Closing the Kennel

Hey everyone!

We have completed our analysis of the digital marketing strategies used by some of the top dog food brands in Canada. For a brief summary, check out the video we made below!

Unfortunately, it is now time that we close the Kennel. :(

We truly appreciate you taking the time to read our blog posts and connecting with us through our social media channels! We hope you learned something new about digital marketing and how it can make or break your product!

Link Metrics Matchup

Internets Opinion of Blue Buffalo and IAMs Website

Mark Faber

Blue Buffalo's Moz Analytics

As you know there are billions of web sites on the internet so how do you know which are reliable sources of information? One helpful tool is called the Moz toolbar, it analyzes the web page you are on and gives a “credit” score. Moz does this by analyzing the number of inbound links, or outside websites that refers readers to your website. If lots of other reputable websites are referring users to your site the domain authority or ‘credit score’ of your page increases.

Looking at the Blue Buffalo and IAMs websites using the Moz toolbar there are some interesting things to discover about the brands:

	IAMs	Blue Buffalo
Domain Authority (high=good)	40/100	61/100
Total Links	25	5,475
Spam Score (lower the better)	3/17	2/17

Vancitybuzz.com

The most followed link to IAMs domain comes from a website called SheKnows, a cosmetics blog, and names IAMs as an offender in product testing on animals, which seems logical to me but is apparently a no-go. The next 2 sites linking to IAMs.com are much more positive, one a Quebec newsletter, from newswire.com, names IAMs as the main sponsor in helping 7 million shelter pets find a home. The other from vancitybuzz.com, a website focusing on Vancouver and sharing tips on keeping our furry friends cool during the summer.

Blue Buffalo’s top inbound link unsurprisingly is Google, followed by Wikipedia which names Blue Buffalo in a pet food recall, which is not the kind of attention that a company would like to attract. Fortunately the third link is from Pinterest

which is another social media site that gathers interesting websites, articles and pictures form the internet in one place to be shared. The post that has been redirecting people to Blue Buffalo names them as a top brand for weight control in dogs and their positive role in the End Pet Cancer movement. 

The YouTube Challenge

Sharing Videos With the World

Mark Faber

Blue Buffalo's YouTube Channel

YouTube is a platform for sharing interesting and entertaining content in video format. Like Twitter and Facebook, Youtube is a great way for companies share content and get users engaged and developing brand loyalty through humorous or heartfelt videos. Blue Buffalo and IAMs both have YouTube channels for sharing this content with subscribers and the internet in whole. IAMs has 9,093 subscribers with 15.7 million views on their 97 videos, however they have not posted a new video in 7 months! Blue Buffalo has 696 subscribers and 1.4 million views on their 60 videos and posts new videos twice a week on average.

IAM's Top Video 

Blue Buffalo and IAMs past 10 videos have been focused heavily on promotional, often just their commercials reformatted to include more details or be slightly longer. However IAMs had previously (1 year + ago) been posting tips and informative videos if only they had continued that trend, rather than just reposting commercials! Blue Buffalo has very rarely (only twice) deviated from sharing their TV commercials on YouTube, this is very disappointing as Blue Buffalo was so good and active in their different social channels.

IAMs top video out of the past 10 posted is a lengthened TV commercial titled “A Boy and his Dog Duck”, it has 2.4 million views and 285 comments. It tugs on the heartstrings and showcases a boy and his dog growing up together and how IAMs has the different diets needed at all stages of the dog’s life. It really is quite adorable will probably make you smile for a half hour. Blue Buffalo’s top video, “Blue vs Purina Dog Chow” is a minute long commercial comparing the ingredients in puppy food with a pet owner. It has 1,173 views and the comments are disabled which is a poor choice for social media.

The one bright spot for Blue Buffalo’s YouTube channel over IAMs is the use of keywords, links to website and other social sites in the description of each video whereas IAMs has not taken full advantage of these SEO benefits. 

Twitter Showdown

Communicating with Consumers

Mark Faber

Twitter is the World’s second largest Social Media platform and if you have not heard of it or don’t have an account, sign up now and then read the rest of this blog. Twitter is a great platform for instant communication, from technical support to questions about products or just putting news out into the digital world. All companies should have Twitter and monitor it regularly to find out what consumers are saying about their brand or products. Today we are going to look at IAMs (@IAMS, active since 2009) and Blue Buffalo’s (@bluebuffalo, active since 2012) Twitter accounts.

Quick Facts

	Blue Buffalo	IAMs
Followers	10,600	18,000
Number of Tweets	4,310	15,100
Average # of Retweets and Favourites	5 Retweets and 6 Favourites	1 and 1
Post Frequency	3 times a day	Once every 8 days

IAMs Tweet for #CatHerdersDay

These numbers are just a quick glance into their Twitter accounts, the past 25 posts to be precise. Both brands follow the 50/50 rule (one content post for one promotional post) which is good, consumers don’t want to have their Twitter feeds being spammed with advertisements or they will unfollow you. IAMs makes good use of their tagline in their tweets, using the #IAMsDifference in almost all their tweets. Unfortunately Blue does not take full advantage of the hashtag for keywords, except for #EndPetCancer. May is Pet Cancer month and Blue Buffalo is doing an excellent job with content that is helpful and relatable to pet owners.

Tweet for #EndPetCancer

IAMs is missing the whole point of Twitter by only posting every 8 days, taking the instant and quick updates completely out of the picture. Blue Buffalo takes full advantage by posting and retweeting multiple times a day. Top tweets from IAMs (3 retweets and 9 favourites) and Blue Buffalo (9 retweets and 52 favourites) were not promotional, but sharing fun pictures. This is exactly what people are hoping to see on Twitter; short and informative tweets with engaging visuals. So remember Twitter is designed for instant communication, sharing news and up to the minute information, not just a free form of advertisement.

A Facebook Faceoff

Comparing Iams and Blue Buffalos Social Engagement

Mark Faber

Taking a look at IAMs and Blue Buffalo's Facebook pages there are a couple quick facts we can find to compare these two brands and the level of engagement they provide on the worlds #1 social media. IAMs has 726, 573 likes, with Blue Buffalo only at a quarter the number at 176,225 likes. IAMs typically responds to messages within a few hours and Blue only takes 1 hour. 

For Past 25 Posts

IAMs Top Post

Digging a little deeper into the two Facebook pages by comparing the past 25 posts by each company we can make some more informed conclusions. IAMs posts every 5 days on average, and Blue Buffalo posts once a day (If you’re keeping score its IAMs:1 Blue:2). 
Average number of Likes, Comments, and Shares per post for Blue Buffalo : 191, 104, and 31(respectively). IAMs appears to win on the surface with 1180, 27 and 165. However 65% of their likes have come from 1 post with 19,098 likes, 270 comments and 2,251 shares during the Christmas season (I also think this was a boosted or paid post). Blue Buffalo's top post (1,230 likes, 1,125 comments and 105 shares) was a contest to win a meat rolls for your dogs. Blue Buffalo's post did well because it offered fans a chance to win if they engaged with the post, and IAMS did well because it was posted during an optimal time. 
Overall Blue Buffalo is doing a better job with interacting on Facebook, with a higher engagement percentage (#of likes/post compared to # of followers) although it does appear that IAMs is making a push to post more often and more engaging comment. Hopefully they will both keep posting regularly to keep consumers engaged and knowledgeable about the companies!

Iams and Blue Buffalo SEO Comparison

Brief Overview of Iams and Blue Buffalo Search Engine Optimization
Mark Faber

Search Engine Optimization is a relatively new concept for marketers but a vital one. So many consumers turn to the internet, specifically search engines (such as Google) as a first step in the information and purchasing process. In the Dog Food industry Iams and Blue Buffalo are two top brands promoting healthy dog food and high quality ingredients. Using keyword sentences like “Grain free Formula”, “Natural Ingredients” and “Senior/Puppy Dog Food” these companies are trying to attract the right consumer to their website. Hopefully this table will help break down the two brands and show the power of SEO and its importance in today's marketplace.

SEO Considerations	Iams (Mars, 2016)	Blue Buffalo (Blue Buffalo Co. Ltd, 2016)
1.     Page Title	Pet Food from Iams- Only the Highest Quality Ingredients	Natural, Healthy Dog & Cat Food for Your Pet | Blue Buffalo
2.     Meta Description	Find the complete Iams pet food line, learn about our nutritional philosophy and more at Iams.com.	Blue Buffalo - Natural, Healthy Dog Food and Cat Food. Discover Why Blue Buffalo is the Best Choice for Your Pet.
Meta Keywords and Monthly search volume:	Pet food, iams, iams pet food	Not Found
3.     Structural elements:  H1, H2, H3	Not Found	H1:Blue Buffalo® H2:Dog Food, Cat Food, Pet CancerAwareness, The BLUE™ Story, Slice. Serve. Top.  (plus 10 more) No H3
4.     Strong tags 5.	Not Found	12 strong tags in total, including: About Us, Why Feed BLUE? Events, Pet Cancer Awareness
Alt Text	Yes, 12 Alt Texts including; IAMS BREED SELECTOR, INGREDIENTS GUIDE, THE IAMS DIFFERENCE	Yes: BlueBuffalo, Blue Buffalo TV Commercials, Compare Your Brand, Compare Your Brand
6.     Page Load Time	8.362 seconds	6.655 Seconds
7.     Observations Regarding Page layout: 8.	Simple Layout, only 3 ‘areas’ top scrolling images links to articles and different products. Next is Dog and Cat articles. Goes on to list the Iams Story, Ingredients etc.	Engaging content, not just a list of products, but including articles on pet cancer awareness and comparisons of different pet foods. Products and store availability are featured as call to actions at the bottom of the page as well.
9.     Observations Regarding Visual Content:	The top menu boxes are overloaded with text and options, the menus are overwhelming. The rest of the homepage is visually appealing, spacing out different sections nicely and making it all easily readable.	Visually appealing, a good mix of pictures and text with a consistent theme of corporate colours being used. Blue is featured heavily throughout the home page.
10.  Call-to-action:	Go, Join, Learn, and Buy Now	Make an online Donation, Join our Newsletter, Follow, Share
11.  Anchored Text: (list 3)	Iams Breed Selector, The Iams Difference, and Ingredients Guide	Explore Dog Food, Explore Cat Food, Ingredients
12.  Moz Established Links:  # to Root Domain	54	714
13.  Moz Established Links:  # Total Links	1295	5475
14.  Top 3 inbound links.	Japanese Iams website: http://www.iams.jp/ Newswire: http://www.newswire.ca/fr/news-releases/iams-les-fetes-en-famille-aide-plus-de-7-millions-danimaux-a-trouver-un-foyer-permanent-509486261.html Iams Japanese Website index: http://iams.jp/index.html	Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_pet_food_recalls BestFriends.org: http://bestfriends.org/about/our-partners/kind-partners GoPro Mountain Games: http://www.mountaingames.com/summer
15.  Mobile Friendly: Yes/No	Yes	Yes
16.  Content is “shareable” (Like, Tweet, Pin, Blog, etc.)	All the Articles are easily shareable through Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, and E-mail	Yes, it can be shared instantly through Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest
17.  Social Media: (List all SM icons on the home page.	Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and YouTube	Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram
18.  SERP ranking results when using keywords from this table: (placing or page number)	Page 3, 4th organic result when searching for High Quality Dog Food	Page 1, 3rd organic result when searching for healthy dog food

Google Trends: 
Dog food is a pretty broad search term and is used often. When comparing the 2 brands, Blue Buffalo and Iams, they score equally at 5. I think this is because there are so many different types of dog food brands out there without a clear market leader that the market share becomes widely distributed. Surprisingly Newfoundland and Labrador generate the most regional interest even though it has smaller population than the other regions.

Google Trends, retrieved May 19 2016

Latent Semantic Indexing Keywords:

Healthy dog food, Senior Dog Food, and Puppy dog food all appeared in the LSI generator and are listed on both the IAMS and Blue Buffalo websites. (LSI Graph, 2016)

IAMS has Healthy dog food listed several times within images, but not as alt text. It does however mention grain-free which came up in the LSI generator. IAMS only contains 5 of the keywords generated.

Blue Buffalo has healthy dog food listed in the title of the page, with the word healthy mentioned 6 times on the home page as well. Grain-free is also mentioned along with organic dog food. Blue Buffalo has 7 of the LSI generated keywords mentioned on their homepage.  

Blue Buffalo’s strengths are its use of healthy and natural dog food. By repeating these words throughout their home page, Blue Buffalo shows up quickly in the organic search for dog food. IAM’s strengths are its use of specific formulas, i.e. puppy food and senior care. The keyword sentence of Healthy dog food are found throughout both sites, but used better in the Blue Buffalo site in their headings and strong words html.

Both IAMS and Blue Buffalo are household names when it comes to the dog food market. However in my humble opinion Blue Buffalo has done a better job utilizing SEO and making their website findable and relatable. Their site showed up earlier than IAMS and made better use of specific keywords in their page titles. It also had more reliable and positive links, rather than sister companies like IAM’s. 

References

Blue Buffalo Co. Ltd. (2016, May 19). Natural, Healthy Dog and Cat Food. Retrieved from Blue Buffalo: http://bluebuffalo.com/

Google. (2016, May 19). Dog Food, IAMS, Blue Buffalo Co. Ltd. Retrieved from Google Trends: https://www.google.ca/trends/explore#q=Dog%20Food%2C%20%2Fm%2F02pkvr%2C%20%2Fm%2F02vlv0r&geo=CA&date=today%2012-m&cmpt=q&tz=Etc%2FGMT%2B4

LSI Graph. (2016, May 19). LSI Keyword Generator. Retrieved from LSI Graph: http://lsigraph.com/

Mars. (2016, May 19). Pet Food from IAMS. Retrieved from IAMS: https://www.iams.com/

SEOmoz Inc. (May 2016). MozBar. Retrieved from https://moz.com/tools/seo-toolbar

Welcome to the Kennel!

A Digital Marketing Analysis of Dog Food Brands

The Marketing Kennel is a blog that will examine various dog food brands that are available in North America. We will be looking at their websites, social media accounts, and digital marketing strategies. We are creating this blog for our Digital Marketing course at Sheridan College.

The dog food brands that we will be writing about are:

• Purina
• Iams
• Blue Buffalo
• Nature's Variety
• Petcurean
• Canidae
• The Honest Kitchen
• Primal Pet Foods

Kelsey LeCoure

About our writers:

My name is Kelsey LeCoure. I am in my second year of the Marketing program at Sheridan College. I have a Black Lab named Troy. He is my service dog from the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides. Feel free to check out our blog, SSD and the City, if you're interested in learning more about our journey as a service dog team. I will be examining the SEO and digital marketing strategies of both Petcurean and Canidae pet foods. I can also be found on LinkedIn.

Mark Faber

I am Mark Faber and have experience working with SEO and google analytics for new condo builds in the Ottawa area for the past 4 months. In this blog I will be evaluating 2 main brands, IAM’s and Blue Buffalo. Unfortunately I don’t have the joy of a dogs companionship, but as a kid I grew up with a beautiful golden retriever named Jesse. Visit my LinkedIn Page which can be found here.

Zak Priest

Hey there! My name is Zak Priest and I'm a second year marketing student at Sheridan College. I love music and all things nerdy. I share a bed with a Bichon-Poodle mix named Benji. He's a total handful but I love him. Throughout this blog I will be looking into the digital marketing practices and strategies of Purina and Nature's Variety. Please feel free to contact me on LinkedIn. I hope you enjoy the content we have in store for you!