In class 6, we were introduced to the idea that perception is key when it comes to marketing a product. We know that businesses pay dearly to ingrain their intended imagery into the minds of the consumers.
Case in point: Dog Food. What is the first dog food brand that pops into your head? Most likely, its Purina, Beneful, Pedigree, Iams, or Cesar, for the simple fact that those companies are currently running television ads. This is an interesting example, because dog food sales have nothing to do with taste, and everything to do with how the product is presented to you, and which brand you feel ‘suits your dog’s needs’. Does your dog want meat, vegetables, or how about healthy teeth?
However, with such a large market, it is difficult to find points of difference when advertising dog food. Thus, when a new trend in dog food marketing comes along (ex. environmentally-friendly dog food), many companies advertise a point of parity. Why? We learned that it was product differentiation that accounts for a successful marketing strategy.
In an interesting twist, one simply has to look at the structure of the market to understand the marketing strategy. The majority of dog food sales come from the top 5 producers, among them, corporate giant Nestle. Nestle just bought out Waggin Tails, Sept 10.(http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE6891RA20100910), which earned 200 million last year. With high barriers to enter the pet food market, it may seem like there is lots of competition looking at the shelves in the supermarket, but the giants have simply bought out their competitors, making it much easier to dictate their position to consumers. The pet food industry’s marketing and positioning strategy is not as complex after all.