Company: Effem India

Agency: TBWA India

Brand Count: 188

Pedigree is world's largest pet food brand . The brand is owned by the Mars group which
also manufacturers confectionary products. In India Pedigree is marketed through a
100% subsidiary Effem India Pvt Ltd. Pedigree was launched in India in 2001. The
brand is all set to cater to the boom in pet food market largely accounted to the changing

lifestyle of Indian  consumers.

The Indian pet food market is large estimated to be in the tune of Rs 1500 crore. It is
estimated that India has around 4 million pet dogs and the consumption of petfoods is
at 4 lakh tonnes per annum. That is a big market and is expected to grow at around 35%
per year.
Although many players are already there in the market, Indian petfood market is still in
its nascent stage. Almost all global players like Nestle,Royal canine,Hill, Lams, Ralston
are fighting it out in the market. Pedigree is considered to be the brand that is expected
to lead this market.

The petfood market is seeing comeptition not among the brands but these brands are
competing with the home food that is given to the dogs. Unlike the West, Pet owners
seldom look( aware) at the nutritional needs of their pets.
According to the petfood marketers, the nutritional needs of dogs is 5- 8 times higher
than the humans. Hence giving the same food that we eat will create nutritional
deficiancy in the dog. But ther e are vetenarians who argue
that commercial petfoods are harmful for the pets. The fight goes on..

Pedigree has embarked upon a comprehensive marketing campaign for developing its
brand. Although well known across the globe, this brand has new challenges in the
Indian market. The main challenge is to educate the pet owners that Pedigree offers
more nutritional value for the dog than the ordinary food. Second is to convince
spending a premium on petfoods. The cost of giving Pedigree to a dog works out to be Rs
25 per day.

Pedigree is positioned on the nutritional platform and the ads try to educate the
consumer that ordinary food can make the dog lazy and inactive. Globally the brand is
positioned using the tagline " We're For Dogs" while in India this has been modified to "
We care for the Dog".The company have ensured a strong distribution network and is
also trying to get the retailers to influence and educate the pet owners. The brand is also
tapping events to popularise the brand.
Although now purchases are yet to pick up, the brand is now in a position to tap the
growth curve once the market becomes positive towards petfood.

06.17.2009
Pedigree – Developing consumer trust through branding
Today, people pay more attention to the quality of their food, and look for trustworthy, natural, and healthy products. It may
be assumed that pet owners are also concerned about the products they feed to their animals. This could be the reason why
Pedigree, the dog food brand belonging to the FMCG giant group Mars, has recently worked on rejuvenating their brand
through a campaign aimed at increasing “consumer” trust.
The new campaign “Good Honest Food” is the biggest relaunch in the brand’s history. With this renewal of brand image,
Pedigree wants to position itself as a high quality and trustworthy dog food brand. One of the campaign’s purposes is to
highlight the fact that Pedigree is the first dog food company to offer products containing meat that is “traceable back to the
farm”.
In addition to slight changes to the recipes, the brand revamp also includes a new packaging design and press, TV and
digital ad campaigns. The new packaging is designed to be “uncluttered and modern” to help the product’s placement and
visibility on stores shelves. The packaging design, press and TV campaigns, and online marketing activities will feature “real
dogs” and their owners in order to reinforce the brand’s proximity to their customers.
Pedigree already attempted to improve customer trust a few months ago, with their Pedigree Puppy Internet campaign, and
the Puppy Care guide, aiming at building strong relationships with puppy owners. While remaining consistent with the
previous approach, this new revamp takes it one step further.
Even if the new campaign succeeds in fostering pets owner’s trust in the brand, in the end the dogs will be the ones who
decide whether Pedigree is what they want to eat or not! In the case of Pedigree, the target customers (pet owners) are
different then the ultimate consumers— dogs.