Pet Specialty Blog

Archive for August, 2010

I recently read an article on Kodak’s last production of kodachrome film.

As the king of photographic films’ successor is being replaced with digital technology, my first thought was wow… end of a beautiful era. How can new technology ever replace such class, superiority, and richness of its’ predecessor. Like vinyl to CD’s and CD’s to ipods, the evolution of technology will carry on regardless.

Then I really started to think… Is the evolution of technology similar to that of business? As the faces of marketing transform from print to web and emails, should your branding? I hope your answer is NO!

As the world of business is constantly evolving, the basics of branding should remain the same, to name a few.

• Establish the core value of your products and business.
• Do the research and determine your purchasing target market.
• Choose which medium will best communicate and attract your target market.
• Create a face for your business by designing a logo that will translate on all mediums.

The moral to the story, I guess change is going to happen regardless, might as well embrace what comes but don’t forget what has passed.

I was walking through a large chain store the other day (it rhymes with shwal-mart) and I was looking to buy a bike helmet. I wandered the expansive mess they call “sporting goods” and came upon copious amounts of  head protection in every size, shape, and color. The only problem was they were all in boxes; boxes that were the Fort Knox of boxes. Impervious tape, twisty ties, and puzzling cardboard prevented me from trying them on and I eventually left empty handed.

I was frustrated because this should have been a relatively easy process if I were only able to touch, feel and try the product before I bought it.  It made me think, why do small stores do so well with larger ticket items? That’s easy, it’s because they let the customer feel it, touch it, play with it, before they buy it. If it comes in a box, take it out. Your customers want to know that the backpack fits their dog before they make the leap of faith we call buying. Our Starter Agility kit is a perfect example. I once went to a store  that had the tunnel set up near the entrance. This easy set up let the customers try it before they actually bought it! It was a huge success.

I hate having to sneak products out of the package and hope that security isn’t going to form tackle me in the isle for doing so. Me and your customers, are going to buy more often if they can actually touch and feel the product before they buy it.