Crazy About Cats: Promoting Yeowww! Catnip and Feline Fun
Yeowww! Catnip is known as the best catnip in the pet product world. Every piece is 100 percent organic and handmade by the Hmong community in Minnesota. Always a top seller in boutique retailers across the globe, marketing manager Kris Kaiser and international sales manager Norm Harada share what they do to make sure they're the cat's meow when it comes to promoting their products.
Listen to Episode #3 Now:
BIO:
Norm Harada is the International Sales Manager for Yeowww! Catnip. He lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming but travels the world pitching catnip to global felines.
He is always busy as he enjoys fishing, camping, and cooking. He also has nine children, six grandkids and a lovely wife.
Kris Kaiser works in marketing at Yeowww! Catnip, where she does graphic design, product design, brand management and advertising. She is a well-known award winning cat rescuer who was awarded the AdvoCAT of the Year Award for her work with Snapple, a kitten born with cerebellar hypoplasia which left him severely disabled and needed creative ways to provide him with the stimulation he needed to stay an enriched and happy cat. She focuses on fostering cats with neurological disorders as well as neonatal orphan kittens. She lives in Plymouth, Minnesota and is the content creator of several popular Instagram accounts.
Transcript:
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Announcer: This is Pet Life Radio, let's talk pets.
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Mark Winter: This episode is brought to you by Yeowww! Catnip, the number one catnip brand in the world.
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Mary Tan: Hello, and welcome to the Whisker Report.
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Mary Tan: We're a brand new podcast dedicated to helping anyone in the pet industry, whether you're an animal welfare non-profit or a for-profit pet company.
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Mary Tan: We wanna help you get some PR buzz for your business or non-profit, because here at Whisker Media, we care about animals, and we wanna support the people who help animals.
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Mary Tan: Hello again, everybody, I'm Mary Tan.
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Mary Tan: And joining me from across the pond, all the way from France, is my colleague, Alexane Ricard.
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Alexane Ricard: We're so excited for this show today.
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Alexane Ricard: We actually have some of my favorite people.
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Alexane Ricard: They are the people from Yeowww!
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Alexane Ricard: Catnip Toys.
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Alexane Ricard: So I used to pronounce it Yahoo!
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Alexane Ricard: Which was the French way, but I've been told that it's actually Yau-hoo, like meow, but yow.
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Alexane Ricard: Okay, so I'm trying.
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Alexane Ricard: But first, we'd love to introduce you to our amazing producer, Mark Winter of Pet Life Radio.
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Alexane Ricard: And I think Mark is also a big fan of these toys, aren't you, Mark?
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Mark Winter: Yes, of course.
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Mark Winter: I have a good story to tell about Yeowww!.
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Mark Winter: Back in 2010, we were at Global Pet Expo, and back then, Pet Life Radio, we had our own booth.
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Mark Winter: And Yau was the booth right next to us.
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Mark Winter: And so they were like the first people that we knew at Global Pet Expo, and we never forgot.
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Mark Winter: You're the first.
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Alexane Ricard: That's so sweet.
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Mary Tan: Yeah, well, we are so honored to be part of Mark's Pet Life Radio Network, the largest pet podcast radio network in the world.
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Mary Tan: We are going to take a quick break, and we're gonna be back with our friends at Yau right after this.
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Daryl Michelson: I'm Daryl Michelson, owner of Purniture Cat Furniture.
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Daryl Michelson: Back in 1990, I was in the market for some cat furniture.
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Daryl Michelson: And as looking at the cat furniture available, I realized that most of it is basically overpriced junk.
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Daryl Michelson: The big difference between our furniture and other cat furniture is the fact that we use plywood, and all other cat furniture is made with some sort of a particle board.
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Mark Winter: You can see the Purniture difference online at purniture.com.
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Mark Winter: That's P-U-R-R-N-I-T-U-R-E.
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Alexane Ricard: So we have Kris Kaiser and Norman Harada from Yahoo Catnip Toys.
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Norm Harada: You may know them from their famous catnip toy that looks like a banana.
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Alexane Ricard: I think that's the most famous one, but you've got so many, so I'm sure you must have seen them somewhere.
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Norm Harada: They make amazing product, but they're also a great bunch of people, and we really do love them at the Whisker Report.
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Norm Harada: So maybe we start with Norm.
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Norm Harada: Norm, tell us a bit about yourself.
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Norm Harada: Oh, you ain't got enough time there, kiddo.
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Norm Harada: Well, I'm older than Dirt, so I'm going to be 68 years old this year, but I don't feel older than Dirk.
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Norm Harada: I've been working for Yow for nine years, and as you know, my sister and her husband started this company 27 years ago, and we've been doing the same thing for 27 years.
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Norm Harada: So I think we've got it down a little bit.
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Norm Harada: I live in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and yeah, that's about it.
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Norm Harada: Nine kids, that'll shock everybody.
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Norm Harada: I don't know how it happened, but now I got nine kids.
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Mary Tan: Nine human kids or kitty kids?
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Norm Harada: Humans, Mary.
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Mary Tan: Oh my goodness.
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Norm Harada: Five boys, four girls.
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Mary Tan: Wow.
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Norm Harada: 40 years old to 20 years old.
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Mary Tan: So it sounds like this is a family-owned business and you're part of the family.
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Mary Tan: And so tell us how you got roped into it and what you do at Yow.
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Norm Harada: Well, I did a lot of other things before I worked for Yow.
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Norm Harada: And my sister had mentioned to me several times, you should come and sell catnip toys.
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Norm Harada: And I'm going, who in the world sells catnip toys for a living?
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Norm Harada: It just sounded stupid to me.
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Norm Harada: And so I finally decided, well, I'm ready to kind of slow down a little bit, take it a little more easy, have some fun.
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Norm Harada: And this is the best job I ever had in my life.
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Norm Harada: We sell fun here.
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Norm Harada: It's a great toy.
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Norm Harada: It's one of the number one catnip toys in the world.
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Norm Harada: So I'm the international sales manager now for Yelp.
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Mary Tan: And that's how you met Alex too.
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Norm Harada: Yeah, that's how I met Alex through Kris, kind of.
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Norm Harada: You know, just love her to death.
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Alexane Ricard: And now we're best friends.
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Norm Harada: Yeah, she sells me macaroons and I'm not getting bars.
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Mary Tan: Wow.
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Norm Harada: Yeah, it was pretty amazing.
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Norm Harada: I really, really enjoyed being around her.
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Mary Tan: How about let's have Kris talk about herself.
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Kris Kaiser: Yeah, I joined Yelp more recently in 2018.
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Kris Kaiser: And they were looking for somebody who was really enthusiastic about cats.
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Kris Kaiser: And they found me.
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Kris Kaiser: So when the recruiter had called and said there was a company that makes pet toys, I was like, yeah, yeah, I'm interested.
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Kris Kaiser: Tell me more.
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Kris Kaiser: Because I had in the back of my mind, like, I had to figure out how to get into the pet industry somehow, because it just seemed like it would be a little more fun.
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Kris Kaiser: And I had a fun job, but it was grow triggers, which made me less fun than cat toys.
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Kris Kaiser: So when I heard it was pet toys, I was like, yes, yeah, I'm interested.
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Kris Kaiser: And then he said it was yow catnip.
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Kris Kaiser: Have you ever heard of them?
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Kris Kaiser: I think I was, like, screaming with enthusiasm, because of course, you know, we had yow toys all over my house, and I could imagine how I was going to make my cat's dreams come true if I could land this job.
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Kris Kaiser: So yow, I came in with some enthusiasm and have been in the marketing department since 2018.
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Norm Harada: Yeah, huge asset to the company, Kris is.
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Kris Kaiser: The token cat person.
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Kris Kaiser: There's a few of us, but I'm all in.
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Norm Harada: Yeah, she's the crazy cat lady, but you know, that's all right.
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Norm Harada: I'd rather have one.
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Alexane Ricard: How many furry kids do you have, Kris?
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Kris Kaiser: I have three, Rosie, Daisy and Calvin.
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Alexane Ricard: I love them.
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Kris Kaiser: They definitely are very happy with the amount of cat toys they get at home.
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Alexane Ricard: Are they the testers?
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Alexane Ricard: Like, do you bring them?
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Alexane Ricard: Are they the first?
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Kris Kaiser: Yeah, they're the first.
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Kris Kaiser: So try any new yow toy or catnip product that we come up with.
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Kris Kaiser: And one of the more recent toys I even named after one of my cats, the Daisy's Flower Tops.
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Norm Harada: That's so sweet.
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Kris Kaiser: Yes, it is fun.
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Alexane Ricard: I actually have a question, so I hope you guys can answer that question.
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Alexane Ricard: What happened for people to realize that catnip had that effect on cats?
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Alexane Ricard: Who realized and what did they do to realize that catnip had that effect on cats?
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Kris Kaiser: Nermy, you want to go ahead and make something up?
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Kris Kaiser: I don't know who the first one was either.
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Norm Harada: That's like kind of like it asked me who made the first chicken egg and thought it was good.
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Mary Tan: We'll have you on again, and in between now and then you can do some research.
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Kris Kaiser: Okay, we'll do that.
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Kris Kaiser: I'm sure it was just like, because like the plant is very hardy and grows in the wild, but people just saw the cats kind of gravitating towards this minty fun plant.
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Kris Kaiser: And I don't know where the idea to dry it came, but I'm assuming it along with human herbs because catnip is also used for tea for people because it has a calming effect.
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Mary Tan: Oh, I did not know that.
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Kris Kaiser: Yeah.
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Alexane Ricard: It has the opposite effect on human.
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Alexane Ricard: It calms them whereas it makes cats go crazy.
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Kris Kaiser: So that's actually an interesting fact too, because when cats smell it through their nose, it does have that excitable effect.
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Kris Kaiser: But when they eat it, they do tend to get the more relaxed effect.
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Norm Harada: So, yeah.
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Alexane Ricard: I didn't know that.
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Alexane Ricard: So you could use it if cat are anxious or something, you could actually give it to them to eat it.
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Kris Kaiser: I've taken, so I know Mary through Cat Rescue.
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Kris Kaiser: We volunteered on the opening committee at the same rescue.
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Kris Kaiser: So I knew her before I started at YOW.
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Kris Kaiser: And one of the things I did at that rescue was take adoption photos.
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Kris Kaiser: And so when you have a cat, some cats haven't had that much socialization and then you stick them in front of lights and a camera and they just freeze and they don't want to participate in the photo shoot.
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Kris Kaiser: So often I would give them a YOW toy and they would at first like ignore it, but then they kind of like start sniffing it.
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Kris Kaiser: And then all of a sudden you have a total ham on set and you could take really fun photos.
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Kris Kaiser: Yeah, it does definitely relax them, even though they get a little excited about it too.
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Kris Kaiser: There are mean drunks though.
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Kris Kaiser: We've all seen those, right?
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Kris Kaiser: You get to be a little bit of a bully when you're on a catnip.
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Mary Tan: Yes, exactly.
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Kris Kaiser: One at every party.
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Mary Tan: And Kris is also a very talented photographer and a very, very influential influencer with an amazing page called Tippy Tuxies, where you promote CH cats, right?
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Mary Tan: And that's cerebral hyperplasia.
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Kris Kaiser: Therabellar hyperplasia.
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Kris Kaiser: So it affects the balancing coordination and we just like to show the cats with disabilities, they don't really look at themselves as disabled, they just go about their life and do the same things normal cats do, they just move a little differently.
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Mary Tan: Yeah.
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Mary Tan: And so how often do you use your Instagram page with the marketing and PR of YOW?
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Kris Kaiser: I think it's probably fairly organic.
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Kris Kaiser: I mean, if we come out with a new toy, my cats might talk about that, but otherwise it's just like, we just show their daily life and toys and play are probably the more fun parts to show.
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Alexane Ricard: Do you think you might be influencing other, so we call them wobbly cats, right?
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Alexane Ricard: Because they wobble a bit.
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Alexane Ricard: Do you think you influence, because I know you have a lot of wobbly cats as followers, so do you think you kind of influence the way they would buy YOW catnip toys?
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Alexane Ricard: Because if they see your cat play with it and how the catnip makes them feel as wobbly cats, do you feel like you're kind of influencing them?
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Kris Kaiser: Perhaps, but I think the notoriety of the banana goes well beyond my influence.
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Kris Kaiser: So it's pretty Instagram or social media favorites toy because it incites that fun reaction and the cat's going crazy is funny to show on video.
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Kris Kaiser: So we probably get a lot of natural interactions and influence and yeah, promoter by nature of it being fun.
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Mary Tan: Yeah, Kris, can you talk a little bit about the marketing and PR strategies of YOW and kind of like what has worked for YOW and what hasn't?
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Kris Kaiser: Sometimes it's hard to get the metrics on what hasn't worked.
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Kris Kaiser: We've always just focused on fun.
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Kris Kaiser: Like they haven't really deviated from that side of things.
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Kris Kaiser: So Kevin's has always focused on like the bright colors and a little bit noisier marketing materials than maybe is trendy right now.
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Kris Kaiser: So it's just more playful, kind of cartoon-like, just trying to tell a story with everything we do.
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Kris Kaiser: And it's not always focused on selling, but more on just getting attention and making people laugh, I guess, is kind of his motivation with a lot of the ads.
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Kris Kaiser: And the same with the toys.
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Kris Kaiser: Like we really try to keep things bright and playful and a little bit silly and quirky.
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Kris Kaiser: So we don't have to have bread because like how do you make bread quirky?
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Kris Kaiser: We could talk about that though, because I mean, people request breads.
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Kris Kaiser: If you guys have any ideas to make bread funny and quirky.
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Kris Kaiser: But you know, it's hard to make bread a bright color and still make it look like bread, you know what I mean?
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Kris Kaiser: So I'm looking for things that are naturally bright colored, so like flowers and the banana.
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Kris Kaiser: The banana came about because the cigar was the first toy.
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Kris Kaiser: And you know how your cats like bite it, and then it activates their salivatory glands, and it gets all slobbery and wet?
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Kris Kaiser: And then those cigars are laying on the floor in the night, and somebody stepped on their wet, soggy cigar and was not sure it was a cigar, and thought it might be food.
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Kris Kaiser: And so they had asked early on, like, hey, can we get a toy that's bright colored?
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Kris Kaiser: And so that was like, the banana was born out of that.
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Kris Kaiser: And then after that, it's just always been a focus on, let's keep it bright and fun and playful.
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Mary Tan: I have a question.
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Mary Tan: Since you are a pet product manufacturer, it seems like most of your focus is more on other.
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Mary Tan: It's more business to business versus business to consumer.
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Mary Tan: Am I correct on that?
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Kris Kaiser: Yeah, so we've always supported the smaller independent retailers.
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Kris Kaiser: So that's been the main focus behind the brand, and they've always wanted to sell B2B.
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Kris Kaiser: I'm not sure.
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Kris Kaiser: I don't know if Norm has more history on that, but that's just been the company's decision from the start.
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Norm Harada: Yeah, we tend to support our brick and mortar stores because they're the ones that grew us into the company we are today.
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Norm Harada: We do not sell to big box stores like the Walmarts, the Sound Clubs, Target, things like that.
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Norm Harada: So very supportive of the brick and mortars.
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Mary Tan: Do you think there's more prestige being in a small brick and mortar store as opposed to the Amazons of the world and Chewie's and all of those companies?
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Norm Harada: I don't know about that.
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Norm Harada: But yeah, we are in Chewie and we are on Amazon.
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Mary Tan: But you're not selling.
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Mary Tan: It's another retailer, correct?
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Alexane Ricard: Yeah.
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Mary Tan: Got it.
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Alexane Ricard: Norm, because you're the international sales manager, what about abroad?
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Alexane Ricard: Do you try also to sell in brick and mortar stores abroad or are you aiming for bigger stores there because you're just, I think, how big are you internationally?
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Norm Harada: Well, we do a pretty good business over across the pond.
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Norm Harada: You know, we're all over the UK.
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Norm Harada: You know, we're all over Europe.
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Norm Harada: We're all over, you know, Germany, and trying to get into finance now because new.
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Norm Harada: We did a few locations in France, like about 25 or so different stores in France right now.
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Norm Harada: But your guy was saying there was a lot more.
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Norm Harada: We let our distributors decide what they want to do.
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Norm Harada: We try to have them not do too much online business, like the Amazons and things like that.
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Norm Harada: And we watch their territories very closely.
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Norm Harada: So they aren't buying somewhere in the UK, and all of a sudden they're selling it in China, on China's Amazon, that kind of thing.
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Norm Harada: So we try to keep everybody's territories separate and there's not a lot of open.
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Mary Tan: Quick question.
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Mary Tan: To people who don't understand the distribution process, can you talk a little bit about that?
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Mary Tan: How does that work?
00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:32.460
Mary Tan: So you hire a distributor and they do the selling for you.
00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:36.300
Mary Tan: Do they also do their VR and marketing for YOW then?
00:14:36.600 --> 00:14:38.260
Norm Harada: Well, we don't hire a distributor.
00:14:38.400 --> 00:14:44.140
Norm Harada: We sell to them and then they resell it to their wholesalers or their brick and mortar stores or whatever.
00:14:44.280 --> 00:14:48.360
Norm Harada: And we do participate a little bit in some of their marketing, but not a whole lot.
00:14:48.600 --> 00:15:01.280
Norm Harada: That's kind of one of the reasons why they took some of the US stuff away from me and said, concentrate on international so we can get into some of those promotions and make Kris work harder doing marketing.
00:15:01.600 --> 00:15:03.060
Mary Tan: Make her work harder.
00:15:04.440 --> 00:15:05.500
Norm Harada: She's such a slacker.
00:15:09.160 --> 00:15:10.060
Alexane Ricard: I have a question.
00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:12.060
Alexane Ricard: So I know you guys focus more on B2B.
00:15:12.080 --> 00:15:12.920
Alexane Ricard: That's what we were saying.
00:15:12.940 --> 00:15:21.020
Alexane Ricard: But I also know it's very important for you to still go to American shows and some international shows where you actually see your customers.
00:15:21.400 --> 00:15:24.820
Alexane Ricard: So I mean, I met you guys last year at KatKon.
00:15:24.840 --> 00:15:30.600
Alexane Ricard: So I just like to know a bit about why are you guys attending KatKon?
00:15:30.820 --> 00:15:32.700
Alexane Ricard: What is the goal behind it?
00:15:32.760 --> 00:15:33.780
Alexane Ricard: Is it brand awareness?
00:15:34.260 --> 00:15:40.940
Alexane Ricard: Is it just to show how fun you are with all your little funny shirts with all the palm trees and everything on it?
00:15:41.540 --> 00:15:48.560
Kris Kaiser: Yeah, so the main goal was to get in front of consumers and hear what they had to say and also raise that brand awareness.
00:15:48.760 --> 00:15:58.100
Kris Kaiser: The really interesting part, like our first KatKon, it's probably a good mix of people who are already really familiar and just excited to see us there, and people who are like, what is that?
00:15:58.120 --> 00:16:03.320
Kris Kaiser: They can smell the booth outside of the booth, so they can see us because we're bright yellow.
00:16:03.720 --> 00:16:08.580
Kris Kaiser: And so they'll come in and there will be somebody in there already raving about how it's their cat's favorite toy.
00:16:08.600 --> 00:16:09.880
Kris Kaiser: They'll go, oh.
00:16:10.020 --> 00:16:19.000
Kris Kaiser: So sometimes the customers do a better job of selling than we do because they're sitting there telling them that their cats are going crazy for these toys.
00:16:19.640 --> 00:16:32.900
Kris Kaiser: So it's very entertaining for us to find the clickbait in those shows because, yeah, you see, it's fun to introduce it to people who haven't tried it, and then they'll come back and tell you, oh, my God, I brought it home last night and my cats had the best time.
00:16:32.920 --> 00:16:37.820
Kris Kaiser: And then, you know, hearing from all these people who have been buying meow for years and years.
00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:40.040
Kris Kaiser: So it's a great way to get in front of them.
00:16:40.360 --> 00:16:41.280
Alexane Ricard: No, that's amazing.
00:16:41.300 --> 00:16:42.880
Alexane Ricard: So I know you guys do CatCon.
00:16:42.900 --> 00:16:45.500
Alexane Ricard: You also do Si Meow, which is for customers.
00:16:45.520 --> 00:16:47.840
Kris Kaiser: Yeah, we're going to do that one this time for the first time.
00:16:47.860 --> 00:16:49.260
Alexane Ricard: Oh, that's exciting.
00:16:49.280 --> 00:16:51.460
Alexane Ricard: And I think, do you do any in Canada?
00:16:51.480 --> 00:16:53.340
Alexane Ricard: Because I know you're quite big in Canada as well.
00:16:53.620 --> 00:16:59.520
Kris Kaiser: We've kind of had the MeowFest on our radar as a consumer show, but I think they're taking a pause this year.
00:16:59.540 --> 00:17:05.840
Norm Harada: I do a lot of distributor shows up in Canada, and I don't know what you're calling them.
00:17:05.860 --> 00:17:11.720
Norm Harada: They're kind of like the super zoos of Canada, the iJack and the Connect Pets Canada shows.
00:17:11.740 --> 00:17:12.960
Norm Harada: I do some of those as well.
00:17:13.140 --> 00:17:14.420
Mary Tan: You're on the road a lot.
00:17:15.860 --> 00:17:20.140
Norm Harada: I told Dan the other day, I said I've given up seven weekends so far this year.
00:17:20.320 --> 00:17:24.000
Alexane Ricard: You've also done the one in Germany a couple weeks ago.
00:17:24.020 --> 00:17:26.140
Alexane Ricard: That's where we saw each other, in Jizhou.
00:17:26.180 --> 00:17:29.420
Alexane Ricard: I think it's the world's largest pet trade show, right, Mary?
00:17:29.420 --> 00:17:30.800
Alexane Ricard: Yeah, it's the biggest one.
00:17:31.080 --> 00:17:34.780
Norm Harada: Yeah, there's 32,000 visitors, something like that.
00:17:35.980 --> 00:17:40.120
Mary Tan: I thought the American shows were big, but I think this one's even bigger.
00:17:40.800 --> 00:17:45.120
Mary Tan: Question, do you do any marketing or PR internationally?
00:17:45.560 --> 00:17:46.480
Mary Tan: How would you do it?
00:17:46.600 --> 00:17:50.480
Norm Harada: We pretty much let the distributors do that.
00:17:50.840 --> 00:17:53.380
Norm Harada: Kris is really good at keeping them in line.
00:17:54.060 --> 00:17:58.920
Norm Harada: I would say that we are YOW Italy, that type of thing.
00:17:58.940 --> 00:18:06.680
Norm Harada: They could represent YOW, but some of them try to get away with, we are YOW here in this country, and that just doesn't fly.
00:18:07.240 --> 00:18:10.380
Norm Harada: Kris has a good handle on that, and she beats them up pretty good.
00:18:12.540 --> 00:18:17.260
Kris Kaiser: Yeah, social media has, I think, probably been the biggest way we've raised awareness.
00:18:17.400 --> 00:18:22.600
Kris Kaiser: Again, that just happens naturally, and there's cats all over the world that want to get their paws on YOW.
00:18:22.620 --> 00:18:28.320
Alexane Ricard: Do you find your distributors doing something very different from the way you advertise it in America?
00:18:28.560 --> 00:18:33.400
Alexane Ricard: Because I know consumers, it's a bit different, coming from countries, different countries.
00:18:33.640 --> 00:18:34.580
Alexane Ricard: Do you find it different?
00:18:34.600 --> 00:18:36.120
Alexane Ricard: Do they do anything different from you?
00:18:36.560 --> 00:18:40.380
Kris Kaiser: Usually, they're trying to mimic a little bit of the playfulness and brightness.
00:18:40.740 --> 00:18:45.460
Kris Kaiser: Yeah, I've been taking a deep dive to see how they're representing cat toys and things.
00:18:45.460 --> 00:18:50.500
Kris Kaiser: It seems like cat toys are a little bit underrepresented, though, in other parts of the world.
00:18:50.700 --> 00:18:51.640
Alexane Ricard: Oh, definitely.
00:18:51.660 --> 00:18:59.140
Alexane Ricard: I was telling Mary the other day, I was just trying to find, you know, those strings on a little stick, just a cat toy, a normal cat toy.
00:18:59.380 --> 00:19:08.460
Alexane Ricard: I couldn't find any in my town in France, so I had to order it on Amazon because I couldn't find any in all those small stores, which is such a simple toy, and they didn't have it.
00:19:08.620 --> 00:19:14.220
Kris Kaiser: And do you think there's less cat parents in France, or why do you think there is less?
00:19:15.500 --> 00:19:19.560
Alexane Ricard: So we've seen that America is huge in the pet market.
00:19:19.580 --> 00:19:23.220
Alexane Ricard: You guys are like 10 years ahead of us on that size of things.
00:19:23.640 --> 00:19:25.340
Alexane Ricard: In Europe, we're so behind.
00:19:25.600 --> 00:19:30.160
Alexane Ricard: People are still not really willing to spend that amount of money on their pets, and they still...
00:19:30.180 --> 00:19:38.240
Alexane Ricard: I mean, my generation, so Gen Z, is more about considering their pet as like part of the family, but the generation before was less about that.
00:19:38.260 --> 00:19:41.540
Alexane Ricard: So it was more you had a cat, but, you know, the cat was just going in and outside.
00:19:42.140 --> 00:19:44.760
Alexane Ricard: Like, sometimes it would come in for dinner, but sometimes not.
00:19:44.760 --> 00:19:50.580
Alexane Ricard: So it was not as big as what we're making it now, where like, you know, my cat is my whole life.
00:19:50.600 --> 00:19:51.800
Alexane Ricard: My cat is my family.
00:19:52.060 --> 00:19:59.080
Alexane Ricard: So I think I hope it's going to change, and I hope the pet market is going to get better in Europe or at least in France for me.
00:20:00.300 --> 00:20:06.420
Mary Tan: We're going to take a quick break because we got to pay for the show as another Pet Life Radio host says.
00:20:06.440 --> 00:20:07.140
Mary Tan: We'll be right back.
00:20:09.380 --> 00:20:14.880
Mary Tan: Hey, everybody, it's Mary again, and now I want to talk about my favorite cat enrichment toy.
00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:17.280
Mary Tan: We are talking Yeowww Catnip.
00:20:17.500 --> 00:20:23.540
Mary Tan: It is catnip organically grown right here in the USA and made in Minnesota.
00:20:23.780 --> 00:20:30.640
Mary Tan: They come fully stuffed with that same organically grown catnip that cats just love.
00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:33.820
Mary Tan: There's no fillers or stuffing used in them.
00:20:34.140 --> 00:20:36.820
Mary Tan: It's just catnip and only catnip.
00:20:37.080 --> 00:20:41.160
Mary Tan: And you know, when it comes to cats, you have to keep safety in mind.
00:20:41.240 --> 00:20:46.880
Mary Tan: And so there's no buttons, beads or pieces that can come off and be accidentally ingested.
00:20:46.900 --> 00:20:50.960
Mary Tan: In fact, I have some pretty strong chewers, and it holds up.
00:20:51.020 --> 00:20:55.400
Mary Tan: And it's because the fabric is made of a durable cotton twill.
00:20:55.600 --> 00:20:58.600
Mary Tan: In fact, my favorite toy is the banana.
00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:03.560
Mary Tan: And there's one that's actually a peeled banana, and then there's one that's just a regular banana.
00:21:03.560 --> 00:21:08.980
Mary Tan: And what makes it so great is they can bunny kick it, and they can do all sorts of things to it.
00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:15.820
Mary Tan: I've seen bananas flying across the floor because my cats are so high on catnip, and they love it.
00:21:15.880 --> 00:21:19.860
Mary Tan: It just provides me so much joy to watch them have so much fun.
00:21:20.180 --> 00:21:26.220
Mary Tan: And, you know, we often hear from people that their cats never responded to catnip until they got Yow.
00:21:26.360 --> 00:21:31.060
Mary Tan: Yow's catnip is hands down one of the best on the market.
00:21:31.080 --> 00:21:35.120
Mary Tan: It's very powerful, and it's so safe for your animals also.
00:21:35.520 --> 00:21:37.920
Mary Tan: So you may be wondering, where do you get it?
00:21:38.060 --> 00:21:46.120
Mary Tan: Well, all of their toys are sold across the globe in independent pet stores, boutiques, clinics and gift shops.
00:21:46.500 --> 00:21:55.260
Mary Tan: They want you to support small stores and different things, so they really work hard to supporting independent pet retailers.
00:21:55.280 --> 00:21:56.600
Mary Tan: It's really amazing.
00:21:56.780 --> 00:22:08.640
Mary Tan: So I encourage you to go out and get yourself some Yeowwww for your cat, and your cat will be thanking you.
00:22:09.960 --> 00:22:10.940
Announcer: On Pet Life Radio.
00:22:23.762 --> 00:22:27.202
Mary Tan: All right, we are back, and let's go back to Kris.
00:22:27.262 --> 00:22:29.962
Mary Tan: Kris, we interrupted you before.
00:22:29.982 --> 00:22:40.522
Mary Tan: You know, we were talking about the international efforts and the humanization of pets, and how Europe is actually a little, Europe and Asia are behind the US when it comes to pet sales.
00:22:41.142 --> 00:22:48.562
Kris Kaiser: Yeah, I was just kind of wondering if you think that's a trend that's changing really rapidly then, that cats are being brought in as family members.
00:22:48.722 --> 00:22:50.562
Alexane Ricard: Yeah, and you know how it's changing?
00:22:50.582 --> 00:22:54.702
Alexane Ricard: Well, it's thanks to you guys, you know, thanks to America, but also because of social media.
00:22:54.982 --> 00:23:02.702
Alexane Ricard: So we see Americans, like Instagram account, like yours, you know, we see you, how you treat your cat, what kind of toys you give them.
00:23:02.722 --> 00:23:05.002
Alexane Ricard: And that's how we want them in Europe.
00:23:05.022 --> 00:23:12.242
Alexane Ricard: And that's how, for example, you are exporting now to Europe because we're seeing those toys and we're like, wow, they seem incredible, but we can't find them here.
00:23:12.262 --> 00:23:18.982
Alexane Ricard: So I feel like there's more demand for these toys thanks to mostly social media because of TikTok and Instagram.
00:23:19.282 --> 00:23:25.842
Alexane Ricard: As European, we can now see what you guys have access to and we're like, well, why don't we have access to that?
00:23:26.202 --> 00:23:27.262
Kris Kaiser: Right, yeah.
00:23:27.422 --> 00:23:32.262
Kris Kaiser: That's where I think a lot of it comes from too, is the people see it on social media and they want to try, yeah.
00:23:32.402 --> 00:23:35.182
Mary Tan: So we really want to focus on some tips too.
00:23:35.202 --> 00:23:42.402
Mary Tan: So Kris, can you talk a little bit, tippytoxies is an Instagram account that is rescue based.
00:23:42.982 --> 00:23:50.562
Mary Tan: And especially for our animal welfare listeners out there, can you give us some tips and tricks on social media content?
00:23:50.962 --> 00:23:57.522
Kris Kaiser: Oh, so for me, I guess I just always kept it very natural organic in like our daily lives.
00:23:57.742 --> 00:24:05.262
Kris Kaiser: But then, you know, a few years ago, following some of the trends really did help boost what was happening on social media.
00:24:05.282 --> 00:24:15.022
Kris Kaiser: So if you'd see like a certain trendy style of video, maybe you would, even if it was like a people dancing, like you can kind of turn that into something funny with your cats.
00:24:15.242 --> 00:24:18.802
Kris Kaiser: So that a couple of years ago, that was really a way that you could grow your audience.
00:24:19.162 --> 00:24:20.902
Kris Kaiser: But things change like day to day.
00:24:21.142 --> 00:24:30.722
Kris Kaiser: So for me, I think just keeping it authentic to who we were was our main tactic, but then maybe would mix in some of the playful, funny, trendy stuff.
00:24:30.822 --> 00:24:36.742
Kris Kaiser: But I wouldn't say we're like the tippy tuxes are all about just following the trendy sounds and things.
00:24:36.762 --> 00:24:41.822
Kris Kaiser: So a little bit of mixing in, and then I always pay attention to what's doing well too.
00:24:41.842 --> 00:24:44.202
Kris Kaiser: So people tend to react to certain type of content.
00:24:44.222 --> 00:24:51.402
Kris Kaiser: So you see a lot of people who are really popular, if you look at their feed, they're like posting the same, almost the same exact type of video.
00:24:51.762 --> 00:24:56.122
Kris Kaiser: So they really watch what people are interacting with, particular to them.
00:24:56.422 --> 00:25:05.662
Kris Kaiser: So like for myself, Daisy walking is one, and she walks very slow and purposeful, because if she tries to hurry, she falls over.
00:25:05.762 --> 00:25:09.742
Kris Kaiser: It's just part of being a CH cat, and some are more affected than others.
00:25:09.762 --> 00:25:12.062
Kris Kaiser: And for Daisy, she really has to slow down and think.
00:25:12.082 --> 00:25:20.722
Kris Kaiser: And that video style always performs because people either are encouraging horror or don't understand and are asking questions.
00:25:21.082 --> 00:25:27.502
Kris Kaiser: So I guess that's always the best tactic, is kind of like your own account isn't going to perform exactly like somebody else's.
00:25:27.522 --> 00:25:37.022
Kris Kaiser: So paying attention to what's performing well on yours and doing more of that, and then mixing in other stuff to constantly test to see what people want to see.
00:25:37.462 --> 00:25:43.022
Alexane Ricard: When you started that Instagram account, tptaxis, did you ever think he would get that big?
00:25:43.042 --> 00:25:44.822
Alexane Ricard: I mean, how many followers do you have now?
00:25:44.822 --> 00:25:47.102
Alexane Ricard: Like, maybe 80,000, if I'm right?
00:25:47.122 --> 00:25:51.662
Kris Kaiser: Yeah, tptaxis is like 67, but then I have the other account, you have Wobbly Cat that's in the 80s.
00:25:51.982 --> 00:25:52.322
Kris Kaiser: Yeah.
00:25:52.502 --> 00:25:56.562
Kris Kaiser: Yeah, neither Warren did I think, like, sold the tptaxis.
00:25:56.582 --> 00:26:02.922
Kris Kaiser: It was just, I didn't want to post cat pictures on my own profile all the time, and it annoyed people who were maybe not interested in that.
00:26:03.062 --> 00:26:08.222
Kris Kaiser: So I created a account just for friends and people who were interested to keep tabs on them.
00:26:08.482 --> 00:26:12.442
Kris Kaiser: So I don't think, like, initially, it was something I planned to grow that much.
00:26:12.602 --> 00:26:17.602
Kris Kaiser: Like, it was just for fun, and then things did grow, and you could see the impact.
00:26:17.622 --> 00:26:22.322
Kris Kaiser: Like, my first cat con, I was talking to somebody, and they had all these tuxedo cats.
00:26:22.342 --> 00:26:25.322
Kris Kaiser: And so I was asking questions like, oh my gosh, I have three tuxedo cats too.
00:26:25.342 --> 00:26:31.262
Kris Kaiser: She's like, and I showed her my cats, and she goes, I follow you, you're the reason I adopted my first wobbly cat.
00:26:31.562 --> 00:26:33.722
Kris Kaiser: So, and I've heard that from other people.
00:26:33.742 --> 00:26:56.502
Kris Kaiser: So that's been a big motivator, I think, to keep going with it, and something that I think all of us who do promote our special needs animals are really proud of, that it does make a difference, that less of them are being automatically put to sleep and are now considered just, they're a little different, but they are happy cats and just want to live like cats do, sit in the sun, play with toys, take long naps.
00:26:56.842 --> 00:26:57.822
Mary Tan: That's amazing.
00:26:57.902 --> 00:27:02.942
Mary Tan: We're getting to the end of the show, but wanted to ask you about working with brands.
00:27:03.242 --> 00:27:08.382
Mary Tan: You're kind of opinionated about staying true to who you and your cats are.
00:27:08.582 --> 00:27:09.662
Mary Tan: Can you talk about that?
00:27:09.882 --> 00:27:15.042
Kris Kaiser: Yeah, I guess for me, I don't want to talk about anything that we wouldn't naturally use.
00:27:15.062 --> 00:27:23.402
Kris Kaiser: We do sometimes try products that we haven't used, but I tell brands that I can't talk about them on my page until I have tried them.
00:27:23.802 --> 00:27:32.582
Kris Kaiser: So I generally won't make a brand agreement with somebody if I'm not familiar with their product, or if they're not willing to let us try it before we make that agreement.
00:27:32.822 --> 00:27:39.382
Kris Kaiser: So that's just something I guess I've been particular about because it does matter, right?
00:27:39.402 --> 00:27:46.622
Kris Kaiser: Like I don't want to tout something that my cats really don't like and tell people it's amazing if it's not, and then have them be disappointed.
00:27:46.642 --> 00:27:48.342
Kris Kaiser: And every cat has different tastes.
00:27:48.362 --> 00:28:02.982
Kris Kaiser: So there's a space out there for any brand, I think, and even from the other side, when I'm working with Yow, like if I see somebody who's already talking about us, they're going to move to the top of the list of who we would partner with because I know it's going to be authentic.
00:28:03.162 --> 00:28:15.522
Alexane Ricard: I think that's one of the main take with influencer marketing at the minute is to work with authentic influencers because the audience can also tell if you're really true about the product or if you're just being paid to talk about it.
00:28:15.842 --> 00:28:18.002
Mary Tan: Ah, so much to talk about.
00:28:18.022 --> 00:28:19.642
Mary Tan: We could talk for hours.
00:28:19.782 --> 00:28:23.202
Mary Tan: We want to thank Norm and Kris for coming on the show.
00:28:23.222 --> 00:28:24.882
Mary Tan: And you know what?
00:28:24.902 --> 00:28:26.502
Mary Tan: That's a wrap for this show.
00:28:26.902 --> 00:28:33.522
Mary Tan: We, of course, are so excited to be doing this and it's all about making life better for animals.
00:28:33.822 --> 00:28:47.222
Mary Tan: And if you have a question for Alex and I or Mark or want to get a hold of any of these wonderful brands we talk to, send us a message on Facebook or Instagram under The Whisker Report.
00:28:47.682 --> 00:28:57.702
Mary Tan: And we will do our very best to answer your questions because we, as a company, Whisker Media, who is behind The Whisker Report, we want to help you.
00:28:57.702 --> 00:28:59.922
Mary Tan: We want to help you support animals.
00:29:00.342 --> 00:29:02.362
Mary Tan: So thank you so much for joining us.
00:29:02.542 --> 00:29:06.502
Alexane Ricard: And as we say, bark loud and purr smart.
00:29:06.522 --> 00:29:08.182
Mary Tan: See you everybody.
00:29:10.342 --> 00:29:14.922
Announcer: Let's Talk Pets. Every week, on demand, only on petliferadio.com.