As Jinx pet food moved into Target retail locations, the brand used a tactic called guerilla marketing to promote their products. Jinx launched as a direct-to-consumer pet food in January 2020 with the backing of Will Smith, Halsey and other celebrities. Target is Jinx’ first brick-and-mortar retail offering as well as its first entry into the food, drug and mass market sector.
Jinx marketers placed scented dog-sized billboards, called barkboards, in dog parks and similar areas in New York (Madison Square Park, Central Park, Long Island City, etc.) and Los Angeles (Runyon, Silver Lake, Echo Park, etc.).
“The billboards are being treated with a non-toxic, amino-acid based composition that encourages pups to sniff and engage with them,” a Jinx representative told Petfood Industry. “The barkboards were a hit. We saw a lot of direct engagement with dogs over the weekend, as they were intrigued and excited to check out the barkboards, which ultimately led a variety of pet parents to take notice of the campaign. We've gotten very positive feedback in-person and across social from pups and their parents around the initiative.”
Guerilla marketing of pet food
Guerilla marketing involves novel techniques to attract consumer interest to a particular brand, create buzz about a product or boost sales. Examples range from flash mobs to viral videos on YouTube, to trompe l’oiel paintings of coffee mugs atop steaming manhole covers. Often guerilla marketing relies on word-of-mouth and other social means of spreading a message to circumvent consumer fatigue with traditional advertising channels, like television or radio spots.
“This is Jinx’s first major integrated advertising/marketing initiative, combining offline efforts to drive local market visibility and foot traffic to Target stores, with digital, influencer and social to amplify beyond on-the-ground activations,” she said. “It’s also the first time Jinx has paired direct-to-dog marketing with more traditional marketing vehicles targeted to dog parents. Prior to the pandemic, Jinx partnered with Overheard LA to create a meme-style human billboard, which was a successful test in the OOH space and served as inspiration in the planning for this campaign.”
