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Most
dogs leave their mark by lifting their leg to a fire
hydrant, or sinking their teeth into a new leather
couch, but Crazy Dog ("CD" to his friends)
took a different approach.
Although he possessed little in the way of a
formal education, this obedience school dropout had a
fierce drive to succeed in the dog-eat-dog world of
business. In
1996, CD started his own pet supply company.
Instead of burying bones, he buried the
competition. Soon
other precocious pets joined him in his booming
business.
Sure
they sometimes fight like dogs and cats, but CD and his
Crazy Pet cast of characters, know how to sniff out new
business opportunities. That's why they began to license their colorful cartoon
images to companies that make a wide variety of products
like clothing, beach accessories, and even cameras. In
fact, if CD and his pals have their way, we'll soon be
seeing them EVERYWHERE.
Hey, maybe that's not a bad idea!
The world can always use a little more color --
and what's more colorful than a lipstick wearing cat or
a polka dotted pup with sunglasses? We'll let CD
explain.

This
is crazy - pets really can't run their own business and
license out their images to other companies. Can they?
Sure
it's Crazy, but it's also a lot of fun.
From a business standpoint, Crazy Pets makes a
lot of sense for our licensing partners and the stores
who carry our products.
Dogs and cats bring a new, more down to earth
perspective to the world of business, after all we're
much closer to the ground than people are.
Plus, we pets are a lot more resourceful than
people are. We
know how to find the value in things that humans
overlook. For
example, people will throw away an empty milk carton or
an old shoe, but a dog or cat can spend hours playing
with these things and chewing on them.
See what I mean?
You
have a point. But what about in the area of market
research? Can cats and dogs get to know their customers
as well as human business owners can?
Better.
Go outside and take a look at how dogs sniff other dogs
and people. Human
market researchers never get as personal as this. Nobody
gets to know you as well as a pet.
In fact, our market research is a big reason why
Crazy Pets has been so successful.
Since we started Crazy Pets in 1996, none of our
products have been "dogs."
Some of our executives are dogs, but our products
never are, because we make sure to know our customers
and what they want."
What
do your customers want?
EVERYTHING!
That's why we got into licensing. We want to hook
up with companies everywhere, so we can put images of
good-looking pets like me and the other Crazy Pet
characters on all sorts of cool things from clothes and
beach blankets to coffee mugs and hair dryers. You name
it; we want Crazy Pets to be on it.
Our name says "pets," but we aren't
just for pets. Who
knows, one day we might come out with a Crazy Pets line
of automobiles that will give Ford and Honda a run for
their money. We
can have a luxury car named after me, a sports car named
after Crazy Cat and a compact with the name of my son
Baby Dog. We might even come up with our own line of PCs.
Of course, we'll have to be careful, I don't know
if we can trust Crazy Cat and the other felines on our
staff around all those computer mice.
What
kind of response are you getting from potential
licensing partners?
They
have been beating a path to the door of my doghouse.
Check out the news and licensing sections of this site,
and you'll see how great it's been going.
These licensing people aren't dumb.
They know a good thing when they see one.
Why
is the Crazy Pet concept so popular?
Aside
from my own tremendous charisma as a leader and
entrepreneur, it all comes down to the idea that Crazy
Pets is just plain fun.
There are too many things in life that are
serious, aggravating and boring. Sometimes everyone
wants to get away from it all, but we can't always fly
off to a tropical paradise.
So, we look for little things that make us laugh
and forget our cares for a minute or two. That's what Crazy Pet does.
You can't look at our characters on a product
without breaking out into a smile.
We help you get away from it all - and we're a
lot cheaper than a ticket to Tahiti.
I know how this process works from my own
experience. When
my son Baby Dog and his friends trash his doghouse, I
want to take a good bite out of him.
But instead, I put on a Crazy Pet baseball cap,
and go for a walk to the doggie park.
I get so many compliments on the cap that before
I know it, I feel great. Like we say at our company,
"Life is Crazy, have fun."
So
you're saying that Crazy Pets gives everyone a better
outlook on life?
Yes.
It doesn't matter whether you get around on four legs or
two; Crazy Pet will make you feel much better about all
of the little things in life.
Let's face it, a lot of what all of us do in our
everyday lives can get pretty boring. We wash our hair,
brush our teeth, go to the store to pick up something we
forgot to buy yesterday-boring, boring, boring!
But Crazy Pet puts a little pizzazz into these
things to brighten our lives.
For example, when we started, people thought it
was boring to give their dogs a bath.
Then we introduced pet shampoos in zany and
wonderful flavors like Wild Cherry and Baby Powder. All of a sudden bath-time became fun for dogs and their
owners. Smart move, right?
So, we did the same thing when it came to getting
children to wash their hands and faces.
Most little people hate to wash up, so we created
Crazy Pet Soap for Kids. This is clear soap with a toy
inside. When you use up all the soap, you get a nice
toy, so washing becomes fun.
If lugging books to school or carrying a loaf of
bread home from the store is boring, try using a Crazy
Pet bag. All
of a sudden your load will seem lighter. I can go on,
but you get the idea - Crazy Pet turns the boring into
the fun.
Judging
from what we've been reading and seeing on TV, the media
has also been enthusiastic about Crazy Pet.
OK,
I admit it, I am a publicity hound. But hey, getting our name around is what we're all about. It
makes us proud, and it helps our licensees sell more
products. I've
been on page one of The Wall Street Journal five times
since I started the company, and I've been featured on
network TV as well as in the Los Angeles Times, Parade
Magazine, McCalls, you name it. I even won a big award
from Inc. Magazine. My Mom always said that I'd be famous - and I'm happy to
prove her right.
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