“Make it enjoyable for the shoppers”

PET in Europe: Much is said in the pet product sector regarding cooperation between trade and industry in order to gain a better understanding together of the needs of the customers. What is Iams Pet Food doing in this respect? Jean Marc Magnaudet: The Iams Company mission is to enhance the well being of dogs and cats by providing world-class quality pet food. To achieve this mission everyday, we try to create value in everything we do for the pet owners and for our trade partners. The combined expertise in consumer and shopper marketing of P&G and the Iams Company is a cornerstone of our value creation model. Our consumer knowledge creates value for pets by providing them with superior nutrition: for instance, our research into puppy development has led “Eukanuba” to be the first and only brand shown to promote smarter, more trainable puppies. We create value for pet owners by providing them with superior products and in-store education. Outside the store environment we have developed Eukanuba puppy schools and school programs for young children. Therefore, pet owners can do their best for their pets and enjoy a better relationship with them always at a very competitive value. Our shopper knowledge helps us create value for our trade partners as we manage to grow their sales and revenue with best in class in-store programs that meet the expectations of both, our shoppers and our retail partners. PET in Europe: How do you rate the speciality pet product trade’s prospects in the future of differentiating itself successfully from other distribution channels?
Jean Marc Magnaudet, Customer Business Development Associate Director at The Iams Company.Jean Marc Magnaudet: We at The Iams Company understand that the key challenge for the pet industry is to grow the pie for the speciality channel in a very competitive and changing environment. Growing the pie is a joint responsibility for retailers and manufacturers. This is the commitment that The Iams Company and its distributors demonstrate everyday to the speciality channel. We do it by implementing our joint value creation model using shopper-based business planning and differentiation plans. The speciality channel now acknowledges that it must gain share from other distribution channels to grow further. Differentiation is the name of the game. Differentiation means being preferred by the target shoppers. These are the shoppers who generate profitable sales. We understand that the issue for pet speciality…