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BRANDED
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The Pedigree brand is
to dog food what Kellogg’s
is to breakfast cereals —
the 800-pound gorilla that
everyone else wants to
cut down to size. But
Conor Looney, brand
guardian in Ireland, is
having none of it.
Brian Skelly reports
Pedigree brand ambassador Caroline Morahan.
Below: Morahan with Dáithí Ó Sé at the Pedigree Adoption Drive
campaign at this year’s St Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin
uestion: what is Mars’ biggest brand? Is it Snickers?
Q
M&Ms? Uncle Ben’s? Or perhaps the Mars bar itself? No,
the biggest Mars brand is not for human consumption at
all. It’s Pedigree dog food and globally it is worth more
than US$3bn at retail. It is part of Mars’ portfolio of pet-
care products which also includes such feline delectables as
Kitekat, Whiskas and Sheba. Together, they account for almost half
of Mars’ turnover.
It is not every dog-food brand that has its own ‘dogstore’ on
Times Square in New York but Pedigree is no ordinary dog-food
brand. It is the No 1 such brand in the world and easily the biggest
in Ireland, with a 60pc market share. In recent years, it has opened
up whole new markets in countries such as Brazil, China and
Russia, where the growth of the middle classes has fuelled demand
for high-quality dog food.
The Irish dog-food market is worth about €60m and growing at
over 10pc a year. Ireland is unusual among European countries in
that it has a larger dog population than cat, and it also has one of
the highest levels of dog ownership. About 60pc of households
have a pet and, in 40pc of these, it is a dog.
The Pedigree brand covers both wet and dry dog food as well as
‘treats and snacks’. Although treats and snacks is not a new cate-
gory, it is one that has exploded in recent years and is now expand-
ing at approximately 25pc a year, making it the fastest growing of
May/June ‘08 Marketing Age 35
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