Merrick launches new ad campaign for Purrfect Bistro super-premium cat food brand

Merrick Pet Care has launched a new ad campaign for its Purrfect Bistro brand of super-premium cat food. Purrfect Bistro is a line of 21 products, available in cans and bags, which replaces Merrick’s Before Grain brand. The new ad campaign includes online and print ads, as well as marketing through social media such as blogs, Facebook, Klout and Twitter.

Merrick Pet Care has launched a new ad campaign for its Purrfect Bistro brand of super-premium cat food. Purrfect Bistro is a line of 21 products, available in cans and bags, which replaces Merrick's Before Grain brand.

The new ad campaign includes online and print ads, as well as marketing through social media such as blogs, Facebook, Klout and Twitter.

The ads feature a cat food critic that is an Exotic Shorthair named W. (Mittens) Bloomfield. The campaign is centered on a website designed like a food blog, where the critical cat reviews his favorite meals.

The marketing campaign is aimed to appeal to the "passionate pet parent," says Pete Brace, vice president for communications and pet parent relations at Merrick.

The campaign is being created by Carmichael Lynch Spong in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, part of the Carmichael Lynch division of the Interpublic Group of Companies. According to a report, the campaign has a budget estimated at nearly US$100,000, which is substantially more than the US$6,000 it spent on advertising in major media in 2012, US$2,000 spent in 2011 and US$7,000 spent in 2010, the report notes.

The campaign's humor reflects how "Purrfect Bistro is intended to be a lot more fun and whimsical, and perhaps female in spirit, than the Merrick dog line," says Emily Buchanan, senior principal and chairwoman of brand marketing and social engagement at Carmichael Lynch Spong.

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