Research indicates that consumers need vegan dog food
products. Ninety-one percent of Gen-Zers want to purchase from sustainable
companies (PDI Technologies, 2023). Millennials and Gen-Zers are willing to pay
more for products with more perceived value. One survey found that 77 percent
of Gen-Zers and 72 percent of Millennials will pay more for sustainable
products (PDI Technologies, 2023). Eight-one percent of Gen-Zers are likelier
to purchase environmentally-friendly products (PDI Technologies, and
Sixty-seven percent of Generation Z are more apt to become brand loyalists for
brands they trust (PDI Technologies, 2023).
Geographic
Areas for Target Market Segments
Figure 5:
Generations of the United States. Adapted by Arcgis. (2023, May 10). https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=0c5e5549f73d4bffaaff1e750ce5d38f
Good Dog
will launch its new project in the United States first, then expand to Canada. As
shown on the slide, large percentages of Millennials and Gen Zer are located
around major cities in the United States like San Francisco, Los Angeles,
Seattle, Houston, Dallas, Denver, Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, Miami, Boston, New
York City, and Washington D.C.
Market Objectives
Common
marketing objectives are sales volume, value, growth, market share, and brand
loyalty (Riley, 2019). The marketing objectives for Good Dog is:
To increase
sales by 25% by 2026 by identifying a market segment not yet explored.
To achieve
20% of the market share within 2 years of the product launch.
To maintain
50% of the acquired customers within one year of launch.
To increase revenue by 15% one year after the product launch.
Our
competition:
Figure 6: Pet
Food Label Article Image One. Adapted by IFA. (n.d.). https://grow.ifa.coop/pets/how-to-read-a-pet-food-label
The top five global competitors in the dog
food industry per annual revenue are MSH Brands (7 billion), Mar’s Petcare Inc.
(19.5 billion), Nestle Purina Pet Care (19.3 billion), Hill’s Pet Nutrition
(3.7 billion), and J.M. Smucker (2.7 billion) (Statista, 2023). All these
companies have strong brand recognition and the capital to take risks. Some of
these companies have already entered the alternative pet food industry. Mar’s
Petcare Inc. offers vegetarian food through its Royal Canin brand (Chewy,
2024). Nestle Purina offers its product Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diet (Chewy,
2024). Some of the key players in the plant-based dog food market are Mars
Inc., Hills Pet Nutrition, Nestle Purina Petcare, and Fresh Pet. Mars (2021)
acquired its Royal Canin vegetarian dog food line. Hill’s Pet Nutrition joined Bond Pet Foods in
2021 to help the company create a sustainable fermented protein for pet food
with a plan to eventually replace one of the company’s top brands with a
plant-based protein product (Future et al., 2023). Nestle Purina offers its
vegetarian product Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diet (Chewy, 2024). A notable
vegetarian product released in 2021 was Fresh Pet’s Spring and Sprout food,
made from vegetables, plant-based protein, cage-free eggs, and fruits (Future
et al., 2023). It is important to note that one of the top five companies in
the industry, J.M. Smucker, currently has no vegan or vegetarian dog food in
their portfolio.
The Pack may not be as large as Good Dog’s
other competitors. However, it is a notable vegan dog food startup company in
the United Kingdom that is gaining momentum. Founded in 2020, The Pack became
the first company to offer wet vegan dog food by 2021. In October 2023, it
became Europe’s first vegan dog food company, which is a certified
B-corporation (The Pack, 2024). The Pack raised one million dollars in investor
seed money in 2022, with plans to expand its product offering of oven-dried
kibble and expand into Europe in 2025 (The Pack, 2024). It is important to note
that one of the investors in The Pack was another of Good Dog’s other
competitors, Mar’s PetCare.
Marketing
Mix
Marketing Tactics
Marketers “manage all touchpoints
including store layouts, package designs, product functions, employee training,
and shipping and logistics (Kotler & Keller, 2016, p. 4). Modern marketing
considers the 8 P’s of marketing: product, price, place, promotion, people,
process, physical evidence, and partnerships (Cappella University, 2023).
The new product is Good Dog Good Bites,
which is vegan, organic dog food. For a premium product, the company will
charge premium pricing for the valued product. For example, Royal Canin (Mar’s)
offers Vegetarian Diet food for $89.99 per 17.6 pounds, or $5.11 per pound
(Chewy, 2024). Nestle Purina offers its product Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diet
at $50.99 per 6-pound bag or $8.50 per pound (Chewy, 2024). A smaller
competitor, Addiction, charges $29.94 for four pounds of its vegetarian product
or $7.50 per pound (Chewy, 2024). Good Dog will price its vegan food product
around $9 per pound for a five-pound bag
with a slight discount for bags of larger quantities.
Place entails the distribution channels through which a company will sell its products. In 2023, the most popular distribution channel for dog food was store-based retail channels, with 86.4 percent. The store-based channels include supermarkets, convenience stores, mom-and-pop shops, pet stores, discounters, independent grocery stores, and drug stores (Future et al., 2023). Supermarket distribution is most popular at 41% but is expected to decrease to 34.4 percent by 2033 ( Future et al., 2023). MSH follows this popular distribution strategy, which will still be adequate to reach its target audience for vegan dog food. Millennials and Gen-Zers frequently use online and retail shopping, although Millennial’s retail shopping has declined since 2023 (Chu, 2024). Chewy.com generates over 11 billion dollars in sales of various pet products (Shahbandeh, 2024). Chewy.com is an excellent distribution channel for MSH to add. Walmart and Amazon are extremely popular online shopping sites for pet products (Shahbandeh, 2024).
Promotion is a company's channel to inform
consumers about product benefits and attract new customers. Branding matters
more to Millennials and Gen-Zers than any other generation (Chu, 2024), so MSH
Brands needs to continue building its brand of social awareness and
environmental consciousness. Both groups rely on influencers for information,
so another effective means of promotion is to partner with a celebrity or
famous influencer to promote vegan dog food, MSH Brands, and its values.
Gen-Zers learn about products on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, so MSH Brands
can release commercials and promos to reach that generation. Millennials still
obtain most of their product information from search engines, so the company
must use search engine optimization to reach that target group (Chu, 2024).
Millennials also engage brands through social media networks, so the company
should maintain a presence on these channels and release engaging content
frequently (Promodo, 2023).
People within the company interact
directly with consumers at various touchpoints (Capella, 2023). Good Dog will
train all of the employees on the new product offering so the employees can
answer any questions the consumer may have about the new dog food product.
Processes and systems are responsible for
company efficiency and impact customers’ experiences with the company. So, it
is important to consider how the current processes may need to be changed to
maintain a competitive advantage. One process that we must continually analyze
is Good Dog’s environmental impact, seek improvements, and make changes
whenever better options become available.
Physical
evidence is packaging and branding. For Good Dog Good Bites, the packaging will
include the company logo, but it will contain maroon and blue, which is
different from the current products. This will make the products different yet
obviously still under the Good Dog brand.
Partnerships
are another area of the marketing mix that can help a company reach its goals.
One partnership that would help the company reach its intended target is with
the organization PETA since consumers who hold similar ideas would likely be
interested in vegan dog food. Another partnership and good cause for the
company to support would be to donate food to the Humane Society.
Conclusion
MSH Brands aims to establish itself as a
leader in the vegan dog food market by offering sustainable and ethical
products to meet the changing consumer preferences and market demands.
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