Mars Petcare: Six lessons on DTC

Brian Carruthers

Looks at the steep learning curve Mars Petcare has experienced after taking five of its brands into the direct-to-consumer space over the past two years.

Like many other businesses, Mars Petcare had to rapidly re-evaluate its traditional sales approach in the light of the pandemic. Over the past two years it’s been on an accelerated direct-to-consumer journey, taking five of its brands into this space over that period. It’s been a steep learning curve.

“We’ve got a lot of things wrong, and we’ve got a few things right,” Chris Rodi, European marketing director of natural and health brands at the company, told the Festival of Marketing (March 2022).

And along the way, his outlook has changed: he started out seeing DTC as simply a new...

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