Mini$-$Case Wild Foods

A huge, highly regarded consumer packaged goods firm wishes to branch out from selling foods for humans to also perhaps selling food for pets. The company knows a lot about packaging, communications, and pricing. It has a great reputation in trade so the channel partners should be supportive $($at least, grocery stores, Target and Walmart, etc., but it knows it will have to approach PetSmart and Petco$).$ It figures that selling pet food can$$t be all that different from their current strengths $($snack foods, small packaged foods, etc.$).$

The company is beginning with cat food. It is developing product lines currently and plans to launch within $6$ months. About a year after that, they$$ll follow with their dog line. The company has talked about developing foods for other pets $($birds$,$ hamsters, ferrets, snakes$),$ but to date no firm plans have been made.

The brand is going to be called Wild Foods and the new$-$to$-$the$-$world feature that the brand will offer is that these canned goods will comprise wild animals. Instead of cat food being the same meats eaten by their owners $($e$.$g$.,$ beef, turkey, chicken, tuna$),$ the foodstuffs will be mice, rats, crows, and pigeons $($the company$$s first recipes$).$

The company expects their new pet food line to be wildly received by pet owners$$they expect that pet owners will say, $$Finally$!$ A company that knows what my cat wants to eat!$$ The company also thinks it will earn huge points from people concerned with the environment, given that they$$re creating a useful by$-$product of large populations of some unpopular animals usually regarded as vermin or pests.

$1.$ In the company$$s projection of their product line$$s likely success, what assumptions do you believe they$$ve made, and do you agree with all of them?

$2.$ What kinds of pre$-$launch marketing questions, about any of the $4$Ps$,$ do you have?

$3.$ What kinds of marketing research would you suggest for them to address your concerns?