Tooth & Nail: Pets, a rise in popularity, and some marketing data of note
Forbes magazine estimates that 78% of pets owned today in the United States were acquired during the pandemic.
That seems to point out a couple of things. First, it appears that pet turnover is high. Think about it. Only 22% of pets still at home today were in a household before the pandemic.
Second, perhaps the bond people made with pets before and after the pandemic has led to increased spending in that category. After all, there are many more people working from home now so the opportunity for the bond to strengthen is there.
Take for example my Boston “terrorist,” MiMi. She keys into clanking plates and crinkling cellophane sounds like no other. She can assume a seated position, whine ever so softly, and begin drooling before we get the table set. Oh, and she can tell time, too. If we run late for some reason, she lets us know with a “Hey, hey, hey, what are you naked primates thinking here? It’s meal time.”
In marketing, however, the numbers don’t lie. And before I quote the numbers here, I have to say I continue to be astounded by the annual increases in size we see in the pet ownership category. These numbers come from a report in the latest online edition of Insideradio and Forbes.
Before the pandemic, pet ownership was about 17% of all households. As of April, that had jumped to 23%. Yes, we’ve all heard the stories about pets being dumped back at shelters. The numbers indicate, however, far more were kept than were relinquished.
Who owns them? According to the Insideradio/Forbes report, “In 2021 the American Pet Products Association says Generation Z accounted for 14% of pet owners; millennials (32%); Generation X (24%); baby boomers (27%).”
An American Pet Products Association report documents $123.6 billion was spent on pets in the U.S. in 2021. “Of this spending, the top categories were pet food and treats ($50 billion), veterinary care and products ($34.3 billion), pet supplies and OTC medicine ($28.8 billion), boarding, grooming, insurance, training, pet sitting/kenneling and walking (considered ‘other services,’ $9.5 billion).”
Being in a trade publication for radio broadcasters, this article is obviously meant to alert radio salespeople to the opportunities in the pet category. I do think there is significant untapped opportunity here.
The 2022 MRI-Simmons Spring Doublebase report shows that, “radio reaches 87% of consumers who consider it a hobby to take care of their pets, as well as 86% who agree that pets deserve to be pampered. Of those who want to pamper their pets, the age groups that agree the most are 25-34 (18%), 55-64 (17%), and 65+ (22%).”
The Radio Advertising Trade Bureau, a trade organization, notes that “radio also reaches 88% of consumers who spent over $100 on veterinary services in the last 12 months. Additionally, 87% spent just as much on pet food. Eighty-nine percent of pet ‘parents’ who have a pet insurance policy in place also regularly tune in to the radio, as do 88% who have paid for other pet services.”
I’m not writing this in a vacuum. I have friends in local radio, and they do a good job. Does this fit for them? Some data might. Most won’t. Here’s why. It’s one thing to be stuck in traffic waiting for a traffic report as a radio advertising opportunity. It is another thing in our rural environment to be 12 minutes in the car to make 10 miles instead of two hours on a freeway.
Powell is the public information officer for the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine, which provides this column as a community service. For questions or concerns about animals you’d like to read about, email cpowell@vetmed.wsu.edu.
