Discover the launch pad to success
 |
Winning an award in the PATS New Product Showcase, sponsored by PBW News, can be the launch pad to huge sales. That’s according to companies whose new products have been recognized at previous exhibitions.
Manufacturers can be confident that successful products have a great chance of becoming bestsellers because a panel of pet retailers decides the awards.
Exhibitors are now being invited to enter their new products into the Showcase at PATS Sandown, taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday,
19th and 20th March, 2013. And they are being encouraged by former award winners.
“Being voted for by the trade is a great honour, so I would encourage exhibitors to enter their new products because it can certainly increase the profile of the items to the trade,” says Marion Stinton, of Mr Johnson’s.
Mr Johnson’s won the Small Animal Product Award at Sandown earlier this year with their Advanced Rabbit Food, and the company have used the success to promote their whole range.
Marion adds: “PATS was the window for the re-launch of the whole
Mr Johnson’s range with new packaging, pack sizes and exciting improved recipes. So winning an award, voted for by retailers, was particularly important to us as it showed the trade’s support for the changes we had made.
“We have proudly used the award details in many of our adverts and in sales literature, and as a result interest in stocking Advanced Rabbit Food and the rest of the Mr Johnson’s range has continued to grow.”
Winning Reptile Product Award with their Pro-rep Live Food Care Kit was a real boost to its launch for Peregrine Livefoods.
“The coverage it got in the trade press was a real bonus, helping sales and interest grow rapidly, says Sally Goldthorpe, of Peregrine Livefoods.
“The award is a great mark of success, and we use it in all our external marketing. We also make reference to it when liaising with suppliers, as it has a great reputation within the industry.”
Spike’s World won the Bird Product Award at Sandown with their Feathers and Beaky Agility Kit, and have promoted the success as much as possible through their website, brochures and anecdotally.
“Although sales of this product are not huge it has given the range even more credibility and PR,” says David Tracey, of Spike’s World.
“The key criteria is having something new and ideally truly unique, like our Veg holder which won the award at Harrogate, and then making the most of the opportunity.”
The Animology brand is sold in more than 30 countries and parent company Group55 have used the award-winning angle in all of their global marketing, particularly those successes achieved in the UK. That includes the Grooming Product Award picked up by the Animology Pro Grooming Scissors at Sandown.
Stephen Turner, of Group55, says: “I’m sure the added credibility the award bestowed upon the products was invaluable and a key part to the success we have subsequently enjoyed since the show.
“Enter the New Products competition if you have new stuff to shout about! The only way to win is to enter and I know that often entering trade show competitions gets overlooked by companies.”
The New Product Showcase is also a great opportunity for visiting retailers to see and touch the new products they will be stocking for the coming season. In previous years more than 200 new items have been entered into the Showcase so it is the best place to view potential bestsellers.
More details of the New Product Showcase can be found on the PATS website at www.patshow.co.uk. Companies wishing to exhibit should call Annie Dyke on +44 (0) 1892 862848.
Picture caption: Marion Stinton (centre), of Mr Johnson’s, receives the Small Animal Award from PBW News editor Karen Pickwick and PATS organiser Gordon Thomas at Sandown in March.
|
|
