Advertising online to Shiba Inu owners

For this week’s blog, I’ve decided to try and find more information online about Shiba Inus (a native Japanese dog breed) while paying special attention to the advertising and marketing opportunities.

There are so many different ways to get information about dog breeds online: Blogs, forums, chat rooms (so 1998), wikipedia, kennel clubs, rescues and breeders. I’m a member of a forum about Shiba Inus, so I spread some links around. From the responses I got, it turns out I’m part of one of the best english forums in the world about Shibas. It also turns out that a lot of people on my forum read and write blogs about their dog(s). People had several opinions about the blog links I posted, as well as suggestions for ones I didn’t know about. I really enjoyed reading about the similarities and differences between my dog, and others with the same breed.

In terms of brands taking advantage of the information available online (by advertising on the sites), I didn’t see much at all. I guess since it’s such a specific (and not very prominent [in Canada]) breed, brands don’t think about advertising on these sites. The only “brands” I see benefiting online are breeders. Breeders from all around the world are advertising their dogs, litters and services for minimal costs compared to other forms of advertising.

The brands that should be taking advantage of these pages are “premium” dog food companies. There is a well-known website (Dogfoodanalysis.com) that reviews almost every brand of dog food you can imagine. It ranks every blend of every brand according to the nutritional value of the food ranging from 1 to 6 stars (6 being the highest quality). Anything above 4 stars is considered to be “premium”. It would take forever to go into great detail about what makes premium dog food and what doesn’t, so I’ll be quick in saying this: Premium dog food won’t be found in your local Petsmart, and you won’t see ads for it on TV. Now I’m sure you’re wondering where I’m going with this…

First: Shiba Inu owners and people interested in owning a Shiba Inu are not generic. They’re likely going to do a lot of research before they get the dog, and will likely want to do everything in their power to ensure that their dog gets the best training, the best grooming tools, and of course, the best food.

Second: Those who have done research about Shibas know that they are vulnerable to food allergies. No wheat, no chicken, no crappy bi-products. If you want a happy puppy tummy, you’re going to need the premium stuff.

So this is where I’m going: Premium dog food suppliers should be advertising on these blogs, forums, chat rooms, breeder sites, rescue sites and kennel club sites. Shiba wanters/owners are seeking information about how to get the best of the best for their dogs, so give it to them. Tell them about your products.

New Class, New blogs

So this week's assignment is to read some advertising blogs and write about my experience reading them. I've decided to do mini-reviews on each one I read.

Adrants.com
Yawn. Sure, some of the content is kind of cool, like a coke machine that had a person inside who dispensed not just coke, but also pizza, flowers, and a submarine sandwich. But there was no insight into why this machine was a great marketing idea, or what coke could have done differently. Adrants.com is a blog where some guy writes 6 postings a day that give updates on new ads/marketing ideas that have been released recently. How about instead of 6 posts a day, the guy focuses on writing complete sentences and using spell check. It's poorly written and doesn't really give me anything tangible. Also, the layout and user interface is brutal (I shouldn't have to open a new page to see comments posted, and then click "back" to get to the original page with all of the posts on it)

Adblog.com
Loads a "contact us page" instead of a blog...?

Adverlab.blogspot.com
On first impression, this blog looks amateur. The content is on a plain white background with the content justified exactly along the left side of my browser window. Upon reading the first couple of posts, I saw this quote: "There will always be some group of people who want to block ads for personal reasons. But if we do a good job on the advertising side, people won't want to block ads. People will find them actually useful." Was this guy sitting in class with us? I have a feeling I might really enjoy reading these blogs. The next post is about product placement in relation to the blossoming of 3D animation as common place now. The post is brief, but he get's the point across that product placement may soon be useless, since the depth of field in 3D is so minimal.
Brief. Informing. Insightful. I like it! (although this guy could also use a proof-reader)

PSFK.com
While I still have no idea what PSFK stands for, I find it pretty interesting. It's not just about advertising and marketing; it's about industrial design, and current popular culture trends. Posts are written by several different contributors, and I enjoy that. It's better than just one person's opinion all the time. While it's not especially insightful, it's a neat blog that demonstrates innovation and brilliance. I also didn't notice any typos in my time on the site.

sethgodin.typepad.com
Seth Godin is a very smart man, so I'm not surprised that I love this blog. It's human, it's insightful, it's entertaining. Seth Godin has a lot of insight, which makes me happy to see that he has a blog. He takes many otherwise blah things, and makes a life lesson about them. For example, his post about Tim Burton's failures. Seth talks about Burton working constantly on new projects, several of which have never made it, but it's all of those (still current) failures that have made him as successful as he is. Moral of the story: if you never try, you'll never win. Life lessons aside though, Seth Godin has a lot of knowledge in relation to marketing and advertising, and I'm glad he's blogging it. Oh, and since he's an accomplished author, he can write. I appreciate that.

So of all the blogs listed, I think I'll likely read Seth Godin and adverlab, and I'll pass the link to PSFK over to my brother and my dad. They'll love it.