Leopard Co has been attending Crufts for years, supporting our pet brand clients on stand, as well as engaging with media and influencers.  We also used Crufts as the pawfect occasion to launch our Pet Marketing Insight report.

And whilst we love visiting Crufts every year to stay on top of new ideas, brands and products, there’s a lot to takeaway that can help generally to ensure those working in marketing can also be best of breed.

1. A diverse audience – so nail your messaging to resonate

If you visit Crufts, you’ll be struck by the diversity of people visiting. There are the professional breeders who entwine their love of dogs with their own livelihood, with every second of their lives spent caring, grooming, tending and loving their dogs.

These guys can spot a non-standard breed cut at 20 paces and hold passionate opinions around all aspects of pet care.

Then there are the dog owners have humanised their dog and treat as a surrogate child.  Their dogs will probably have their own Instagram profile, and if they are lucky enough to get a pass to accompany their owner to Crufts, they’ll be part of the on-stand conversation when trying to decide on a new purchase.

“Does Mr Whipple the Sprocker prefer the red or the blue lead?” – I genuinely have had to have this conversation with a dog when serving customers on the flexi dog lead stand many times.

And then wait for Mr Whipple to respond, or let his owner translate to finalise the big purchasing decision.

You have the Crufts first timers, who get blown away by the uniqueness of the size of the event, seeing dogs being transported in giant prams so they don’t get their feet dirty, whilst wearing curlers to set their coat to perfection.

They get lost in the five halls featuring over 500 stands and reach the end of the day weighed down by bags and bags of goodies.  Experienced Crufts visitors attend with granny style shopping trollies to help them bag a bargain.  Special show pricing is a big reason to visit Crufts, and most exhibitors offer a special incentive to encourage dog owners to give their product a whirl.

So, for brands attending shows like Crufts and marketeers in general – rule one is to remember – know your audience, understand why they are attending and what message will cut through all the clutter.

2. Influence the influencers – experts carry clout

In the world of marketing, and specifically in PR, influencing the influencers is a powerful lever to drive brand awareness, trust and sales.  Social media influencers play a huge role in pet marketing, and we were delighted to see plenty of them visiting our clients Ruffingtons and Earth Animal at the show.

But in the world of dogs, for pet brands looking to harness the power of influencer marketing, the influencer and advice given by the breeder to a new puppy owner is gospel and sacrosanct.

Having recently welcomed our third pup home who was lovingly bred by Karen, we followed her instructions to the letter – her feeding regime, the chewy toys, the daily recommended tipple of goat’s milk and the specific vaccine brand she advocated.  Three months on we’re still buying goats milk and Royal Canin.  We have also invested in a Vax Spot treatment vacuum on advice from another influencer in my life… my mother.

The takeaway for marketing people is that there is no doubt that social media influencers offer brands amazing clout, but don’t forget to consider the non-digital influencers – in the pet sector it’s the vets, groomers, dog walkers, breeders and doggy day care. But in health it could be personal trainers, nutritionists, healthcare professionals and physios.

3. Respect the expertise

For the four days of Crufts, I watched the live judging of various classes every night on TV.  Although a dog lover and owner for over 25 years, I have zero professional expertise in understanding what makes a dog prime to be crowned pedigree champion.  But like all TV shows which feature an element of judging – from Strictly Come Dancing to Bake Off – I’m not afraid to believe I can call out the winner.  So, imagine my disappointment when my pick of the pups – Suzy the cocker spaniel – didn’t catch the judge’s eye!  I was incredulous!  Why didn’t the judges agree with my opinion? - completely forgetting their expertise and judgement is based on years and years of experience and not four hours of TV viewing.

And this is something we see in the world of marketing a lot. The accessibility of marketing – (we’ve all watched Emily in Paris, right?), the Apprentice, Dragon’s Den, together with AI tools, one of which recently promised me the capability of a social media manager for a monthly cost of £79.

It’s no surprise many questions why they would need to pay a marketing expert when it seems so easy to become an expert in five minutes.

This is where the parallel of the Crufts judging experience is really important when considering the best way to deliver brand marketing.  You’re more likely to get a different and better result from those that have spent decades building up marketing expertise, than from trying to do a DIY job. 

So, I’m going to promise to leave the Crufts judging to the experts and stay in my lane as a pedigree champion of marketing!