These dogs are heartbroken because their owners did not take them to Milo Kitchen’s doggie food truck.

There are so many lessons in the innovative Milo’s Kitchen®  “food truck for dogs” campaign, let me count the ways. (Yes, you read my words correctly: a food truck, like the outdoor food trucks that populate downtown streets at lunch and public events, serving dogs rather than people.) Milo’s Kitchen is a popular brand of dog treats from Big Heart Pet Brands, parent of the even better-known brand Milk-Bone®.

The purpose of the dog food truck is to “connect with pet parents and bring the nation’s ‘gour-mutts’ their first authentic food truck experience, including free home-style dog treats, a ‘doggie selfie’ photo booth, and a backyard-style lapdog lounge,” according to the PR release.

I hope you laughed. I did and I am not even a pet person. Milo’s Kitchen on the other hand is probably uncorking the bottles to celebrate. The 200,000+ treat truck visitors in 15 cities generated a dramatic increase in brand awareness and affinity and more than 450 local, national and global national media spots, including an NBC Nightly News news clip, according to Ann Murray of PR Hacker who is a publicist for Milo’s Kitchen.

What are the strategy lessons to learn?

Know your customer. Most pet owners go gaga over their pets. The US pet industry is $58.5 billion, up from $44.3 billion in 2008. There are high-end pet burial services, spas, and now resorts to house dogs in style when owners travel. My home-town (San Diego) Humane Society and Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a $17 M and growing non-profit. It received close to $10 M in gifts, bequests and planned gifts in 2013, making it one of the county’s largest non-profits. “Sadly, it’s easier to raise money for animals than for hospitals,” a wealthy philanthropist once told me. Knowing this about pets, why not allow customers’ beloved dogs to experience food trucks, which (human) foodies have grown to love as a recent NYT article discusses.

Engage in activities that reinforce your brand promise. Milo’s Kitchen and its sister brand are based on the premise that dogs deserve the same quality food experience that humans enjoy.  Happier and healthier dogs are the result. A local doggie food truck is a great line extension that reinforces the Milo Kitchen brand’s value promise.

Meet your customers in action. The food truck lets Milo’s Kitchen employees meet pets and their owners in a fun setting. Retailers with “concept stores,” like Duluth Trading do the same. No matter how powerful digital marketing becomes, face-to-face encounters with customers engaged with your product will remain a powerful market research tool.

Experiential marketing is where marketing is headed.  “As we live more of our life on-line, we yearn for and invest more time in off-line experiences,” according to Lauren Christianson, an account and project manager with Cunning®, an experiential marketing agency in NYC. (Disclosure: I am related to Lauren.)  Experiential marketing is not promotional marketing, where inexpensive logo-bearing items are handed out as a brand reminder. Experiential marketing creates live events that let you truly experience the brand and learn its story, building brand fans.

Promotional marketing is when Cricket Wireless hands out key chains with its name at a music event. Experiential marketing is what Cunning creates at the same event for its client Ketel One® Vodka. Cunning builds a modern interpretation of a windmill as the facade to the venue, representing the De Nolet windmill (the tallest of its kind) and copper-pot stills (a brand distinction) at Ketel One’s distillery in Holland. Inside the building, visitors learn the story of a brand inspired by over 300 years of craftsmanship and born from 10 generations of family distilling expertise. Talented mixologists at a cocktail station create custom vodka drinks with fresh ingredients. A tasting table for educational sessions allows visitors to compare Ketel One’s taste to other popular vodkas. A generations gallery of the family behind Ketel One tells the brand’s story while live music performances that appeal to the brand’s target audience draw crowds.

Get the difference? Experiential marketing creates true fans and drives social media and news, so vital in today’s cluttered marketplace. Promotional marketing creates “stuff” that is often thrown away. Dog food trucks and Ketel One Vodka’s festival experience are both stellar examples of marketing strategy at its best.

How can you embrace these lessons with your brand?

© Plantes Company, 2014