Collar | Ukraine
Each significant player in the pet market, whether a brand or company, has its own positioning and success. This article takes you through the five steps to success as they have been taken by the Ukrainian COLLAR company.
1. Innovative product
The Puller brand, which represents COLLAR, is quite simply unique, and has already won the recognition of consumers all over the world, even in such an extraordinary country as Japan. The functional uniqueness of Puller is being the dog training tool, and its mission is to solve canine behavioural problems and improve the understanding and relationship between owners and their dogs in a new way.
2. Successful branding team
The brand positions were strengthened by the international team of partners and ambassadors among amateur canine trainers (Europe, Canada, US, Russia, Ukraine). They created and developed an international movement: the Dog Puller International Federation with Dog Puller championships. As a result, this lively sport gained worldwide popularity within a couple of years.
3. International recognition
The lead of Puller to the international market became possible following its successful presentation at the world’s largest exhibitions – Interzoo (EU) and Global Pet Expo (US). Later, the Collar company represented Puller at the InterPet Expo 2013 in Japan. Since then, the Dear Children company became official Puller distributor.
4. Community and marketing
Contrary to standard marketing techniques, Puller was not introduced through simple advertising and PR in mass media. Instead, the main emphasis has been on education around the product and training in Dog Puller Sports for professional trainers.
The latter is particularly important because ultimately, consumers trust the opinion of dog trainers, so that their understanding of the product and its mission helps to promote Puller values and significance. Support of opinion leaders has been won – it is the first significant achievement of the distributor.
The second is the development and implementation of Puller event marketing, training and certification of trainers, and the implementation of Dog Puller competitions and festivals throughout Japan. This has proven the most productive method of winning the attention and loyalty of end consumers. In 2017, a new record was set when approximately 200 Dog Puller competitions were staged in Japan alone.
The creation of a Puller community provides a strong foundation for the product’s popularity among dog owners. This long-term marketing strategy, where the distributor pays attention to informing the audience about the product’s mission and sporting qualities, is already producing results.
5. The 2020 Olympic Games
n 2017, the ‘Committee of the Olympic Games for animals’, which included key people from the international Interpets Exhibition, as well as influential players from the Japanese pet industry, took the initiative to organize the Canine Olympic Games 2020 that will be held immediately after the main Olympics. The Committee of the Olympic Games for animals decided to include Dog Puller in the sports competition programme along with such subjects as dog frisbee, agility, freestyle (dancing with dogs), canicross, et cetera – a phenomenal achievement.
Next step
Next, the COLLAR company and its partners plan to inform the market of the Puller mission: solving canine behavioural problems and improving the understanding and relationship between owners and their dogs. Thus, the pet business can become socially responsible, can develop the welfare of domestic pets, and can trigger societal understanding of their basic needs.