Triad Retail Media and Sam’s Club Introduce a New Online Pet Central Experience
Melinda Orlando, Director of Content, Triad Retail Media
When you’re a pet owner, animal-related questions might not pop in your head while you’re still in the vet’s office. With two Chihuahuas of my own, I know the value of having expert pet content at your fingertips, providing engaging and educational information about pet care and pet products at the same time. And that’s exactly why Triad Retail Media collaborated with Sam’s Club to create and launch Pet Central on SamsClub.com.
Packed with informative interactive content on pet health and care, the site features accredited pet expert Dr. Louise Murray, who will spearhead the development of a variety of social media content such as Q&As and videos that cover topics like pet vaccinations and choosing the best food for your pet.
Pet Central is designed to provide pet owners with an interactive shopping experience that helps them learn about how to properly care for their pets, while creating a direct path to purchase and recommending products at Sam’s Club.
Greg Murtagh, CEO and founder of Triad Retail Media, said, “Dynamic, interactive and information-rich content centers have become a critical element of the shopper marketing strategy for retailers and brands. With the new Pet Central, Sam’s Club has built one of the most ‘informed’ base of customers when it comes to pet care — which ultimately helps drive sales online and in-store. Triad is thrilled to be involved with such an innovative project.”
Consumers can also interact with Dr. Murray to ask personal questions about their own pets’ habits and health. Dr. Murray is the author of “Vet Confidential: An Insider’s Guide to Protecting Your Pet’s Health,” a pet owner’s guide to veterinary medicine. She also runs the ASPCA’s Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital in New York City.
Pet Central also features a custom nutrition fact finder. This online tool breaks down the nutritional composition of a pet owner’s usual pet foods and facilitates an easy comparison against similar pet food products, helping Sam’s Club Members find the right food for their pet.
“Most consumers consider their pet an extension of their family,” said Dawn Deal, Senior Director of Digital Media and Online Marketing at Sam’s Club. “By creating an online experience that allows them to find research, interact and shop in a way that helps them meet the highly specific needs of their pets, we make it easier than ever to make pet healthcare a top priority.”
We hope all you pet lovers really take advantage of this exclusive content, and share it with your furry-loving friends. And next time an animal-related question comes to mind, be sure to log on and send your question to Dr. Louise Murray. Who knows, you could be featured within the center soon!
Although it has been around since 2009, the past several weeks have shown a significant uptick in buzz (and participation) in Pinterest. The site recently announced that it has reached 11.7 million unique monthly visitors in the U.S. 1, making it one of the most heavily trafficked social media sites and the fastest standalone site to reach the 10 million user mark.
So what exactly is Pinterest? It’s a type of virtual pinboard or “vision board” in which users can aggregate and share photos and images of things that they like. Users can pin items from around the Web using a browser toolbar or re-pin photos that others have pinned on the site itself. ‘Pins’ are organized into categories with different themes or related content for example “my dream home” or “my favorite recipes”. Commonly pinned items include recipes, fashion, photography and yes, even products.
So what does that mean for retailers? Unlike some other social media sites whose benefits are subtle and hard to quantify, Pinterest can deliver real, measureable results for retailers in a very short amount of time. In fact, Pinterest drives more traffic to company websites than YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn combined. 2 read more…
In 2011, the long-promised “Year of Mobile” finally became a reality. All signs point to an even greater year in 2012. According to metrics from IBM, mobile devices were responsible for 9.8% percent of online Black Friday sales, up from 3.2% a year ago.
For shopper marketers, mobile is going to be of even greater importance and value this year. I’ve put together a Shopper Marketing Mobile Wish List for 2012.
- More Money, for Better Mobile Experiences: At the top of the list, I’d like to see more money flow to mobile experiences, and see more powerful user experiences become mainstream.
- Greater Understanding of the Power of Mobile for Retail. I wish that more advertisers and marketers would understand the amount of retail traffic that is shifting to mobile, and the power of marketing there. Retail was the fastest-growing category for mobile content in 2011.
- Mobile, Standard on Every Marketing Plan. I wish for mobile to be a critical element of every brand and retailer’s marketing strategy. So does Google —last fall, the company offered what was termed a “carrot and a stick” for mobile advertisers: tools to help create mobile-specific Web pages, and lowered quality scores for those who don’t. They also launched a website to help advertisers understand the basics of going mobile.
- Monetization of Retail Mobile Sites. I wish for more retailers to open opportunities for brands to pay for promotion within the retailer’s mobile site. Just as on retailer’s Internet sites, there are huge opportunities for digital retail advertising on mobile sites — everything from mobile banner inventory to sponsorships to branded mobile content.
- Leverage Mobile to Drive M-Commerce. I wish for more retailers and advertisers to place importance on mobile commerce. Mobile commerce is booming, as evidenced on Cyber Monday and numbers such as the $5 billion in projected sales on eBay mobile this year. And yet many retailers still do not have robust mobile commerce capabilities, and most mobile shopper marketing campaigns do not currently include m-commerce integration.
- More Mobile Coupons. I wish for more retailers to accept mobile coupons. And so do consumers — the redemption value of mobile coupons will grow eightfold between now and 2015, up to a staggering $46 billion.
- Focus on Mobile Web more than Native Apps. Native apps often seem to be the first place marketers want to go, however mobile websites 1) can now support many of the same features 2) are cross-platform, thus easier and cheaper to build and maintain 3) show up in mobile search results and 4) are used by more consumers.
- NFC Hits the Mainstream. NFC is going to be big — the bets being placed by Google, Visa and the like are certain to ensure this. So, Retailers: Invest in the hardware. Phone manufacturers: Make more phones with NFC embedded. And Consumers: Start using your mobile wallets. Let’s just do this already!
All signs are pointing to 2012 as a banner year for mobile shopper marketing. But you can’t blame a marketer for wishing for more.
What are some of your mobile shopper marketing wishes for 2012?
Eric Anderson breaks down his top 7 buzzwords the digital world will utter, repeatedly, in the coming year. What’s on your list?
As we finish out our 12 Days of Christmas Programs, all of us at Triad Retail Media would like to wish you and yours a happy and healthy holiday and a prosperous new year!
Follow us along the path to purchase this holiday season during Triad’s 12 Days of Christmas Programs. Check back daily for program highlights that focus on the season’s festivities.
With the holiday program list winding down, we’d like to celebrate this Eleventh Day of Christmas Programs with sugar plums or, better yet, Nestlé’s favorites. Shoppers can view the season’s best flavors plus print coupons as they travel along the path to purchase. Now that’s sweet.
Follow us along the path to purchase this holiday season during Triad’s 12 Days of Christmas Programs. Check back daily for program highlights that focus on the season’s festivities.
Triad’s Tenth Day of Christmas Programs focuses on man’s best friend, the dogs we love so much. The Pets Center gives shoppers festive ideas for all their furry friends.
See how shoppers can make the season special for even their pets on the Pets Center.
Follow us along the path to purchase this holiday season during Triad’s 12 Days of Christmas Programs. Check back daily for program highlights that focus on the season’s festivities.
The Ninth Day of Christmas Programs brings holiday favorites to shoppers’ tables. Menu ideas and valuable coupons from top brands are peppered throughout this Holiday Favorite program.
See the three-course menu ideas and recipes on the Holiday Favorite Program page.
Follow us along the path to purchase this holiday season during Triad’s 12 Days of Christmas Programs. Check back daily for program highlights that focus on the season’s festivities.
Our countdown on this Eighth Day of Christmas Programs continues with the Holiday Countdown Tool. This tool provides holiday tips plus eight (fitting for this eighth day) seasonal features to make shoppers’ holidays sparkle.
See all the centers plus tips on the Holiday Countdown tool.
Follow us along the path to purchase this holiday season during Triad’s 12 Days of Christmas Programs. Check back daily for program highlights that focus on the season’s festivities.
This Seventh Day of Christmas Programs brings shoppers to Sam’s Club countdown to the holidays. With daily tips and recipes, shoppers unwrap something from featured brands every day.
See today’s Holiday tip at Sam’s Club Seasonal Center.
Greg Murtagh is founder and CEO of Triad Retail Media.
Chris Hoyt is President at Hoyt & Company, LLC and Owner, Hoyt & Company, LLC.
Tom Updycke is President and CEO of DS-IQ.
Dan Frechtling is Vice President at DS-IQ.
Peter Hoyt (no relation to Chris Hoyt) is Executive Director & CEO at The In-Store Marketing Institute.