Marketing Nestle

Nestlé Purina Pet Care Company (NPPC) has been in existence for 115 years. Nestle’ is a pioneer in pet food and the North American market leader and has consistently demonstrated solid financial results. In 2010 Nestle’ Purina Pet Care Co. or (NPPC) were the proud recipients of the Malcolm Bridge Award.

Companies who are honored with this award are achievers of pure performance excellence. The president of the United States presents the Malcolm Bridge award to companies who have demonstrated quality management and therefore they are recognized in an effort raise the awareness of excellence within our business world (ASQ.org, 2013).

What marketing elements did NPPC utilize as possible contributors to receiving such an honor? The product mix of this company is diverse and includes a product line consisting of items for both cats and dogs. The width of the product mix includes; dry dog food, wet dog food, dog treats, dog litter, dog training pads, dry cat food, wet cat food, cat treats and kitty litter (purina.com, 2013).

The second part to the product mix is the depth. According to Lamb, Hair and McDaniel, “the product line depth is the number of product items in a product line” (2012, pg. 159). NPPC offers eleven products in the cat product line and thirteen products in the dog line. Together these make a good product mix.

NCCP also has some major elements in their brand name, some of which are very familiar for those who have pets. The brand names include those such as Purina Alpo, Purina One, Purina Dog Chow, Friskies, Tidy Cats and Fancy Feast to name a few. The major elements of this brand would be the push for healthy pet food which in turn makes a healthy pet, all the while offering nutrition and making both the owner and the pet happy.

In order to create a happy customer there are service characteristics that must be met. NPPC offers several. To mention a few let’s begin with the some of the most important service characteristics. One critical intangible
service would include NPPC’s quality. They provide large volumes of their products with a proven track record of consistently high quality and very limited defects or issues. NCCP also creates customer loyalty, healthier pets and longevity by providing a quality product (baldridge.nist.gov, 2010).

Along with quality NCCP offers excellent customer service and provides dedicated service teams to insure this service is maintained. Ethics would be another intangible service possessed and research is done to ensure cat and dogs are always treated humane. NCCP participates in a formal ethics program and stays involved in the community. They are also listed as a best place to work (baldridge.nist.gov, 2010).

Finally, the dedication to service quality is proven by five different components. The first of which is reliability. NPPC is labeled a most trusted pet care company and strive to earn to more every day by being reliable (baldridge.nist.gov, 2010). Responsiveness and providing prompt service is measured continually and new innovation and new product development has helped continuous improvement in this area (baldridge.nist.gov, 2010).

Assurance has been achieved by proving that NPPC cares about the costumers and their pets. The ethical research done to ensure the nutritional values of each and every product speaks volumes (baldridge.nist.gov, 2010).

Empathy is very high on the list of ser quality objectives. This is proven by the massive research, surveys and studies done to make sure each customer has a voice and each pet gets the personal attention they need to have a long and prosperous life. The knowledge of the customers, pets and retailers is unparalleled (baldridge.nist.gov, 2010).

Last but not least are the tangibles. The manufacturing and distribution of NPPC products are an example of a tangible service that is performed with excellence and technology of equipment and supplies are updated consistently and held at very high standards. The customer service reps are also held to standards and treat each retailer, customer and pet with the very highest regards at all times. It is very apparent looking at the track record of NPPC, why they received the Malcolm Baldrige Award. Every element of the company is held to the highest standards possible and the care and attention provided to their customers is phenomenal. Many companies could learn some valuable lessons by looking at the achievers of this highly honored award.