Discover how we helped Pointer, a beloved dog treat brand, gain deeper insights into their customers and develop a forward-thinking strategy to elevate their market presence and drive future growth.
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 strategies, 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 quan. 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 Pointer sales team, wholesalers, retailers and of course - dog owners (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 refers to the reasons or factors that influence a dog owner to purchase dog treats. Our team identified a number of CEPs, then prioritised 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 and we are working with Pointer on various tactics.
Leopard Co were a breath of fresh air when it came to scoping out our strategy project and their approach was very methodical. They kept us updated at every major point in the process and Aaron and Emily were professional, friendly and extremely knowledgeable; we felt like we were in very capable hands all the way through. We were really pleased with the research and are looking to continue our relationship with them. We'd highly recommend working with them.
Cassandra Brennan, Senior Marketing Executive at Pointer
