How Mars Petcare learned to think like a direct-brand startup

Mars Petcare has moved beyond traditional means of promoting and selling products for cats and dogs in order to thrive in a changing consumer ecosystem.

“The old CPG machine is sputtering,” said Leonid Sudakov, President/Connected Solutions at Mars Petcare, a unit of one of the world’s largest consumer packaged goods manufacturers.

“Big brands are no longer relevant, and we need to find new ways to engage.”

Leonid Sudakov, President/Connected Solutions, Mars Petcare

But, Sudakov insists, “Big dreams are not just for small, agile startups. And our dream was easy to find.”

Flying right in the face of long-presumed best practices for CPGs, he continued, “One guaranteed path to oblivion is staying in what we call the ‘PowerPoint prison’ – talking to ourselves … and forgetting...

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