Challenge
Streetbees and Mars Petcare’s collaboration began so they could answer one simple question: How does human behavior impact pets?
By addressing this question, and not just creating hypotheses to prove, the goal was to uncover new opportunities that were previously missed by using a top-down approach. Transformation doesn’t just come down to the tools you use; it’s about changing your behavior and the way you approach a challenge.
After all, there’s hardly a lack of data right now. But even with the abundance of data points available, the challenge remains the same: How do we understand it? So many companies are focused on getting more data, with greater accuracy and statistical significance, but rarely do they think about how the organisation is actually going to absorb this information and get it to the point where everyone across the business can use it.
The team at Mars Petcare decided to change this. They wanted to build a direct and deeper connection with Streetbees’ consumers on a more meaningful level by exploring a new approach and actually transform how the entire business thinks about insights.
From this grew PEGGY, the Pet Engine for Growth. PEGGY is a platform that observes real consumption behavior, purchase moments, and interactions between consumers and their pets. This isn’t limited to just feeding or grooming; it covers the entire relationship, including moments of interactions based on care and love.
Transformation doesn’t just come down to the tools you use; it’s about changing your behavior and the way you approach a challenge.
Solution
The PEGGY platform changes the approach from being one point in time research, which is static, to an observational platform that is dynamic and ongoing. The connection with the consumer is never lost. There doesn’t have to be a choice between quantitative and qualitative research methods. With this technology, you can have both at the same time.
By using unstructured data you can go beyond your immediate questions – after all, you don’t know what you don’t know. If you always frame your own research, write briefs, and ask specific questions to consumers, then you don’t give them a chance to speak directly to you.
What does PEGGY provide?
- Category and brand growth opportunities by Demand Moment
- Uncovers tensions between what people say and what they do
- Tracks all areas of purchase, including specialty stores
- Captures natural and intimate pet-parent moments
The platform was first launched in spring 2019. It started in the UK and Germany and has been rolled out to France with other countries in the pipeline. PEGGY has already captured 13,500 in-the-moment observations from dog and cat owners through Streetbees’ chat-style app.
These moments have been split into three main categories:
Feeding moments where we capture what they are feeding, their reasons for feeding, and choice of product/brands.
Purchase moments where we capture “in the moment” purchases (or when they get home) and the drivers of each purchase/consideration set.
Love/care moments where we capture how people are interacting with their pets, including walks and playtime.
The proprietary machine learning-based information retrieval function uses numerical vector representations of natural language to answer questions and retrieve information for and by Streetbees’ users. The vectors are generated by a large “deep learning” neural network that has been trained on a very large corpus sourced from the world wide web and then fine-tuned on the data in Streetbees’ database of the conversations their users have had with their app.
This gives the system capabilities to understand concepts like synonyms, implications, negatives, and inference that give it more superior performance to statistical retrieval technologies.
Outcome
Without asking about it, PEGGY is allowing the understanding of bigger, broader topics and issues that are important to pet parents. They’re thinking about sustainability and environmental factors, tolerance diversity, etc. All of this impacts pet care and Mars Petcare’s brand. Only by understanding these issues and how consumers view them can Mars Petcare become more relevant and resonate emotionally with customers.
Here are some themes already uncovered thanks to PEGGY:
Uncovered deep “emotions” that drive the food and snack choices pet parents make.
Feeding is a pet parent’s way of showing their affection towards their pet, in turn forming a strong bond between pet and owner. This underlines the fact that emotion is really at the heart of all feeding moments. The pet parent’s mood has a significant role in how this moment plays out.
Feeding is a pet parent’s way of showing their affection towards their pet, in turn forming a strong bond between pet and owner.
Identified unique feeding moments mapped against these emotional drivers to guide meaningful Innovation, Positioning, and
Channel Strategy.
Pet parents shared that their main meal and treats feeding occasions (and everything that goes into these moments) with Streetbees. They used this data to identify around 14 different feeding occasions, each for dogs and cats. Each of these occasions demonstrates how mood and human needs really drive a lot of the choices made and how they interact with their pet in this moment. For instance, if they are feeling low, they may treat their pet in order to entice their pet into some quality bonding time, which will also boost their mood.
Pet parents understood through “Generational makeup”: redefining our Communication and Media approach.
Streebees found a stark difference between Millennials and Silvers (55+) that translates into how they interact with their pets, including what products they buy and use. For example, as millennials are delaying having children until later in life, their pets have become their “children”. 1 in 4 Millennial dog owners describes their pet as their “child/baby”. Conversely, older consumers are more likely to see their pets as companions to spend time with. Millennials are also more likely to look for more natural and organic ingredients and pay more attention to the health benefits and overall ingredients list. This means that while they still use heritage brands, they are more open to using smaller brands based on reviews and uniqueness.
Packaging development anchored in consumer’s interpretation of Sustainability.
Sustainability is a term that means different things to different markets, but how does that translate into the products pet parents choose for their furry friends? 2 in 5 pet parents have already made changes to their pet care purchasing and behaviour to be more sustainable. A third of these pet parents actively avoid excessive plastic packaging, specifically.
Plastic has been a hot topic in consumer rhetoric in recent years due to coverage in the media and documentaries such as Blue Planet gaining a mass following. But there is still a lot to do for consumers. A quarter of pet parents say they are prevented from being sustainable in their pet care choices because sustainable products aren’t widely available.
Implications
The underlying factor fuelling all human and pet relationships is affection. Of course, this was already known but what wasn’t understood was how affection impacts behavior and vice versa.
Thanks to PEGGY, this can now be quantified and translated into growth opportunities and innovation ideas across various channels. Affection is an incredibly personal and subjective response; how can you expect to understand it without looking through the lens of the individual?
The most important thing is giving more control back to the consumer so they can call the shots on what they are sharing, and share it in their own words.
The post Mars Petcare and Streetbees: The Pawfect Partnership first appeared on GreenBook.
source: https://www.greenbook.org/mr/insights-that-work/mars-petcare-and-streetbees-the-pawfect-partnership/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mars-petcare-and-streetbees-the-pawfect-partnership
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