Pet food packaging report

Pet food packaging
report
Key trends and consumer insights on pet food brands

White paper | November 2013 | Pet Food Packaging | 1

At Shikatani Lacroix, we design compelling purchase
moments that connect with consumers in the blink of an
eye. Our philosophy and strategic design approach, the
Blink Factor, is driven by a consumer's motivation to make
a purchase decision. Everything we do is geared to owning
the "at-purchase" moment. Our firm has a well-earned
reputation for designing integrated branded experiences
that effectively connect brands with consumers to drive
measurable results for clients. We extend the branded
experience through a consistent and coherent approach to
omni-channel communication design.

About the author
Sydney McMurter, Account Coordinator at Shikatani
Lacroix
As an account coordinator at Shikatani Lacroix, Sydney
works with brands such as Financial Executives Canada and
Canadian Restaurants and Foodservice Association, and
conducts research and analysis for client projects and
presentations.
Prior to joining SL in 2012, Sydney graduated from York
University with a Honours BSc in Psychology and a
certificate in Urban Studies, where she researched the
connection between psychology and design.


A growing category in transition
Pet food is a growing category and major industry
player. It was valued at USD 58.6 billion globally in
2011 and is expected to reach USD 74.8 billion by
2017. Furthermore, North America accounts for 40%
of the total global pet food revenue, in 2012
(Transparency Market Research, 2013). Premium and
organic pet food is one category in particular that
has seen considerable growth. It has grown 20% per
year in the past 2 years and is predicted to continue
to increase (PMMI Pet Food Market Assessment,
2013). The growth in premium and organic products
can be partially explained by fear induced by a major
pet food recall in 2007 and through advances in
animal nutrition science, but also by increased pet
“humanization.” More than ever before, pet owners
are treating their pets like human members of their
family. This thinking has inspired a shift (similar to
human food trends) towards quality ingredients, and
explains why consumers are often willing to spend
premium prices for pet food (International Markets
Bureau, 2010; PMMI Pet Food Market Assessment,
2013). In fact, a common term to describe today’s
pet owners is “pet parents,” which reflects their
devotion and emotional connection to their pets.


Category complexity
With an increasing number of products, brands,
health claims, and design elements, a purchase
decision at shelf can be daunting, and a clear picture
of the most effective design strategy can become
lost. In 2013, Shikatani Lacroix initiated an intensive
research study of pet food packaging and pet food
consumers in order to inform future strategic and
successful packaging designs. This two-part study
consists of a pet food brand audit as well as an indepth consumer survey, and resulted in key category
insights.

Part 1: Pet food packaging audit
A total of 45 major pet food brands were identified
and analyzed for packaging trends.


Packaging trends
While not mutually exclusive, four main patterns
emerged through the research process.
1) Healthy look
Packaging with a healthy look emphasized
ingredients and health claims. Shots of
ingredients that carry healthy associations for
humans such as vegetables were often
included. Imagery of landscapes incorporated
into the design to give a feeling of organic,
healthy ingredients was also common, and
healthy pet imagery implied product health
benefits as well.

2) Tasty/appetite appeal look
This design approach centered around
appetite appeal through flavour call-outs and
imagery of ingredients as well as happy pets
enjoying the product. Often food imagery in
this group looked human-like, perhaps to
appeal to the humans that will be purchasing
the pet food, and featured cooked ingredient
shots such as cooked chicken.


3) Scientific look
A third design approach was to emphasize
credibility through scientific claims. This
packaging often included numerical data,
charts, and credibility claims such as “vet
recommended.”

4) Playful/emotional look
This design approach catches consumers
attention through humour, positivity, or
emotional imagery or call-outs. Often imagery
that makes consumers smile, laugh, or think
about their bond with their pet was included.
While the other approaches
indirectly appeal to the emotional
aspect of the purchase decision
(food that will make their pet
healthy and happy), this approach
attempts to directly speak to the
emotions of pet owners.


Brand positioning
These four design approaches form a brand
positioning chart on which the overall look of brands
were plotted. The dimensions of the chart were from
healthy to tasty and from scientific to playful. The
below chart shows approximations of the brand
positions of major pet food brands.


Part 2: Consumer survey
To build on the audit observations and gain deeper
insights into the category, consumer research was
also conducted. Participants in the online
questionnaire were United States residents over age
18 (41% male, 59% female). Average age was 45-54
years and average income was $30 000-$50 000.
Sixty-five percent of respondents had no children in
their household and 68% completed at least some
college or university. Participants all indicated that
they owned at least one cat or dog and did at least
some of the pet food shopping, with 65% doing all
the pet food shopping. Seventy percent of
respondents owned at least one dog (29% small
dog(s), 31% medium dog(s), and 23% large dog(s).
Fifty-eight percent of respondents owned at least
one cat. They were recruited through Fluid Surveys
panel experts to ensure representativeness across
the United States.

Section 1: The pet food consumer
The first section of the survey measured
pet food shopping habits such as
frequency, store type, packaging format,
and brand loyalty.
Type of store
Consumers that frequently purchase pet
food from grocery stores or major retail
stores were found to on average put less
time and effort into reading health
information on pet food packaging than
consumers purchasing pet food from pet
food stores.


Section 2: Path to purchase
Second, the pet food purchase decision process was
assessed to inform the design of the on pack
communication hierarchy. The average order that
consumers look for information was reported to be first
type of animal, then brand and product type, and finally
nutritional and ingredient information.

Purchase drivers
Consumers’ likelihood to purchase
packaging that has a specific look
(healthy and natural, credible and
scientific, appetite appeal, and
friendly and positive) was also
measured. The top two reported
purchase drivers were “food my
pet will enjoy” and “healthy and
natural look.”


Health claims
Comprehension of health claims
• 43% of pet owners mostly understand health
claims and take them into account
30% only understand the basic health claims
•
Consumer breakdown
• 30% of consumers: “I never/rarely or
sometimes look for or notice health
claims” (Mostly look for “food that my pet
will enjoy”)
• 25% of consumers: “I look for key health words
or symbols”
• 27% of consumers : “ I usually read most health
information” (Mostly look for healthy and
natural appearance and food that their pet
will enjoy)
• 18%: “I often spend a
great deal of time
thoroughly read all health
information” (Look for
healthy and natural
appearance, food that
their pet will enjoy, and
credible/scientific look)


Key health and ingredient claims
Key health, ingredient, and credibility claims were identified
in order to determine important call-outs on pack.
• Protein and no artificial
preservatives were rated as the
most important ingredient
claims
• Complete nutrition and
healthy digestion were rated as
the most important health
claims
Consumer trust of health and
ingredient claims
Consumers were asked the degree to which they trust
health and ingredient claims:
• 54% rated ingredient claims as credible or highly credible
• 57% rated functional claims (about healthy heart,
digestion, bones, weight, skin and coat, oral care, and
joints) as credible or highly credible
• 65% rated a complete nutrition claim as credible or highly
credible
Vet recommended was the claim highest rated credibility
claim to support other claims, followed by a 100%
guaranteed claim.


Communicating health
Lists of ingredients and health checklists were the top rated
communication tools that consumers said they look for
when assessing the health benefits of a product.
• 59% of respondents reported that ingredient imagery
made the product seem healthy
• 63% of respondents reported that health symbols made
the product seem healthy

What elements do you look for when assessing health benefits?
(often or always)


Section 3: Ratings of mock packages
For the final section of the survey, six mock pet food
packages were created as stimuli for survey participants to
assess. The visuals varied from simple to complex and
differed in their amount of copy (from one to four claims)
and amount of visuals (ingredient imagery, health
symbols). In addition, some packages included a vet
recommended badge. All other design factors remained
constant. Participants were randomly shown 2 out of 6
packages and asked to rate and describe how healthy,
credible, and easy to understand they perceived the
packages to be. They also rated how likely they would be
to purchase the products. Missing from the mock packages
were product shots, which pet owners noticed and
reported to be important elements that reinforce
credibility.
• Packaging that did not have enough information was
perceived to be unhealthy
• Packaging with a combination of copy and imagery had a
higher purchase likelihood rating than packaging with
only copy or only imagery
• Detailed information was reported to give packaging
credibility
• The most complex packaging with four claims and
ingredient imagery was perceived to be the healthiest


Applying the research
The insights from this study can inform the packaging
design process of pet food, and are summarized in the
following recommendations:
1. Determine an appropriate brand position based on your
brand identity and product and the target consumer.
2. Design a communication hierarchy around the path to
purchase.
3. Emotionally connect to the consumer.
4. Emphasize purchase drivers:

• Appetite appeal: make sure that consumers believe that
their pets will enjoy the product
• Highlight the healthy and natural aspects of the product
through ingredient lists and health checklists
• Emphasize protein and complete nutrition
• Communicate credibility (use claims if the product meets
governmental requirements) and include detailed
information


The emotional decision
One major insight from this study is
that purchasing pet food is often an
emotional decision. Consumers enter
the pet food aisle looking for food for
their pet specifically, and therefore
packages that remind them of their pet,
how they feel about their pet, or their
pet’s needs will stand out. Making their
“pet children” happy and healthy is a
strong driver. In the survey results, the
number one purchase driver was
reported as “food that my pet will
enjoy”, followed closely by “food that
looks healthy and natural”. This concept
also explains the high number of playful
package designs as well as human-pet
imagery, as these images trigger how consumers feel
about their pets. Making consumers smile at the
imagery on packaging and associate it to their pet
therefore increases the likelihood of purchase.
Ranked third as a purchase driver was a “credible
and scientific” look. While one can see the merit of
this packaging since it conveys the message of a
trusted product, it does not lead to a positive
emotional reaction nor immediately create a brandmy pet connection, unless the pet has a specific
medical condition. It is still an important element
however, especially with fear of pet food recalls.
Many brands give their packaging a credible and
scientific look by adding earned credibility claims
such as “vet recommended” and through the
inclusion of tables, charts, and descriptive
information.


Conclusion
These observations and insights are not exhaustive
nor definitive, however they provide a starting point
for further research and inform the packaging design
process in this category. Shopping habits are often
firmly engrained in the behaviour of consumers, and
can be difficult to change, especially with pet food.
Even if a package includes
everything that pet owners are
looking for, it still needs to be
disruptive enough and provide
strong value to cause consumers to
switch brands.


Reference materials

Transparency Market Research “Pet Food Market – Global
Industry Size, Market Share, Trends, Analysis and Forecast,
2011 - 2017
http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pet-foodmarket.html.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/8/
prweb11077951.htm
PMMI Pet Food Market Assessment
http://www.pmmi.org/files/Research/
ExecutiveSummaries/PetFood%20ExecutiveSummary.pdf
International Markets Bureau 2010
The United States, A Growing Pet Food Market
http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/statistics/agri-food/
us_pet_food_en.pdf


For more information, contact:
Jean-Pierre Lacroix, President
Shikatani Lacroix
387 Richmond Street East
Toronto, Ontario
M5A 1P6
Telephone: 416-367-1999
Email: jplacroix@sld.com

Pet food packaging report

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