Pedigree Adoption Drive

Questions: 1. Discuss the strategic thought process undertaken by Pedigree for this marketing program.2. How could Pedigree leverage this marketing program to ensure a financialmarketing return on investment?3. What might be the key factors influencing consumer decision making for thepet food category?4. Discuss the pros and cons of such a social media driven campaign. Answers: 1. Pedigree started a campaign to raise awareness of abandoned dogs and took the internet as the medium to convey the message by uploading a series of videos about the homeless dogs called The Underdogs. The main aim of this campaign was to create a link between the audience and homeless dogs. They mainly used Facebook and YouTube for spreading the awareness. Pedigree created a database, PetRescue where all the details about the dogs were stored from around seven hundred sixteen shelters by which any dog can be tracked. A Facebook application named Dog-A-Like was introduced to the customers where the people get connected to PetRescue to find the preferred type of dog they want. The main thought process of the company for this program was to promote the brand itself so that every person buys their product. After the event, the company saw a whooping growth in their customer number. The integral part of their marketing strategy was to put forward the image for the love of dogs. The main focus for helping homeless dogs which were held by the corporate social responsibility (CSR) was perfect for its brand promotion. It not only helped the homeless dogs, but it also got huge customer attention and this made a perfect impact on brand perception. This also got the media coverage from the whole nation which made their brand world renowned for which many companies would be interested in donating and making deals with the company which will benefit the company overall. 2. ROI or Return of investment is a process in which a company can evaluate the ratio of their investment or compare different other investments. It usually measures the amount of profit a company would get on their investment relative to the cost of investment. The company has already shown its love for dogs and they used this strategy to earn the confidence and were able to make successful impact on their customers. Pedigree should focus on making dog foods much better in terms of quality so that everyone would come again. They should be able to solve their customer problems. Out in the market, there are several companies for the same thing but Pedigree should try to focus more on their target customers and should know their needs and try to fulfill these needs. The company also promoted their campaign over the social media where millions of people searched for them and they got a hit which ultimately helped them in getting more recognition as a brand. All these efforts can help them in earning money and make profit for the company. The money that got collected, the company would be able to invest them in some other big projects or for any tie ups with some multinational companies to bring about some innovative changes. The company also got their revenues from the retailer who sold those shirts on that campaign day made on behalf of the company. These are the ways; pedigree can make their profits from the campaign. 3. There are basically 5 factors that can affect the mind of a buyer while buying pet foods are Consumer Behavior, marketing mix, pet retailer, product and services. The way a consumer selects and buys food for their pets to fulfill the basic criteria is called the Consumer Behavior. It is a complex process as it comprises of many things like choosing, using, buying, evaluating and satisfying the needs, wants and desires of the pet. The second is the marketing mix where variety of products are sold under one roof so as to meet the different requirements of the pet lovers and they can know exactly what they need instead of going wandering from different shops. It is achieved by the mix of communication skills, advertisement, sales promotions and direct marketing even reaching out to the targeted customers. The third is the pet retailer where the products are sold directly to the consumers and are easily accessible within a walking distance. The fourth one is the Product quality which is the main thing a consumer sees in a product as every consumer sees their pet as family member and they want to provide them with the best food available in the mar ket. The last one is the services where the customers expect to get any sort of information regarding their product or if they got any queries, it can be resolved or even to get some assistance if any new product arrives in the market about which they are not aware and the persons who are selling these products should have good knowledge about the products too. 4. The following mentioned points are the pros of social media driven campaign. The first one is that it is lot cheaper than other tactics as it does not require any sort of money to promote. Only a nominal fee is required for the advertisement and it gives huge feedback. The second is that it can spread the word to many audiences via Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube where all kinds of audiences are present. It also builds genuine relationship as here the companies can speak with their customers via chat and can maintain direct contact. The fourth one is that it can build brand loyalty where the customers get what they want and can provide feedback. The fifth one is that it has higher conversion rates as this is a perfect place to sell the ideas and attract the customers also and the last one is that it can provide marketplace insights where transparency is maintained between the customers and the seller. The cons of social media driven campaign are as follows. The first one is Time Intensive as one has to maintain what is going on continuously with their advertisement and how much exposure it is getting. The second one is that the social accounts can get breached by which one can get all the sensitive data and can manipulate with the data. The third one is that it can damage a companys reputation as if they make any mistake; it will be out for display in public and can be directly held against the company.