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W12266 DR. TIM’S PREMIUM ALL NATURAL PET FOOD: GROWTH OPTIONS AND WEB ANALYTICS INSIGHTS Glenna Pendleton wrote this case solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality. This publication may not be transmitted, photocopied, digitized, or otherwise reproduced in any form or by any means without the permission of the copyright holder. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Ivey Business School, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada, N6G 0N1; (t) 519.661.3208; (e) cases@ivey.ca; www.iveycases.com. Copyright © 2012, Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation Version: 2017-01-03 Dr. Tim’s Pet Food Company (Dr. Tim’s) grew from its beginnings in 2004 to selling 900,000 pounds of pet kibble in 2010. In addition, approximately 1.8 million pounds of kibble were sold between January and July of 2011, which represented a 100 per cent rate of growth in kibble sold in the first six months of 2011, as compared to the whole year of 2010.1 Company founder Dr. Tim Hunt was looking for ways to continue to grow his pet food business, despite the fact that many of the local markets were saturated with his company’s existing products. What was the best strategy for expansion — especially since this business venture was located in an isolated geographical area and sales representatives were not able to easily access large populated areas? Hunt was particularly concerned about an issue that his wife had raised: if Dr. Tim’s was to expand the distribution of its high quality formula to large, low-cost stores like Walmart (i.e., stores that did not carry similar exclusive brands like Science Diet) would this hurt the exclusive image of the brand that Dr. Tim’s had worked hard to create? Hunt had four basic options open to him. He could: 1. 2. 3. 4. Expand his current products in current markets (a penetration strategy); Develop new products for current markets (a product development strategy); Expand current products in new markets (a market development strategy); and/or Expand new products in new markets (a diversification strategy). Increasing consumer demand was obviously an aspect of growth; therefore, Hunt wanted to know what potential consumers were looking for. How could he best match an expansion strategy to consumer demand? Web analytics could be used to make better informed decisions on marketing on the Internet, and therefore new analytical tools such as those found in Google Analytics would be very helpful for gaining insight into consumer demand for pet food products in different geographical areas. Hunt knew that his website, drtims.com, and online ordering were going to be crucial aspects of the company’s future growth. 1 Personal written communication with Hunt, July 2011. This document is authorized for use only by Bobby Sidelko (bobby.sidelko@juno.com). Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. Please contact customerservice@harvardbusiness.org or 800-988-0886 for additional copies. Page 2 9B12A048 HISTORY Dr. Tim Hunt graduated from Michigan State University with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree.