By Emily Ellis
American entrepreneur, James Spratt, launched the first large dog food manufacturer in London in the 1860s. It was named Spratt’s and what made the biscuits unique to others was that they were aimed at different stages in a dog’s life. He invented the ‘Dog Cake’ which originally consisted of wheatmeals, vegetables, beetroot and meat. The inspiration behind it is believed to have come from James Spratt seeing strays being fed off scraps of biscuits on the streets. The idea of, what we would now call, a dog treat was very original and new at this time which is what made it so interesting. Initially the ‘Dog Cakes’ were sold to English countrymen for their dogs but in the 1870s the company launched in America and began to grow.
Spratt’s logo is very inventive and memorable which is what makes it so interesting and successful. The idea is based around the shape of a dog but the name SPRATT’S is what creates the shape. The design comes across as very simple but that makes it very smart and easy to look at. No colour was used in their advertising which means that the focus is mainly on the text and shape, which are the most important messages in the logo. The design of the logo did not develop much over time as the design is so simple that it does not become old fashioned. The logo could also be applied to lots of advertising methods. Spratt’s focused a lot on advertising to promote their unique idea. As most of society would just feed their dogs left overs, Spratt’s needed to advertise in order to convince people to spend money on something they might not necessarily need. They created posters, billboards and when they broadened their products to items such as portable kennels, collars and shampoo for dogs. They created adverts incorporating other animals into the original logo. This meant that the brand was still recognisable and developed further. They also created cigarette cards to advertise their products, which was a very unique and new method of adverting at the time.
In 1876, Spratt’s started creating dog soaps and other products to help care for their dogs, this shows that the company was expanding and taking over the market. Spratt’s products were prices from $7.00 to $8.00 in the 1890s. This is very expensive considering the general annual income of this time was $1,500. They aimed to target upper class people and would visit dogs hows to advertise their products. Another market they targeted was health conscious dog owners, therefore they would advertise their products as healthier for dogs than human left overs. Charles Crufts was hired by James Spratt in 1876 and he went on to create a very well-known dog show called Crufts Dog Show in 1891 in London. This dog show is still running and has increased in success.
Throughout the 1900s Spratt’s shipped products all over Europe and the USA and became one of the largest livestock shippers. However,in 1960 the business was bought by Spillers a British company that owned various food brands such as flour milling operations. By Spillers taking over, they were able to develop the original products and create a range of dry dog foods.However, from then on the brand name began to go downhill. In 1988 Nestle bought the company for £715 million; however, in 2008 Spratt’s was discontinued.
Originally, the idea was new and exciting which is what made it so popular. However, over time Spratt’s products have become boring and competitors have taken over. The branding of the design is still considered very smarty, witty and creative however, it was not developed or added to which makes it
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spratt%27s
https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Spratt’s_Patent
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spratt%27s_Complex
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