In this series, we ask top industry execs and marketers across the country about their biggest fears and concerns. What is giving top marketers fitful sleeps these days? This week, we caught up with Laura Fowler, director of operations and marketing for Global Pet Foods. Fowler oversees brand, PR and media strategy as head of the marketing team for Global Pets, which boasts 230 stores. 

During National Pet Month in May, the Canadian owned-and-operated retailer celebrated its national pride and commitment to pet health with the “Pawsitively Canadian” campaign.

What’s keeping you up at night?

In retail, in this economy, right now, there’s a lot of things keeping me up at night. I think the main thing I would say is that I want to ensure that we remain relevant and accessible to pet parents. As economic pressures grow in Canada, we’re in a time where inflation has stretched household budgets and our customers are making tough decisions. It’s not just about what their own needs are, but also for their pets. And so the challenge right now, for us, is striking the right balance between offering premium health focused products and making those products feel attainable and not aspirational.

You know, we’ve been in business for 49 years now, we’ve built an immense amount of trust with our customers and it’s something that we don’t take for granted. I think that’s something that we’re always striving for is, how do we offer the right balance and provide value for our customers every day when they’re shopping.

What’s a segment of the business that’s comparatively niche now but has the potential to really increase its importance?

I think there’s a few different things that we’re seeing. We’re certainly seeing a trend toward supplements with pets, so similar to humans. People are out there looking for things that are going to support their dog. We’re also looking at a growth in functional diet. So, when you look at supplements and functional, people are looking for things, for digestibility, skin and coat, immune health, gut health, all of these trends that you start to see within the health-food trends on the human side are coming to fruition.

And it’s a category that’s certainly growing and building. We’re also seeing a trend toward people wanting to see raw and gently cooked products, so certainly moving away from processed and moving into products that are more biologically appropriate for the cat or dog.

Has the ‘Buy Canadian’ movement affected how you market in terms of messaging and the frequency of messaging?

Well, certainly, being a Canadian owned and operated business has given us a bit of a strategic advantage.

We have franchise stores located all across Canada, so we live in these communities, and our franchisees are local entrepreneurs, and they quickly adapt to the market. So it gives us an agility that perhaps, you know, big box stores don’t have. We have focused on finding and sourcing Canadian products since the very beginning of Global Pet Foods and, I think, for us, we have a really large selection in our stores that we can offer Canadians.

And now, with this movement toward sourcing Canadian products and finding products that support local Canadian farmers, manufacturers and businesses, it’s a space that we’ve been in for many, many years. It’s part of our DNA. It’s who we are, and we feel really comfortable in that space. So I think, for us, there’s an authentic ability to be able to say we’ve been recommending these products and working on these products for many, many years and it’s something we feel really comfortable about in our stores from a product perspective. But also, when you look at it from a marketing perspective, we’re just in the middle of our “Pawsitively Canadian” campaign and it’s just a reflection of who we are.

We’re 100% Canadian, owned and operated and we’re happy to be celebrating the tenets of our business, whether it be community, health, trust, Canadian roots, and really get that out to customers that may not be aware of who Global Pet Foods is. And we find that it’s resonating with people, which is exciting.

How have you evolved the in-store experience?

For us, the business is inherently focused on our franchise operations. We’re nimble, and we’re able to respond really quickly to what’s happening in the market. We have really educated and passionate owners at store level that are working with their customers every single day, and they have the ability to personalize that experience for customers.

And so, I think what’s what’s interesting is that, in this business, for us, pet care is is highly personalized. What one pet needs is not the same as what another pet needs. And so for us being able to have a focus on education and training at store level, so that every time a pet parent comes in from whatever marketing initiatives are happening out of home and come into the stores, they’re able to have those conversations with the customers and really be able to bring our brand ethos to life, be able to help support them in stores.

I think that’s a big part of it. I also think that continuing the work within the marketing team to make sure that we’re driving really relevant content, that we are speaking authentically about our brand and certainly about what the needs of Canadian pet parents are in this current time, whether it be value or whether it be functional diet, that we’re delivering that and it is working in partnership with what’s happening at floor level, and certainly what’s happening with respect to, product and what’s available, what people are looking for. And so I think, synergistically, the company is really focusing on making sure that operations and marketing are working closely together to be able to ensure that in store and what we’re doing at corporate is aligned.