Promotional Paper

Product: Purina Puppy Chow

Television: commercial add on NBC during Olympics

Print: Advertising in Dog Fancy Magazines

Internet: Full website of products

Direct mail: Coupons mailed directly to new puppy owners that are registered through AKC.

Publicity: Breeder and Vet recommendation

Purina Puppy Chow was first recommended to me by the breeder of my first Golden Retriever who insisted that I only feed my new puppy Purina Puppy Chow. The logic of the breeder was that Purina has been around for many years and there was much research and development put in to the product so it can be trusted as a good source of nutrition for this new addition to our family. With this recommendation, came a 30 minute instructional video from the makers of Purina Puppy Chow. This video explained why we should feed our new puppy Purina Puppy Chow as well as other little helpful hints like kenneling our puppy, safe chew toys and some very basic obedience.

While I was excited about learning all of these helpful hints I kept wondering, out of all of the puppy chows available on the market today, why should I choose Purina Puppy Chow. So I decided to do a little research of my own starting with my vet.

When I brought my puppy in to the vet the day we received her for a health check and new parenting guidance, the first item on my vet's agenda was nutrition. Keep in mind that the breeder and the vet lived 300 miles apart from one another and did not know each other. The very first thing my vet recommended on nutrition was to feed my puppy Purina Puppy Chow. I thought, ok, this is the second person today who recommend this brand of puppy chow, so now it's kind of stuck in my brain - first my breeder, now my vet. I was convinced. It has to be good for my puppy so I'll feed her Purina Puppy Chow! And that's what I did for the first 12 months of her life.

The first place I saw a Purina Puppy Chow message was on television. I never paid any attention to the Purina ads before, since I never used the product, though I thought the puppies on the commercial were adorable. That was more than 4 years and two dogs later - since I have now added another Golden Retriever Puppy to our canine family who incidentally, eats Purina Puppy Chow for Large Breeds, which I will get in to later.

I also noticed that Purina is a very large advertiser in a magazine I subscribed to before I even purchased my first Golden, Dog Fancy. Once again, I have to admit that I never paid much attention to the product, just the dog in the advertisement who incidentally is a Golden Retriever.

About 2 weeks after I received my first puppy, I started to receive coupons for Purina products in the mail. These products were tailored to me and the fact that I had a new puppy. How did they know that? I never registered for anything with Purina. I found out that my breeder put me on Purina's mailing list detailing the breed I had purchased and the fact that the parents of my puppy were raised on Purina and were legally registered with the American Kennel Club (AKC). I must admit, the coupons did not entice me to purchase their puppy chow. It was solely based on the word of two professionals in the pet industry that I completely trusted and still trust to this day.

Shortly after the coupons started coming in the mail, I noticed that I started to receive e-mails from Purina with a link to their web site. I decided that I liked the product, but