Doing and making the right things in a super-connected world - GAP

Patricia Cameron 
InfoStream Guest Author

"In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." 

Albert Einstein 

Recent media articles on the (un)sustainability of pet ownership, and closing of more big box pet stores in Canada are just two indications of changing times.  While many businesses are sleep walking toward a future that looks identical to the past, some businesses are seeing the opportunities in realities that others may ignore or deny. 

As it is currently configured, the pet retail sector is no different than other industries in our consumer society - that is, heavily reliant on a global system of production and consumption that is unsustainable, and in many cases toxic and wasteful, both in the products produced and to the environment. Indeed, the current industrial model is based on a "cradle-to-grave" process - raw materials are sourced using an enormous amount of energy, producing large amounts of emissions, and often using toxic chemicals and leaving devasted landscapes in the wake. The materials are processed using yet more energy and chemicals, shipped using even more energy, sold, used and then as “waste” are disposed of - leaving society to deal with massive, toxic landfills. 

While grim, this reality presents a huge opportunity to businesses that want to start now on what will be inevitable - creating products that from sourcing and processing of materials to disposal are neutral or nurturing to the earth and all life forms. 

In their book, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, a Manifesto, Michael Braungart and William McDonough discuss how designing products such that all elements of a product nourish life while the product is in use and when disposed of (e.g. through composting or “upcycling" to new products), and the production process is free of toxic and dangerous ingredients.  

In food industries, we see some positive, if reluctant, movement toward animal welfare and humane practices, largely in response to animal welfare campaigns and growing consumer awareness of and concern about low animal welfare standards in global food industries. When finally acting in response to campaigns and concerns, the PR glow shed on the company is less warm than it would be if the company had pro-actively done the right (humane and environmentally friendly) thing.  

For example, in Aug 2014, Big Food giant Nestle announced it was adopting much stronger animals welfare standards. Nestle’s Chief Procurement Officer, Kevin Petrie was quoted as saying,  “In the digital world, everyone has a smartphone and they want to know where things come from and share that information. [people want to know] 'Is it good for me? Is the quality good? Has it been responsibly sourced?'”  

As Mr. Petrie of Nestle’s suggests, it’s never been harder to cover up bad products and practices, and people are increasingly concerned with issues of health, well-being, environmental damage, and animal welfare. There is huge opportunity for pet industry companies that actively embrace this reality and pro-actively do and make the right things. 

What is your company doing to protect the planet?  Have you looked at a cradle-to-cradle strategy to eliminate toxic waste and nurture the earth?  Are you afraid of having people film anything in your operations?  Does your business have animal practices, the best defence you have for is “It’s tradition”? The answers to these and other questions should tell you whether your business is ready to take advantage of today’s emerging opportunities.

Gaining trust among pet families

Patricia Cameron
InfoStream Guest Author

“Elvis said it best: "We can't go on together with suspicious minds." – The Cluetrain Manifesto  

In my last SWOT blog, I talked about a variety of strengths enjoyed by pet industry businesses.  The focus in this post is on weakness. Each unique pet business is going to have its unique weaknesses – for some a key weakness may be the ability to attract and retain skilled employees;  for others, it may a poorly conceived business plan; for still others a founding CEO who can’t let go of trying to control everything themselves. In the big picture, though, the entire pet sector suffers from a core weakness: potential or actual loss of trust among pet families. 

A major driver for the growth of the pet industry has been that people see their pets as family members and are buying products and services that reflect this perspective. As such, pet families have zero tolerance for products or services they view as dangerous or substandard. Yet, at the same time, the pet industry has been rocked by dozens of examples of shoddy, dangerous, and wasteful wares; unskilled and incompetent services. The examples I give below may raise some hackles, but they are all drawn from actual experiences and, if you are in the pet industry, the distrust occasioned by these stories could be impacting your business.

Trust is damaged or destroyed any time a customer:

• Buys vet prescribed medications at the clinic only to find the medication over the counter at a human pharmacy for much less.  
• Reads headlines on toxic pet food or pet treats or worse has their own pet sickened or killed by such faulty products.  
• Is told this diet and only this diet is good for their pet, who then does poorly on the kibble, or patties, or canned dinners.
• Learns that pet toys are made of toxic materials or that pet beds are sprayed with chemicals that damage the pet’s thyroid.  
• Trusts their pet to a grooming service only to have the animal harmed while in care and the groomer charged with animal cruelty.
• Boards their pet with a facility that allows the pet to escape.
• Works with an unskilled pet “trainer” who is so harsh pet that a once merely shy animal now has major fear-based aggression towards strangers.
• Goes to a pet store and sees suffering, dying, or dead animals in cages or aquariums, or water bowls overgrown with algae or moldy food in food bowls.
• Acquires a pet from a “breeder” and finding the pet has congenital health and temperament issues.
• Is sold a pet only to find that they cannot really care for the pet appropriately.
• Find that “bio-degradable” plastic poo bags or other pet products are an environmental disaster.

All of these examples are pulled from headlines and each has seriously eroded trust in the pet industry. Still more horror stories may have been made up – but in the absence of trustworthy voices to weigh in on truth, the doubt occasioned by corporate irresponsibility and greed have created fertile soil for these fictions to be believed and to spread.

The future of the industry depends on pet businesses truly engaging in deserving trust, building trust, and retaining trust.

For you, the business owner, that means being absolutely clear on where your products come from and the quality of these products. That means establishing,  publicizing, and adhering to your product sourcing and quality standards. To gain and keep customer trust and loyalty, you need to ensure your focus is on delivering only those services or selling only those products that provide pet families with real value and real benefit.

Greening the Paw Print: Surfing the Tides of Change in the Pet Industry

In the urban animal industry, only one thing is certain: change. Technology, values and environment have evolved over the years and to remain successful and involved, organizations must also adapt. 

Patricia Cameron, executive director at Green Calgary, and former Executive Director at the Calgary Humane Society, understands the need to adapt and has the experience to help you get there. In her InfoStream Guest Author series, Patricia will evaluate the tools and thought processes necessary to strive in an ever-changing world.

“There is a tide in the affairs of men.Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.” – William Shakespeare

Back in 2001, the Ipsos-Reid study of Canadian pet ownership “Paws and Claws”  zeroed in on a pivotal change in the our relationship with pets:  the majority of pet owners saw their pet as a family member and treated them accordingly. 

Decades in the making, this historic shift has massive implications for pet owner behaviour, and by extension, for the pet industry.  Over the same time period  leading to this pivotal change, there was a rising concern about the interconnected issues of environmental well-being and personal/family health.   This concern continues to rise and to shape consumer choices.

Coupled together, perceptions of pets as family members and environmental concerns have created a “tide in the affairs of men” that is creating change  in all sectors of the pet industry.  

Change is always a two-edged phenomenon, with some loss and some gain.   The key question a business owner needs to answer is “How can I minimize losses and maximize gains?”   

I hope in these blog postings to help you ponder and formulate your own answers to  this  question, and surf the tides of change.   But heads-up – as former successful entrepreneur, former CEO of an animal welfare organization, and current CEO of a leading urban environmental charity,  I am not going to sugar-coat my perceptions.  There is too much at stake: the health and well-being not only of our businesses, but of our pets and other family members, of our communities, and of our planet.  These are all tied to what we produce and what we and our pets consume. So here goes.

Most of us are familiar with the SWOT analysis – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.  Analyzing the pet “space” through SWOT offers a number of actionable insights and I am going to start the series on a positive note with Strengths.   

• COMMUNITY EXPERIENCE: Many pet retailers have done a great job of creating a friendly, pet-positive client experience. Like coffee merchants Starbucks or West Jet, savvy pet retailers and service providers create business environments  that offer up not only purchasing opportunities, but an entire consumer experience: for example, with bins of tasty treats, warm earth toned walls, flooring and fixtures, engaging toys, their own “in-house” pets, imagery of happy families and pets, friendly and caring staff.  The best of these environments foster comfort, pleasure, and trust, precious qualities for business sustainability.  It is amazing what tuning into the esthetics of your business can do to engage your community and have them coming back for more.
• COMMUNITY EMPATHY: Connection with the local community.   Impersonal national or international companies are less and less appealing to the high-income, well-informed consumer.   Savvy businesses in all sectors ensure they are visibly active in investing in and supporting the communities in which they operate.  Pet industry players have done so by hosting adopt-a-thons or on-site adoptions with local animal welfare groups.  Funding spay-neuter efforts is another positive step. The winning combination is partnering with a highly professional local group on a high visibility/ high impact initiative that engages both the community’s interest and heart.  With emphasis on the heart.   There is an art to engaging with non-profit partners, and some players in the pet industry have mastered this art.  
• COMMUNITY EDUCATION:  Pet industry organizations have a wealth of information to share with consumers. Best-of-breeder education efforts focus on meeting pet owners where and how they are rather than on how the pet owner “should” be.   Their materials are illustrated with compelling imagery of pets and people, content that is written in plain language, and offer actionable advice pet owners can put to immediate use.   Becoming a trusted source of information and guidance is a huge strength to those that achieve it because the pet world is awash in competing views, ideology, fear, and misinformation.  The formula for success is as follows:  Education that is simple and clear, actionable, absolutely trust-worthy, focused on the pet owner’s needs and interests, and are either compelling or FUN or both.

There is a flip-side to all three of these areas of potential strength: stores or offices that are cold, ugly, and unpleasant;  businesses that do nothing to “give back” to the community, or whose community is unaware of the great work they do; education efforts focused on an ideological agenda, selling products, full of inaccuracies or opinion portrayed as fact, or are text-heavy, boring, or difficult to understand.

What strengths does your business exhibit in these three areas?  What could you do to build on these areas of potential strength?