Let’s say you have long since known that your core customers are women.  Your print and television ads, and more recently your Web site, include a majority of images of women with your products or using your services.  And, you've beefed up your content and informative materials a bit as well.

But, have you done everything you can to better connect with women?  Maybe not.

While doing research for a non-business book proposal about the ties that bind women to their dogs, I noticed a prime example of untapped opportunity in reaching the pet industry's women's market.  My personal passion for dogs and my acknowledgement of how much I spend on my own pooch (absolutely only the best and the sky is the limit!) added more fuel to my researching fire.  And finally, I factored in the insight we gathered by surveying like-minded (a.k.a. dog obsessed) women for this month’s RW Listens.  Their combined voices and passion continue to ring in my head.  

My verdict: Really tapping into the buying power of women like us could be a HUGE opportunity!  So, let’s take a look. 

A Gentle Tapping: Pet Ownership Numbers Growing

According to the 2000 American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (APPMA) Pet Ownership Survey, 62% of U.S. households own a pet, compared with 56% in 1988.  The majority of pet types owned were dogs and cats, followed by creatures like fish, birds and so on.

There are societal or cultural shifts we’ve all witnessed or read about lately that seem to be reflected in this increase in the popularity of pet ownership.  Having children is no longer the automatic life phase that it used to be in our parents’ era.  More women are staying single longer and more couples are postponing or choosing not to have children altogether.  How to expend all that natural nurturing energy?  Go buy, adopt or rescue a dog or cat, of course!

A Firm Rapping: Women Are The Pet Caretakers

If a pet is owned by a “household” officially, single women pet owners aside, the one who buys the food and toys, and who takes Fido or Fluffy to the doctor, is very likely to be the woman of the house.  The veterinarians and pet industry professionals I talked with this past week didn’t need any study to tell them that. 

One female veterinarian I spoke with found it almost comical how little the men who brought the family dog or cat in for appointments knew about their pet’s health.  She said that if she asks one of these men about their dog’s water intake or urination frequency, he usually doesn’t know.  If this veterinarian asks the woman of the house these questions, on the other hand, she usually gets a full historic rundown (with dates and times of every episode).

In general, it also seems that women are a bit more likely to bring their pet companions, dogs especially, with them wherever they go.  (Look in the cars around you, for example, or take note of just who is taking advantage of the “bring your pet along” invitation at retailers like PETCO.)

Swinging Open The Door To Build Brand Loyalty

The online opportunities for building better connections with women pet owners seems to be huge.  Yes, as it is, you see plenty of photos of women with their dogs or cats on pet product and food web sites.  However, dig a little deeper and often the content, design and functionality aren’t consistent with the company’s seeming recognition that women are their core market.

Take, for example, the web site of an unnamed pet food company.  At first glance, the design, content and tools seem as though they’d resonate with women.  Yet, there is one pretty noticeable inconsistency in the way this site presents its customer service function.  Let me just put it this way: if you take the wise first step of using a woman’s photograph to represent the ready availability of your customer support staff, make sure the copy describing how “she” can help is delivered in a way that is consistent with the live person you suggest is there waiting.

Offline, the attention to consumer wants and needs is also a bit haphazard.  These days dog chew toys and bones that are non-splintering and non-gooey as they degrade are much more prevalent.  In my childhood, such options weren't yet available, if I remember correctly (from my observation of what my mom provided for the entertainment of our many family pets).  But the pet industry has kept
up with our needs on this front.

On the other hand, products that could be developed more to a woman's liking, like dog bed fabric choices for example, remain in the dark ages.  Garish green and red plaid isn't really an acceptable option.  

To find out what women want and how they'd like it to look, degrade and wear over time, just ask them!  

Welcoming Women Across Your Threshold

Shouldn’t the pet industry, like any other, simply reflect today’s culture and evolving needs?  In some ways it does – like providing more healthy pet food options these days because people are getting more interested in healthy food themselves.  But what are some other substantive ways by which the pet industry could better serve their female customers?  What would you want your women’s market to see through their savvy buying eyes when they came across your brand today? 

Here are just a few ideas for the pet industry, and others, to consider: 

• Informational content that goes beyond selling a specific product line.
  
• Products and marketing strategies that feel as thought they arise from within the user’s community (The web site photographs of the management at PETsMART, for example, are of the person with their pet).  This is a subtle but significant way to give the positive impression that these executives know and love pets personally).
  
• The sense that the company’s staff and product development team have talked with a few women along the way and continue to do so. (Provide testimonials of women who have purchased from you already, and develop your consumer advisory board to reflect the significance of your female customers, for example.)
  
• A strong and visible female presence within and throughout the company (executive team through to sales associates).
  
• Corporate cause participation that reflects the social and environmental concerns of your customers.

There are many ways to serve female consumers better and to get them to see your products, services, and your company for that matter, in the best light.

With so many choices of where and on what to spend our money, including images of women in your brand's television or print ads is only a first, baby-sized, step.  So, when you hear us knocking, just do your research, start to make changes in your product mix, web site content development and marketing efforts, and swing wide open that door!

We want to get to know and love your brand, but you need to invite us in.

Links:

American Pet Products Manufacturers Association: http://www.appma.org (Their updated Pet Owner Survey should be available soon.)

Resources:

Women who love dogs are reading Bark Magazine: http://www.thebark.com

Let's just call this the November/December issue, shall we? It just took me a little longer to pull together than I'd planned, of course.

On that note - many thanks to Vicki and Jim Morgan of Animal Brands, and the other industry professionals I interviewed for talking with me in the rush of the shortened Thanksgiving week.  Their insights only made me more interested in the topic, so I plan to keep digging and report more for future articles.  

In the meantime, there are exciting ReachWomen changes to share with you all, so I'll include the update in what will likely be a brief late December issue of Reaching Women Online.  (RW Listens will not be published in December.)  

I hope your long holiday weekend was relaxing and rejuvenating, and that the flying or driving involved was surprisingly agony-free.  ;-)

Take care until next time,

Andrea


P.S. Yes!  Write me with your ideas, comments, or questions at: andrea@reachwomen.com