Embracing the Groundswell

Dog food is dog food; there isn’t really anything special about it. So do you make make one dog food outshine another dog food? Well,  Del Monte Foods decided they were going to do just that by going straight to the source, the customers.

Del Monte started a group called “Dogs are People Too,” which was dedicated to people who loved their dogs so much, they were practically treated like humans. The very first thing Del Monte asked its participants was what their dogs’ dream breakfast would be. The participants didn’t even have to think about it. They knew their dogs and they knew what those dogs love. Some loved sausage with ketchup, others loved eggs with mustard. However, the majority of these volunteers stated that their dogs’ ideal breakfast would consist of bacon and eggs.

These dogs lovers were not only passionate about the taste of what they fed their dog food, but also the nutrition facts. Just as we humans take our daily vitamins and Calcium tablets, true dog lovers believe that their dogs deserve the same.

Del Monte foods took this information they had gathered and ran with it. The end result was Snausages Breakfast Bites, which are miniature strips of bacon and fried eggs packed full of vitamins, calcium, antioxidants, and omega 3’s. Sales for this product immediately took off. Del Monte foods was able to give its customers exactly what they wanted. By embracing the groundswell, companies are able to make changes and improvements more quickly and effectively.

Many times, customers know a product better than its manufacturers or marketing executives do. They have used it personally and know what works well and what doesn’t work at all. They also can come up with ideas or improvements for the product that the business hasn’t even thought of. Also, customer feedback is constant, allowing improvements to be continuous. Customers will always make comments whether you like it or not, so you might as well embrace it and utilize what they have to say in order to create a product you know they will love.