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Marketing to Kids: Children’s Book Will Sell Dog Food Program
A PR firm charged with hyping the Pedigree brand has come up with a new concept: sell it to the kids.
OK, that was sarcasm, folks. Marketing to kids is nothing new. But creating a children’s book to do it? It’s innovative. And in the case of Pedigree’s dog adoption angle, not a bad idea.
Oliver’s Travels isn’t just a cutesy pamphlet. It’s a real kid’s book by Liz Pichon, the story of a dog (Oliver) who lives in a nice home until something happens and he ends up homeless. Hyped as “an exciting ‘tail’ of food, dogs, Slobs and bullies, oh, and even more dogs!” it sounds like something I might pick up for my dog-crazy kid.
Commissioned to create the book, Pichon is celebrated in her native England as an award-winning author and illustrator with a contract from Scholastic. The money from the sales will go straight into the Pedigree Pet Adoption Campaign, launched in 2008 to get more shelter dogs into family homes.
Pedigree’s brand manager told the Guardian the book will serve the “dual purpose of marketing the brand and raising funds and awareness for the programme.”
Considering it’s meant to sell a positive message rather than the dog food itself (although it will be emblazoned with the well-known Pedigree ribbon), is this a “marketing to kids” that you’re comfortable with?
Image: Pedigree
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