Pet Industry Leader Reveals Pet Blogger Forecast
The pet industry is ripe for disruption.
Those words stopped me in my tracks and perhaps they
elicited the same reaction to you.
Just who is doing the disrupting, how does it apply to pet
bloggers, and are brands recognizing the impact we are making? Did
you know that there are more dogs in the US than there are children? How about
the fact that 14% of US dogs have a Facebook page? The pet market is one of the
most vibrant and steadily growing industries, and BlogPaws is on the cutting
edge of it all.
Through
new products and services that span e-commerce, big data, media and retail, pet
bloggers are wise to continue growing, engaging, and getting the inside scoop
with this exclusive interview.
Brock
Weatherup is a business
leader/CEO of Pet360/entrepreneur with broad experience in online commerce, enterprise
value creation, organizational leadership, direct marketing, brand building and
product development. He is also a pet parent and a key player in the pet
industry. He spoke recently at a pet industry conference in New York City.
The
industry has been dominated by a lot of misinformation and here, Brock offers BlogPaws a look into the future of the pet industry and where pet
bloggers fit in the mix:
Carol Bryant for BlogPaws: I
loved the promotion for this event stating “the pet industry is ripe for
disruption” – disrupting how and what sort of things need disrupting?
Brock Weatherup: When we think about pet ownership, there
are more ways than ever to be a success: from the tools relative to adoption to
the way we are matched with animals and the level of information available—there
is a lot of disruption happening.
The level of information and having access to the right
products for our animals is exponentially higher. It is no longer about a
simple trip down the grocery store aisle or walking into the pet supply store not knowing what is best for your pet.
For example, we can identify a group of Beagle parents who live in the
northwest and are attuned to the best flea and tick product that works. Never
before have we had this sort of information available.
Carol Bryant: Are pet bloggers an important part of that
disruption and are brands and pet parents listening?
Brock Weatherup: Pet bloggers have the ability to influence
and their messages are being read by a larger, broader audience indeed.
In turn because the audience is getting amplified, pet
bloggers must do their research to separate fact from opinion. Without engaging
in elements associated with traditional journalism, the pet blogger can
actually make a problem worse.
Carol Bryant: So then are pet bloggers able to make a
positive impact as well?
Brock Weatherup: Yes, there is a huge positive element, but
if not reported properly, the message can be amplified negatively.
Carol Bryant: What is happening at Pet360 and how are you
all on the cutting edge?
Brock Weatherup: Pet360 is helping connect pet owners with
the most effective, appropriate, and
certifiable information. Pet360 applies technologies
to bring true information that has an approval element to the pet parent. We
are also engaged in the crowdsourcing of information. The treat an inactive
retriever would eat differs from that of a very active retriever; the most
popular treat does not make it the best one. We are sharing true information
with pet parents.
Carol Bryant: So the convenience element is a huge part of
that sharing, correct?
Brock Weatherup: Yes, and at the end of the day we have more
time to enjoy our pets and we can do so in more rewarding manner.
Carol Bryant: There have been headlines that the pet
industry is recession proof, while other industries have faltered in a rougher economic
climate. Is there truth to that in the pet space?
Brock Weatherup: People spend, they just spend differently
and that is not always a good thing for an animal’s welfare.
Growth in the pet space will involve new categories:
Collection of health information and how it is utilized in the treatment of
animals. By treatment, I mean nutrition, training, social, and so on. The
economic element will keep chugging along, but there is a substantial dynamic
change happening within in.
Carol Bryant: What is your take on why pets have become such
an integral part of our families?
Brock Weatherup:
Because they are awesome (laughter).
As people have gotten a greater understanding of how to interact with their
animals, they get greater joy out of them.
Check out Pet360 and their arsenal of information and products for pet parents. Stay tuned to BlogPaws for more insider info and interviews with pet industry leaders.
This is great news! I’m new to the pet blogging world and will be launching very soon http://www.thedanedame.com, a blog chronicling my foster adventures with the gentle giants of the dog world, the Great Dane.
This is great information and insight as to the power of pet bloggers, the growth of the pet industry and the way we interact with our pets in general! Pawsome!
I love the part where Brock says, “…pet bloggers must do their research to separate fact from opinion” when talking about pet bloggers.
At BlogPaws, we respect opinions highly, but we regard true research and reporting just as highly. Tell us what you think, but if you’re going to do a report on a topic, cite your sources and do your research! It’s imperative all pet bloggers do this!
Love this. I’m all about empowering my readers with solid, fact-filled info-tainment so they can make informed decisions for their cats and dogs. As a vet tech and behavior expert, I’m often appalled by the hand-waving-shouting “rumor du jour” designed just to get lots of shares and attention, never mind that it may be bad/wrong/dangerous.
Pet bloggers are in a unique position to curate GOOD info. That’s great news for pets and the people who love them.
I’m curious to know if the pet industry is taking notice we we start asking question. My article about the feather meal drew a lot of comments and a few emails from pet food brands. We live in a time when we can Google ingredients at the pet store; SlimDoggy has an app that helps us compare pet foods. I have a growing audience of people who want to know more – it’s not that we think we know better than the pet food industry, but we feel duped and want to have an open dialogue with them.
The reason we switched our dogs to raw is because I didn’t feel that I could trust many brands out there and I reached a point that I could afford to make the switch so I did. Many people don’t have the time, money or the inclination to go raw, but they still want to feed their pets the best and we want to spotlight the companies that understand this.
I don’t doubt that companies in the pet industry understand the human-animal bond – just look at the advertising – but it’s starting to feel like their exploiting our love for our pets instead of seeing us (pet parents) as a valuable part of their bottom line.
I really hope that this is the catalyst to more open discussions between pet parents, pet bloggers, veterinarians, and pet brands.
@Yvonne – that’s the same line that jumped out at me! We want everyone to freely express their opinions.
But it takes some work and a lot of integrity to identify the facts, admit when we don’t know the answer, and label our opinions as such. For pet bloggers to continue growing our influence, we need to accept the work and maintain the integrity as our professional obligations.
Tom Collins