Petco uses e-mail effort to promote organic pet food

Petco has added monthly e-mail- and insert media-focused messages about its products and services to its marketing mix. The initiative is a result of the company's work with e-mail marketing agency e-Dialog, which it hired earlier this year.

The company's November 1 distribution featured information about organic pet food and included coupons for $3 off the products. The e-mails were segmented by pet, meaning that dog owners received dog-themed content and cat owners get cat-themed messages.

Petco will supplement the effort by hosting November 7 in-store nutrition seminars in all of its stores to educate customers on the benefits of an organic pet diet. The events were promoted in the e-mails.

“Natural and organic is one of the faster growing categories in the pet space where consumers are more focused on the health of their pet and trying to help them live longer,” said John Lazarchic, VP of e-commerce at Petco.

Petco has worked with e-mail marketing firm e-Dialog since January. The agency has run all of the company's e-mail programs since June.

Petco sends an e-mail tied to its insert media once a month. In addition, it also send a monthly newsletter segmented by pet, as well as marketing messages tied to a vendor special, an in-store offer or an e-commerce offering.

In total, Petco sends 26 types of triggered e-mails, including messages for pet adopters and for those whose pet has an upcoming birthday. Customers who have recently purchased an item receive an e-mail soliciting them to write a review of it. Petco also includes user reviews in its e-mail marketing messages.