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Interview with Bob Vetere of the APPA

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A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to visit the Greenwich, Conn. offices of the American Pet Products Association. I’ve been a member of APPA for 13 years so I was quite curious to “put an office behind the name.” I’ve also developed quite a friendship with their president, Bob Vetere. Or I should say my bird Murphy Green has developed one—Bob and Murphy have a very special bond. I’ve brought Murphy to many trade shows over the years and they have taken quite a liking to each other…but that’s another story.

Bob and I at APPA headquarters

I asked Bob what he thought boutiques and other independent retailers could do in these tough times to increase their business and he couldn’t wait to tell me that success these days is all about social media. He passionately launched into a description of how APPA is overhauling their advertising and marketing to focus primarily on social networking.

“For a retailer, it’s a no-brainer,” Bob says. “Just start something….anything is possible.” He went on to describe how one of their members ran a contest that was promoted through Facebook and Twitter and it totally mushroomed. I think the current term is that it “went viral.” He suggested that a store partner with a shelter, a humane group or a manufacturer to run a contest and offer a great prize. Then you advertise this through e-mail, Facebook, and Twitter. 

Even though Bob is a baby boomer, he is drinking the social media Kool-Aid.

“As I get more involved, it’s the wave of the future. Newspaper is going by the wayside. I’ve completely jumped on the social media bandwagon. APPA and Global Pet Expo have numerous Facebook fans and 250 Twitter followers.”

Yesterday a friend of mine who is an executive with Crispin Porter, one of the largest advertising agencies in the U.S., informed me that they are doing a complete ad campaign for Old Navy using Facebook—just Facebook. Think of how much cheaper that will be than running newspaper, radio, and TV ads.

APPA recently hosted a webinar called Building Pet Product Brands with Social Media for its members, which Bob graciously agreed to share with my blog readers. He said it covers recent shifts in marketing, reaching customers online, monitoring your reputation through social media, shaping opinions and building buzz for your business, among other things. That sounds like it could be helpful to many  business owners.

By the way, when I got on the APPA website this morning, I found this interesting tidbit of information on their home page:

Nineteen Percent of Dog Owners Purchased a Product Made by a Designer Manufacturer.

Carol Frank’s consulting firm, Birdseye Consulting, can be found online at www.carolfrank.com.

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