Levine said she serves her clients with the most successful and measurable marketing and public relations tools, including strategic planning, media relations, pet blogger outreach, branding, social media community building, pet trade show marketing, veterinary conference support, website content and design and search engine optimization (SEO).
“We developed blogging strategies,” Levine said of her Fetched Communications line of services and a particular commercial customer named Thistle. “That is the biggest increase [of services]. Thistle is a 130-year company. In about 15 years, they recovered two-thirds of business in cleaning products and machines. They made a line of pet products. They created thistle pet products service.”
Additionally, this year, she will appear at several senior and pet promotion events, including the Global Pet Expo on March 12 through 14; What’s Next Boomer Summit on March 13; Total Pet Expo on April 9 to 11, and; AARP Life@50 conferences on May 8 to 10.
Businesses or agencies interested in promoting pet ownership can reach Fetching Communications online at http://www.fetchingcommunications.com, especially its Fetched! listserv newsletter at http://www.fetchingcommunications.com/contact-us/, http://www.facebook.com/FetchingCommunications, twitter.com/FetchTweet and http://www.linkedin.com/company/fetching-communications.
Last October, Levine sponsored a contest on Facebook to promote pet adoption, called “Unleash the Love … Adopt a Dog!.” Winners were notified via e-mail and announced on Levine’s Facebook page.
Levine recommends that those interested in pet adoption visit the website, http://theshelterpetproject.org/about-pet-adoption or her blog post, “7 Ways to Celebrate Adopt-a-Shelter-Dog Month (with or without adopting).”
Chet Millerd, owner of both companies Therapy Tubs and Home Living Solutions, both based in greater metropolitan Los Angeles, too, believes in using marketing tools to reach seniors on lifestyle issues.
Aside from owning both companies, Millerd is an expert in search engine optimization (SEO), digital marketing, e-mail marketing, mobile phone marketing, lead generation, social media marketing, and online marketing and uses these tools to market his tubs at http://www.therapytubs.com, www.linkedin.com/pub/chet-millerd/9/6b9/a73 and http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Walk-In-Bath-Tubs_101409965.html.
Millerd described his walk-in bathtubs as “walk-in laboratories” in the early and middle 1960s. This was the first decade they appeared on the market but later disappeared until the 1990s.
“It was effective,” Millerd said of his own business of selling walk-in and therapy tubs. “We got looks and [some] interest and not a lot of sales. A walk-in tub [can provide] a true therapeutic bath with safety accessibility, reliability, relaxation and strong warranties.”
He added that use of his therapy tubs by his customers reduces swelling in their upper and lower extremities and helps joints with their bathing habits.
“The walk-in tub has progressed over the years,” Millerd said. “It is becoming more and more popular. You have [a lot of] homework, though, [to sell them].”
He said he has to perform a great deal of due diligence to get licenses and certification because of the technological and mechanical problems that can arise with use of the tub and the unethical or incompetent practices of competitors.
“Unfortunately, a lot of companies give the [walk-in and therapy tub] industry a bad name,” Millerd said. “I want to educate more than anything else. We are doing a disservice if we are not educating people. You can sell tubs and purchase them. It is up to you.”
He cautioned that, with research about falls and injuries among seniors, 65 percent or more accidents take place in the bathtub and 36 million of people over the age 50 are single, which impacts how the tubs are purchased and used. Still, there are many benefits to using walk-in and therapy tubs, he said.
“It is definitely a good, safe prediction,” Millerd said. “A lot of people [in their 50s will] see the need for it down the road. There is a lot of business opportunity for people planning [for] death.”
For most therapy and walk-in tubs, there are three types of airheads, including a soaker and a massager, he explained. Some tubs have a more gentle water flow and are not necessarily pulsating with their delivery of water. Others have a combined direct messager and soaker.
There are four options for tubs, he said. The most popular is the dual system, however, most people don’t need a dualer, he added. They need a generic one.
“We are doing injustice by selling it [the dualer] to them,” Millerd said. “That falls back on the educational side. The reality of it is that it is popular.”
While they need improvement, the tubs promote aging in place among seniors, he said.
“The products needs a lot of revolution,” Millerd said. “I have parents, [ranging in age from] 50 to 90 who love it and those who don’t. As far as [promoting] independence [among seniors], if you have a walk-in tub, it keeps them [at] home longer. They have relaxation in the tub.”
View this story from the beginning: Part One
Last Updated: February 2014
