What should Pets.com do next?; What should Pets.com do to heal this puppy? Marketing experts offer a variety of suggested solutions to the problem, but one thing is clear: The company needs to act, and soon.(Brief Article)

Advertising Age, August, 2000 by williamson, debra aho

I would call this a half-baked advertising campaign. It only does half the job. I consider the job to be getting attention and communicating a message. And I think this only gets attention. Why should I go to Pets.com? The only reason they've left me is to buy a Sock Puppet. Maybe they'll sell a lot of Sock Puppets, but that's not going to keep the company alive. You cannot win today just by getting a character famous. The character has to communicate a motivating message. Otherwise you've wasted all your money.

-Al Ries, co-author, "The 11 Immutable Laws of Internet Branding," and chairman of branding consultancy Ries & Ries

Although, frankly, the Sock Puppet did absolutely nothing for me, it did give the brand some personality. What is not clear at...

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