Why don't quality foods advertise?

I agree with you. I always bought dog food by what was on TV. I thought if its on TV its gotta be good. Now that I`m on this forum Molly is now eating Timberwolf. Never hear of it before just like Califorina natural, Innova, Ect. The good foods you seams to have to search for. Before PCs how could you find a good food? Most Vets don`t have them.

Yes, I just really wish everyone would have a choice and know about good food. Seems sad.

I guess you could find out from other people, newspapers etc It is very interesting why they don't advertise! Maybe you should start a petition

I like to think they put all of their money into the good healthy ingredients.[]
But who knows. Forums, though, have difinitely gotten high quality dog food sales way up, no doubt about that.
Perhaps they don't need the advertising.

John Q Public is NOT going to pay 45 bucks for a bag of Innova.  JQP is not going to be easily swayed away from the "big brand" that advertises and costs less.  Now whether he's seeing any actual savings buying MORE of the lesser quality food more frequently than he'd have to buy Innova.......but most folks don't think longer term like that.  Most folks don't think, gosh, with the better diet I haven't had to use Frontline in two years and haven't seen a flea on them....(just me)[8|] so what I saved in Frontline makes this food cheaper.....honestly, when I first changed I went into sticker shock at the price.  I had folks HERE to talk me through that tho.
 
I think that most people rely on their vet to tell them what a GOOD food is, or they buy the stuff from Walmart or the grocery thinking that it couldn't be sold if it wasn't all that it claims to be.
 
For Innova or Canidae to advertise yes would be MASSIVELY expensive.  A 30 second spot in a LOCAL break in my tiny little burg costs anywhere from $450 to $1200 for prime time, and the cost depends on the ratings of the show they advertise in.  And this area the rates are lower...Detroit would be quadruple that amount.  That does NOT include the cost of producing a commercial which can run into the thousands for a local tv station.  Now my "local" covers a good portion of Northern MI, but then there are 30 or 40 or more OTHER markets in the state....if they place a regional buy, which would air on more stations, we are talking tens of thousands of dollars for ONE 30 second commercial.....national?  Millions.....for that same ONE commercial.
 
I suspect that it's cost prohibitive for these companies, and while I'm sure there has been consideration, perhaps they are content with a slow steady growth from word of mouth.  Mass marketing a high quality and what folks think of as EXPENSIVE product isn't going to work.

I think the biggest factor is the money, most people don't want to spend more money on dogfood.
You can pick up a bag for 5 bucks at the grocery store, and that would be a big bag. Just out of curiosity I turned over a bag of cheap kibble in the store and read the ingredients list, it was horrible.
 
Out of all the people I talk to about their dogs, I have only been successful with one person, she actually called me from Petsmart and asked me what would be a better option for her dog.

I certainly think its money...and only money that stops them from advertising.  I worked at a small embroidery place for 22 years and while he is still "holding on" his business is getting smaller and smaller because more and more embroidery places are showing up, and the less money he bring in the less money he can spend on advertising.  It hit the point with all of the different phone books that are out now in our area, he doesn't even put an ad in most of them now..which will result in even less business.
 
It is way to expensive to advertise even in newspapers, much less TV.  And probably most people decide what they are feeding their pets by ads on TV.  Even if  a smaller company advetised just a few of times just to get their name out there,, it sure can compare to all of the ads the the large companies can afford to put out there.  And then there is coupons that the large companies put in the newspaper ads all the time. THAT is honestly how I used to decide which food I was buying for my dogs when my kids were little. I would cut out a coupon and watch for an advertised sale and then it was really a good deal.  If the small company advertises they would most probably have to raise their prices on their food which would keep more people away also.
 
I suppose if some of these companies got a lot bigger they would have to also manufacture more food and then you wonder about their quality control.
 

I think it's a financial decision. Advertising is expensive and would undoubtedly add to the price of the product. These products are expensive enough to bring market as it is, ads would likely make them even less competitive.

Paula

Maybe advertising on certain networks such as Animal Planet or whatever.  Without some type of marketing people don't even know it exists.
Plus the fact that many of these foods are not available to the masses to go and purchase locally can make it a real turn off for any consumer.
I think they could do better marketing and maybe educating the public as well and try to get these products more widely avaiable.

For one thing, it would make your dog food cost more. They have to make that money back, somehow!

If they did more mass production and it was more widely available and the demand was there the prices would go down.  The whole supply demand principal.  Most people aren't willing to mail order or drive really far to get dog food.
I bet it doesn't cost those companies all that much more to make their food...it is a very high price for some people to pay.  And alot of eople aren't gonna feed their dogs better then themselves.

You do see ads for some of these foods in specialty dog performance journals. And more and more stores are carrying the good foods-- around here, only Petsmart is a hold-out. I can go to five different independent pet stores and two different chains and get any of the premium brands.

If they did more mass production and it was more widely available and the demand was there the prices would go down.

But not if they had to expand their facilities and hire more people etc etc. I'm thinking!
 
The way some of these companies do advertise though is by putting sales reps in places like Pet Supply Plus, PetSmart etc etc.   Those people don't make a bad wage.

You do see ads for some of these foods in specialty dog performance journals. And more and more stores are carrying the good foods

 
Yes, these companies also advertise at dogshows.  I think that's where I first encountered Canidae.  A Canidae booth giving away free samples.  I've also seen banners of these dogfoods in (and outside) some shops.  They are definately targetting a specific audience.