MSc Marketing Management MKT 7010

Frozen Foods for Fido

A dog is a mans best friend. Since the earliest times when man first
domesticated the wolf, the dog has been our constant companion.

Dogs work for us, as guard dogs, as sheep dogs, as guides for the blind; in
mountainous districts they help sniff out injured climbers, in airports they sniff
out drug traffickers. At home they warn of the approach of strangers, keep
vermin down and often lick us in affection.
But have you ever stopped to think about how we treat ourselves and how we
treat our dogs? We always put ourselves first; when we are thirsty we get
ourselves a drink: a dog cant do that; it relies on us to provide water all the time
so that when it is thirsty it can drink. And when we are hungry we eat ; a dog
needs us to provide it with a balanced diet for a long life, health and fitness.
There is nothing worse than a fat, unhealthy dog. Unhealthy dogs smell, they
cant do their job as either a pet or a working dog. And when we have done
something of which we are proud, we treat ourselves: a little present, a special
food and often an ice cream.

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MSc Marketing Management MKT 7010

Sometimes we share it with our dog: we give him little titbits of our treats to
ourselves. But a dog cant treat itself. And anyway a dogs system cant digest all
the foods that we as humans use as treats.
Chocolate, for example. We all love chocolate and often buy it for ourselves as a
treat, a little reward. But for a dog it is poisonous, so we must not share our
chocolate treat with our dog. And cream, while it is sweet

and dogs like the

sweet taste of cream, it can make it very ill. So in summer when we are hot and
stop to buy an ice cream, we cant buy our canine chum one. It will not be good
for his health. Dogs are lactose intolerant, so they cannot digest dairy products:
cheese, cream, and milk and their processed products are all bad for dogs in
anything but the smallest quantities.

Looking to the human world provides major indications as to where the next
developments in the petcare market might be. There may be a market for a
doggie ice cream. Pets are less likely to be owned by over-65s, although cats and
dogs are still the most popular pets. Ownership of fish and small animals drops
off at an earlier age (55+).
Women are key in terms of interest and purchasing doggie treats, partly aligned
to the fact that pet ownership is strongly associated with families. Women are
more likely to own dogs, cats and small animals. The humanisation of pets is
therefore something that has been mostly driven by women, perhaps where the
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MSc Marketing Management MKT 7010

nurturing and caring instinct is greatest. Companionship is also a more important
factor among women, especially older women and thus they humanise their
animals more than men do.

Diagram 1

Number of types of pet owned, August 2008

Base: 1,013 adults aged 15+ who own a pet

Source: BMRB/Mintel

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MSc Marketing Management MKT 7010

Made of lactose free, natural and organic ingredients, a new ice cream which
tastes like real ice cream to people and can be shared with their canine
companion has been developed by some students at Birmingham City University.
To pilot this ice cream 3 flavours have been developed. They are: Burglars
Ankle, Peter Rabbit (named after the famous Beatrix Potter childrens
character) and Postmans Leg. The students suggested that Burglars Ankle
should be marketed in the country areas for working dogs; Peter Rabbit as a
childrens pet flavour and Postmans Leg for pet lap dogs. To humans, these
taste like vanilla, strawberry and caramel flavourings.
Under the brand name Frozen Foods for Fido, the pilot is being run in
conjunction with ++++ ice cream parlour in the Bullring, and will be limited to a
small area around the centre of Birmingham where all flavours will be available.

Table 1. Pet ownership, 2005 and 2008

2005

2008

1,490

2,088

Dog/s

23

23

Cat/s

20

21

Fish

10

11

Base: adults aged 15+

Small animal (eg rabbit, hamster)

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Bird/s

Other

52

51

Do not have any pets

Table 2 Household composition in Great Britain, 1979-2001

197 198 199 2001 % point
9
9
6
*
change

One person

Two+ unrelated adults

Married/cohabiting couple with dependent children

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1979-2001

23

25

27

31

31

26

25

22

+8

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Married/cohabiting couple with non-dependent children

only

-1

27

27

28

29

+2

Lone parent with dependent children

+3

Lone parent with non-dependent children only

-2

Two or more families

100

Childless married couple

Total

100 100 100

* weighted data
Source: General Household Survey/Mintel

Table 3 Most important place for eating snack products, ice cream and ice lollies,
by demographic sub-group, 2002
Ice
lollies

Home

Ice cream bars

School/

On the move/ Home

college/work outside

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School/

On the move/

college/work outside

MSc Marketing Management MKT 7010

All

65

35

55

25

Boys

61

33

52

24

Girls

69

37

58

25

7-8

75

36

58

22

9-10

75

40

64

28

11-12

68

33

57

24

13-14

60

33

51

25

15-16

44

33

44

25

ABC1

63

35

55

24

C2DE

68

35

52

26

Base: 4,827 children aged 7-16, Taken from the TGI Youth survey

Table 4.
Trends in consumption of food and drink that can stain teeth or is
high in sugar content, 2006-10
2006** 2007 2008 2009 2010 % point change

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2006-10

Any tea

86

87

83

81

na

-5*

Any coffee

79

78

78

76

na

-3*

Colas

59

58

58

55

54

-5

Fizzy soft drinks (excluding colas/mixers)

56

58

57

57

57

+1

Red wine (18+)

40

40

39

38

34

-6

Sweets (including sweets for children)^

66

68

66

65

65

-1

Indian takeaway or ready meal

41

40

41

42

42

+1

22

20

21

19

18

-4

Drinks:

Food:

Smoking:

Any filtered cigarette smokers (18+)

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New Information; only to be released at the examination:
The development of this ice cream has been recorded in a recent copy of The
Times. Whilst not making a joke of the concept, the article did suggest that this
was a foolish development and a waste of time which students could usefully
spend doing more useful things for their studies. The pilot was mentioned. It
appears as if it has been successful in this restricted area.

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MSc Marketing Management MKT 7010

As a friend of one of the ice cream developers, you have been asked to help
prepare a report :

Q1.
What recommendations will you make to your friend about the product
and how it should be marketed?
10 marks
Q2.
Segment the market for Frozen Foods for Fido , and, using and explaining
a model, demonstrate which segment or segments you should target.
30 marks
Q3.
What Channels of Distribution are you going to recommend? Give your
reasons.
25 marks
Q4.

How will you promote the product? Give explicit examples.

25 marks

Q5.

What price will you recommend to your friends?

10 marks

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