Radio Sales Café

We have a multi-location pet store that wants a whiz-bang promotion and campaign to drive in-store traffic. They are tired of the pretty pet, ugliest pet, pet tricks angle. Does anybody have a promotion that is creative, fun and drives (or drove ) traffic?

We do a sponsored pet of the week show here. The big pet supply stores sponsor it and we call the local animal shelter each week and get one dog and one cat to put out of the air as being available for adoption at that shelter. It seems to work great for us, and the shelter we work with says that their adoption rate has gone up since we started.

This doesn't fit the traffic angle, but we had a pet store once that bought a :60 and gave 1/2 to the animal shelter. We had a new pet each week that we featured. I think Iam's coop paid for a good chunk of it too. Had to get the blessing of the Iam's folks first. Was a good concept and people often thanked them or asked about "Abby the cat" from last week, etc. We also created posters to put up with the pet of the week, and had them mark when they found a home.

Hi Mark,

It has been several years since we have had a pet store where I live but...have they ever thought of having a promotion where they give out free personalized pet i.d. tags (like you can have made for $3 at the State Fair) with a $25 purchase of dog food or something similar? Then for the spots, you could use the celebrity dog angle and talk about how the personalized pet tags is the new status symbol and they are only available for a limited time at PETS, Inc. Also, for fun they could do a dog food taste test sort of like the Pepsi challenge to win prizes. We did commercials for our old pet shop relating the pet shop to being like "catnip to a cat" and a "dog bone to a dog" ...ie...it is the place to go for everything pet related. The spots were wildly successful as we created a poodle character who was a ditz and another dog character that sounded like Thurston Howell from Gilligan's Island to talk about the pet shop from an animal level. Anyway...hope that helps. Have fun and the people with pets will come!

How about putting certain prizes with different animals at each location (I assume the locations are within the same city or relativley close). Customers could then come to each location and be become eligible for prizes based on stopping in at your locations

Depends on the pet store. What do type of pets do they sell? I have one here that only runs 15's and we put together a series of ads starting with this one. The series all uses the drum beat and Australian voice. It definitely got people's attention, but then it's made for a pet store that doesn't sell cuddly little animals.

If it's a dog and cat place, you could arrange to have a vet there that will insert a microchip into people's pets at a discount or for free if they buy the pet there.

Love the ad, especially that part about "something exotic that eats little animals." :-) Thanks for posting it!

Wickedly cute.

Bark in the Park is an annual "walk with your dog" event, could be sponsored by your pet store. Great visibility for product/store banners, sampling, etc. This is a big event here (Tucson); local TV anchorwoman is the celebrity, but if you've got a jock that likes pets, he/she could host this.
Also, look-alike contests are silly, but pet owners are wackos (guilty!) and would do this. Great photos for your website.
The micro chip idea is fabulous (pet owners will pay).
Tim

Hey Mark,

How's Springfield this time of the year?

I know the attached track below isn't for a Pet Store - it's for a cattery & kennel here in Auckland called Critter Creek. However, when it comes to any product or service revolving
around animals...
I've always produced ads that feature "singing animals" - consumers just lap it up! The 60" track attached is entertaining & memorable enough that we've never had to add offers or discounts etc. It boosted sales by 800% within 3 months. I can hear a whole Pet Shop breaking into something super cute already!

Enjoy the attached inspiration
Cheers,
Steve Keats
Smith & Keats Music
Auckland - New Zealand

Depending on the products IN the stores, you could come in and register your pet for The Ultimate Pampered Pet Spa give away. Get a mobile groomer to assist with bath and nails. Give items from the store (collars, toys, shampoo's, gourmet food and treats)Make it open to ALL kinds of pets to win and top it off with a photo session staged in the store with all the prizes and products. EVERYONE who enters gets a discount card to use at any location on future purchases.(builds store loyalty- generates a data base of local pet customers)
Winners photo will be on the radio station website with a link to all the locations.

Steve,

Springfield is great. Mid-summer and lots of softball, boating and golf to be done. Thanks for your post. Awesome creative and I appreciate the tip.

Blessings,
Mark Hill
Station Manager
Vision Media
Springfield, MO USA

Here's a great idea Mark. Find a central location and have a day long Pet Fair. You can cover every angle of pet owners and their lives and wants. Get the pet store to set up multiple booths catering to different needs of the animals. You also invite a local vet to come out and offer some of his or her services. Line up some activities such as a pet parade, smallest pet, ugliest pet, etc and have local dignitaries to judge..... When the day is done and the pet store sees the results of your promotion I'm pretty sure they will stay on your station! Good Luck Mark