MARKET - Think with Google Posting is a MUST READ

Here are two summaries with links to the article/research: The most helpful brands will win

“Assistance is really the new battleground for growth. As expectations of the empowered consumer continue to rise, the most assistive brands will win.”  That was Google President of the Americas Allan Thygesen in his opening remarks for a panel discussion at CES this week. Joining him on stage to discuss how marketers can drive their businesses to better assist the new super-empowered consumer were Dean Evans, CMO of Hyundai Motor America, and Keith Bryan, senior VP of media engagement & personalization for Best Buy. Some key takeaways: Embrace the new reality: Bryan noted that Best Buy learned to lean in to showrooming. As Thygesen said, marketers should make sure their brands “embrace the fact that today’s consumer can get whatever she wants, whenever she wants it–and focus on the expanding opportunities to create useful, meaningful connections throughout daily life.” Speed it up: “Frictionless retail is happening all around us,” said Hyundai’s Evans. “Speed is the number one consumer demand today.” Master your data: “To be helpful to people, we have to know them as individual customers,” said Best Buy’s Bryan. “To do that well you need data. You need the technology to do something with the data. And you need the media … to make sure you can reach customers for each opportunity to assist them.” Read more

Consumers speak up about voice-activated speakers

One thing consumers are turning to for assistance is the voice-activated speaker. Voice was one of the hot topics at CES this year. Google wanted to know why and how consumers are using their new devices, so we conducted in-home ethnographies with voice-activated speaker owners. What we found is that people are not only learning how to use the devices, they’re weaving them into their lives and daily routines. And in some instances, they’re forging a new kind of bond with technology, one that’s often much more personal than in the past. "It becomes a device that isn't a device anymore,” one person told us. “It's an entity in your life that's always behind the scenes for things you need. It hasn't let me down."

2015 Summit Forum: Service and Assistance Dogs

It is a widespread belief that service dogs can enrich the lives of people yet there are so many barriers for people requiring their use. In Canada there are provincial standards with each province having different requirements. This can allow a service dog to legally work in one province while it cannot in another one. What guidelines should govern whether an animal is a service animal or not?

National standards are currently being developed for psychiatric service dogs that serve Veterans. What needs to be done to develop federal standards for other service dogs?

In the spring, British Columbia introduced a “Guide and Service Dog Act” which would require all service dogs to be trained by a facility accredited by Assistance Dogs International (ADI) or the International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF). This would prevent internationally certified trainers and behaviourists from training service dogs. Who should be able to decide who trains a service dog? Why is British Columbia limiting training to a duopoly? Why does it matter who trains the dog, provided the dog can perform its required duty while remaining impeccably well behaved in public?

Communities, airlines, school boards, penal institutions, service industries and breeders need industry help to recast this dilemma so more lives are enriched using companion animals.

Get the facts, have your say, move the industry.

If you are interested in participating at the 2015 Summit for Urban Animal Strategies please contact Shannon Woodward, Urban Animal Program Manager. 

October is Royal Canin Fundraise For Farley Month!

The 2015 Royal Canin Fundraise for Farley Month is happening this October. It will be their biggest campaign so far. The Farley Foundation helps Ontarians and their sick or injured pets.

The Farley Foundation was created in 2002 and since then it has disbursed $2.4 million CDN to over 6,000 people and 800 veterinary practices. Currently over 300 practices raise money for the Farley Foundation during Fundraise for Farley Month.

More information about Fundraising for Farley may be found here.

       

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Hill’s and VCA Charities Provide 1 Million Meals!

Starting in 2010, VCA Charities and Hill’s Pet Nutrition  partnered up in a pet food assistance program. In May 2015 the partnership reached 1 million meals provided to pets in need!

Five years ago the VCA Pet Food Pantry program was started and it is now operating in more than 20 locations across Canada and the United states. Art Antin, Chief Operating Officer for VCA Animal Hospitals said, “We started the Pet Food Pantry program to provide healthy, nutritious pet food to families who could not otherwise afford it in the local communities we serve. By providing these one million free meals, we have helped many families in need hold on to the loving and comforting bond their pets provide.”

Hill’s Pet Nutrition, which manufactures Science Diet, Prescription Diet, and Ideal Balance donates pet food to more than 50% of the United States based VCA Pet Food Pantries. Kostas Kontopanos, President of Hill’s Pet Nutrition, North America, said, “Our mission at Hill’s is to help enrich and lengthen the special relationships between people and their pets. We want to help transform lives, and this partnership with VCA Charities allows us to do that by keeping a pet with its family during a time of need when its unconditional love is most needed.”

   

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