The brand I chose is Petco. It is a brand I'm familiar with, and I figured people would have things to say about the company given how pet care can sometimes be hotly debated, especially in online spaces. When looking at three of the biggest social media platforms, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, most of what was being said was just general posts talking about Petco as just a prolific presence in online pet and animal communities. For example, most of the posts on Instagram that included the "petco" hashtag in their descriptions mainly just featured an image of a pet, or pets, on their own, which is to be expected, given Instagram's priority of being a photo sharing app. Twitter didn't have much, as the "pecto" search term mainly brought up posts referring to Petco Park in San Diego, California, which was buzzing with baseball and sports news rather than personal updates about people's pets. Facebook, however, seemed to be the most abundant with posts concerning Petco's service and presence. It's no surprise that most of the posts that came up after typing "petco" in the search bar were posts made by profiles for adoption and rescue centers, mentioning Petco and how the company has provided support over the years.
According to Petco's About Us page on on their website, the company's Value Proposition is "Petco is a category-defining health and wellness company focused on improving the lives of pets, pet parents and our own Petco partners."
One of the good things in recent news people have been talking about is the decision Petco made earlier this month, saying that they were "breaking up with traditional rawhide." After a rise in concern from pet owners about the potential issues and cases of sickness and death that traditional rawhide chew toys have caused, Petco announced that they would no longer be selling them, recognizing the dangers of the toys and reacting to the outcry of a huge portion of their customers.
Here is a profile responding to the Facebook post Petco made about their parting with the rawhide chews.
And then the text form the original Petco post.
This profile, one for the Orange County Pit Bull Rescue, celebrates Petco's decision, as well as encourages viewers to read about the information Petco provided in their post, explaining the dangers of traditional rawhide chew toys and why, as a company, they've decided to "break up" with them. This is a positive reaction a person from the online pet and animal community has for Petco and their choices. The author of the post writes "Big Kudos to Petco", following a stream of clapping hand emojis. The rest of the post educates and then encourages people to keep reading the information provided in Petco's original post, something definitely good for Petco and their social traction on Facebook.
Another good thing about Petco in recent news is the update they've made to their own company name. Formerly the "Petco Foundation", the company decided to change it to "Petco Love". At Petco Love, they say they will continue with their "work and harness the power of love to make communities and pet families closer, stronger, and healthier." This was an important move for Petco, changing their name, and an even bigger promise they've made, trying to better align themselves with the communities that support them.
Here is another Facebook profile reacting and sharing Petco's announcement of their name change.
Petco's original post about the name change.
In this Facebook post by the Front Street Animal Shelter, the author thanks Petco for being a supporter of the shelter, and affirms Petco's decision to change their name to something that feels more appropriate for the kind of value and service the company wants to offer to its patron communities. This is very positive for Petco, as the reaction the company is getting from the name change seems to be overall a very good one. People in these pet and animal communities seem to be touched by the new name and Petco's promise to continue to saving and caring for pet lives.
Lastly, in line with Petco's wave of actions inciting huge amounts of positivity from its supporting communities, is a recent grant they gifted to the Greater Androscoggin Humane Society.
Petco gifted this humane society with a grant, and this Facebook post is thanking Petco for it, even including the hashtag #feelingthankful at the end of the grateful message.
Below this post is a bunch of comments stating their thanks to Petco as well.
This too, is another case of the communities that Petco contributes to having positive things to say about the brand, and doing so publicly. Recently, Petco seems to have been making many good choices, all of which are celebrated and recognized by their customers. With so much positivity in regards to Petco and their actions recently, it's no surprise that it was a challenge to find anything substantially negative towards them.
The service that Petco provides is a pretty large one. Every pet owner knows about Petco and the many store locations they have. The stores have anything you could need, from food, to toys, and medication. And it's not just cats and dogs. Petco carries products for any kind of animal, including fish, reptiles, rodents, and birds. But that's not all. Petco stores often offer grooming services, many of which are jointed to the store locations. Petco also has many different clinic locations.
One of the things I think Petco is doing well with in relation to marketing is how they seem to use social media. I think Petco is aware of, and uses to its advantage, the benefits and, at this point, necessity, of using social media. Petco has accounts on many different social media platforms and they also even have their own app available for download in the Google Play Store.
An example of Petco using social media in an effective way is how they post content that would be considered "Native" under Gary Vaynerchuk definition. They post about pets and animals, which is to be expected of them, given that they are a pet and animal care company, but these posts aren't all ads.
Here are a couple examples of native posting from Petco's socials:
Here is an Instagram post Petco made just over a week ago, featuring the pets of the account @mila.and.zoe
No product is being pushed or advertised here, it's just a photo of another pet account's dogs. On Instagram, this is the definition of native posting. There are many pet focused and pet centered Instagram accounts out there, that function daily by sharing photos of their figurehead pets. It's only to be expected of Petco to engage in this activity that many of it's customers participate in by sharing and acknowledging these pets and their accounts.
And this is a Tweet from the official Petco Twitter account. It, too, doesn't have any kind of product to sell or some new thing to advertise. Much like the rest of the average posting on Twitter, Petco is retweeting and engaging in a playful, humorous way with this video of dachshunds. These dogs are someone's pets, and pets are Petco's whole thing.
What Petco is doing to continue to appeal and act in support of its communities, which I also think could be a marketing challenge of the brand, is how it is working on improving itself as a brand, as well as its image and appeal. As previously mentioned, hearing that a very common dog toy and treat, a rawhide, is something a huge portion of a pet supplier's audience have began to question and reject, is probably kind of jarring to hear. But the facts about the dangers of traditional rawhides are true, and Petco didn't try to remain with them, and instead, agreed upon the dangers and decided to take into the concern the worries of their customers. I also think the name change, that was previously mentioned as well, is another part of Petco's challenge of remaining a reliable, dependable, and safe brand. Pets mean a lot to their people, and having a brand like Petco to rely on for all of their pet related needs is important. Petco wants to fill that role. So changing with the times and aiming for better and better products and services for its customers is needed for a brand, especially one centered around the precious animals and pets in society. Listening to people's and expert's concerns about things is crucial, and I think Petco's response to the worries about rawhide chew toys was correct.
However, one thing I might suggest would to just engage even more. Petco should become even more involved in its communities and listen to what is being said about pet care, and the best, safest ways to do it. With a brand as big as Petco, it's impossible to avoid mistakes, and Petco is still a brand that sells products for money. So, I would just suggest continuing to listen and make the best decisions about what to sell and what to advertise.
From this assignment, I'd say I learned more about the importance of a company listening to its customers is. I also gained a bit more insight on the different kinds of people and customers that exist between social media platforms. Also, the different kinds of native posting that is needed on these differing accounts. They all might be social media platforms, but each one has its own way of doing things. You need to have content that works the best it can on each platform on its own, respectively.
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