Natural Balance Pet Food launches “Made for Pets, Not People” marketing campaign

Natural Balance Pet Foods (Natural Balance) announced the launching of its commercials for the pets it feeds instead of their owners. After recognizing that most pet food commercials aim to entice the owner not the pet, Natural Balance’s “Made for Pets, Not People” campaign aims to entice the pet.

"We wanted to develop a marketing concept backed by thoughtful scientific research — just like our pet food," said Christy Roberts, Natural Balance's marketing director, in an organizational release.¹ "The results are some strange commercials that humans might not get. That's okay because we designed these ads to appeal to our four-legged family members."

According to the release,¹ the pet food company enlisted the help of Nicholas Dodman, BVMS, DACVA, DACVB, professor emeritus at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University and co-founder and chief scientific officer of the Center for Canine Behavior Studies to learn how Natural Balance could market to pets, and if it was even possible.

The company also hired Accurate Focus, one of the first focus groups for pets in order to test videos and images to see the reaction of the pets within the group. However, Natural Balance’s research will not end with the study group. The company is encouraging pet parents to show the videos to their pets and share reactions on social media using #forpetsnotpeople

"Over the last 30 years, we've seen our fair share of pet nutrition trends come and go, but we've never taken our eye off a pet's holistic health and well-being," said Brian Connolly, CEO of Natural Balance. "By creating ads that may seem odd to you and me but are captivating to dogs and cats, it's a potent reminder to pet parents who they should really be thinking about when making decisions about what to feed their pet."

Anyone interested can see the ads on the Natural Balance on its website. The ads will also run on Hulu, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Reference

Sit. Stay. Watch. These ads are for your four-legged family memebers. News release. Natural Balance, Inc. November 16, 2022. Accessed, November 17, 2022. https://prnmedia.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sit-stay-watch-these-ads-are-for-your-four-legged-family-members-301679002.html