This time, the practical project of our 5th semester Brand Management dealt with the brand Pedigree. The task: to develop measures that strengthen the core of the brand.
Under the direction of Prof. Dr. Christian Duncker and with the friendly support of the Pedigree Brand Manager (and BA-Alumnus) Keith Wischermann, the students gladly took on this task. They started with a comprehensive market analysis: What are the latest consumer and market insights in the field of dog keeping and nutrition? What can we do to make life better for consumers through innovative services? Who are the most important competitors? And how are they positioned? What can we do to set the Pedigree brand even better apart from the competition in the future?
As a result, the student teams developed a series of innovative products that are intended to emphasize the premium character of the brand even more. In addition, innovative services and platforms have been developed with which consumers can be accompanied by pedigree in many questions relating to dog keeping and care. Last but not least, the teams also developed communication measures to make the brand’s innovative range of services known to customers.
After 7 weeks of highly concentrated testing, planning, developing and designing, the time had finally come: The developed measures were presented at MARS GmbH in Verden. Among others, Marketing Director Mars Petcare Germany, Jochen Horstmann, Category Strategy Manager Kristina Heitzhausen as well as Keith Wischermann and Anna Hermes, both responsible for the Pedigree brand, were present.
After the final presentation, Marketing Director Jochen Horstmann suddenly jumped up and shouted “That was amazing!” He expressly praised the equally comprehensive and serious derivation of the concepts and, above all, their high practical suitability: “The quality of the concepts and the presentation as a whole definitely had the level of established consulting agencies!
Category Strategy Manager Kristina Heitzhausen also praised the holistic approach, i.e. not only developing new products, but also examining which existing products a company should sell. The students’ suggestions were accepted by the pedigree decision-makers and will be analysed further within the company in the coming months.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those involved in Pedigree and Mars for the successful practical project and the support they provided – and of course we also congratulate our students on their good work!