From insight to impact: the Pointer brand reinvention journey

Challenge

Pointer is a staple treat in many dog owners’ cupboards. Not wanting to rest on their laurels, the Pointer brand team set out on a mission to understand its current customers better and to create a strategy for change.

At the start of the project, we set out on a mission to try and answer the following questions:

• Where is the brand mainly purchased?

• Who purchases the treats?

• Why do they buy Pointer?

• Do they see the brand as being traditional? 

• Are they aware of where the treats are sold and can be bought? 

• Where does this brand sit within the market now and where could we take it?

Solution

Like all good strategy, it starts with research. And before we dived into primary, we got our heads into secondary research. Being an established category, there was plenty of research available for the dog treat market. We looked externally at the major players, market growth forecasts, media consumption of dog owners and cultural trends. But there was also a plethora of interesting data from within the brand - product reviews and historic sales data being the main ones.

When we exhausted our desk research, it was time to seek primary data, starting with quant (always quant before qual!). We designed a questionnaire to better understand dog owners’ habits, asking questions relating to purchase locations, frequency, types and reasons for buying treats.

Taking this further, we then carried out qualitative research where the real magic was found! We spoke with the Poiner sales team, wholesalers, retailers and of course - dog owners (Pointer customers and non-customers). This process proved to be insightful, as there were a number of themes that came out that have driven the strategy.

Our strategy team have their fingers on the pulse with what’s going on in the market. And one concept that’s being talked about a lot recently is Category Entry Points (CEPs), made famous by the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute. CEPs for dog treat purchase behaviour refer to the reasons or factors that influence a dog owner to purchase dog treats. Our team identified a number of CEPs, then prioritied a handful to focus on.

IMPACT

Through desk research, quantitative and qualitative research, we now had a clearer view on the market, trade customers and dog owner consumers. We created a strategy document that was well received by the Pointer brand and management team. The Pointer team are currently making plans for how the strategy can be executed and we will support on the delivery side. Watch this space for more details!