Episode Transcript
Don Mock 0:21
Episode 108 Rob
Rob Broadfoot 0:23
108
Don Mock 0:24
The ocho. The Och when we play Uno at home, we call it the Och. And for whatever reason, the eight is everyone’s favorite number. So whenever there’s an eight thrown down, we try to just keep the eights going.
Rob Broadfoot 0:37
Crazy Eights.
Don Mock 0:38
Yeah, good times. All right, we’ve got a really weird topic for you. But I thought somebody out there might get a kick out of some of these stories. I thought so many many moons ago, we did a full scale rebrand for pet food for dog food for Walmart,
Rob Broadfoot 0:57
Do you remember?
Don Mock 0:58
What year was that?
Rob Broadfoot 0:58
Im trying to think how long ago this was
Don Mock 1:01
Let’s call it 10 years ago 13, 14 Somewhere in there, you know? Yeah, for the Ol’ Roy brand of dog food and Michael and Andrew are gonna get a kick out of listening to this and that’s a little easter egg for them but yeah, we did the full full scale rebrand right. Which was super cool. And you know if memory serves the premise you know, private label. How do I explain this like like the premise of the thing was private label was always a me too, right?
Rob Broadfoot 1:31
I’m gonna back up even further and explain to people What Ol’ Roy is. Well, Ol’ Roy it’s Walmart’s private label line of dog food
Don Mock 1:39
Correct. Yeah. And treats
Rob Broadfoot 1:42
food and treats and treats and it’s it’s the largest.
Don Mock 1:47
I think it was the number three selling dog food in America for years basically behind like Purina and Pedigree. It’s basically like Purina, Pedigree and Ol’ Roy, right. And I mean, it’s
Rob Broadfoot 1:57
named after Sam Waltons dog.
Don Mock 1:59
Yeah. Sam Waltons dog was named Ol’ Roy. And I guess I guess rumor has it Ol’ Roy used to go to meetings with him and stuff. I mean, like, his dog, like, hung out with him and stuff. Yeah. And sort of went with it. Right. So. So yeah, so we were fortunate we got the opportunity to redo it. And, you know, many moons ago. Private Label was was a me too, as I mentioned, meaning you you know, the the house brand, right? would kind of copy the look and feel of the national leader. So it’s like, oh, the Milk bone box is red. So our boxes are red too you know, or like, you go into public
Rob Broadfoot 2:30
We hope you’ll pick it up by mistake.
Don Mock 2:32
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. It’s, it’s, it’s kind of on shelf next to it. But it’s cheaper, obviously, because it’s the house brand, right? No advertise,
Rob Broadfoot 2:38
but it looks exactly like the other,
Don Mock 2:40
but we’re kind of copying everybody else. And it looks the same. And you know, but a little bit different. You know, that’s kind of how the the legacy of private label always was right. And then I, you know, somebody correct me out here. But, you know, target I think years ago really took the lead on No, Archer Farms is going to be its own thing. You know, like all the different like
Rob Broadfoot 3:00
they did and Whole Foods and yeah, there’s other places like that. Yeah
Don Mock 3:04
Up and up, wherever that brand is, you know, like we’re starting to kind of build our own brands, right. And then with that perception of it’s, it’s exclusive to that store, its Target exclusive. It’s Publix exclusive. It’s, you know, Walmart exclusive, right. So the mission was, hey, we’re gonna build our own brand. We’re not going to be the cheap competitor, we’re going to build our own Ol’ Roy sort of look and feel and brand, right. And so we worked on this for a year, year and a half or so of the rebrand and we did gosh, I mean, it was over 200 different skews. I feel like yeah, it was wet food, dry food. 50 pound bags. Yeah. little teeny 10,
Rob Broadfoot 3:37
all kinds of things.
Don Mock 3:38
Yeah, it was awesome. Yeah, did a whole system for it. Obviously, from a design perspective, it’s on our website, you can take a look at some of the some of the pretty pictures, you know, and a lot of that stuff, even though that design was, you know, gosh, a decade ago, still holds true. I mean, if you go to Walmart, a lot of that a lot of the design elements and stuff are still there, right? It was pretty cool to doing a global style guide. You know, it’s Oh, my God, you know, South Africa is doing that. All right. I mean, it was crazy. It kind of went everywhere. So super fun project. Right. Well, super fun customer service experience that tagged along with Ol’ Roy and I don’t even really know how to really talk about this is that for whatever reason, Walmart doesn’t really brand their own house brands, their own house brands don’t have their own online visibility, everything just shuffles to Walmart,
Rob Broadfoot 4:32
Like you’d never find the Ol’ Roy website.
Yeah, there is no Ol’ Roy website, there’s never been an Ol’ Roy website right. But I remember talking with the brand team about it and we did a bunch of you know, we did circular ads and stuff that put in we’re putting the Walmart Sunday circular. We did social posts that went on Walmart. I mean, we did all sorts of stuff to support the brand through the Walmart channels, but never allowed to do our own thing. never allowed to take Ol’ Roy and let to kind of be its own thing, right? Well, funny thing about the internet, right? The joke is the internet never forgets, right? So we put a little, you know, our little case study on our website. Hey, look at us. We did Ol’ Roy stuff. Yeah, some fun stuff for us. Right. And over the past, well, 10 years. Right? We have basically become the unofficial home of Ol’ Roy customer service. And it’s a little bit of everything. I mean, there are how many Walmart’s are out there there are there’s like 4000. Walmart’s in North America and Canada.
Lots and lots and lots.
Don Mock 5:38
It’s as we mentioned, it’s in the top three selling dog foods and treats in the United States. There’s a lot of Ol’ Roy buyers out there
Rob Broadfoot 5:46
not to stereotype, but I think we can all agree everybody’s heard of the people of Walmart.
Don Mock 5:50
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
Rob Broadfoot 5:52
I’m gonna leave. I’m gonna leave it right there.
Don Mock 5:53
For sure. And it’s funny. I mean, it’s, I do remember taking a screen snap of remember that show American quick sidenote, remember that show American Pickers? That’s still a thing. Yeah.
Rob Broadfoot 6:03
I don’t know if it’s still a thing. But I remember the show.
Don Mock 6:05
Where they go around…And I remember watching American Pickers one night, again this was years ago, right? And What you know, we’re in the car, they’re in the car driving around, or they had somebody in a car, and there were a bunch of Ol’ Roy treats bags on the passenger seat. And I remember taking a picture this is so this is so funny. It’s so old school, using my phone to take a picture of my TV to then text our clients. Look at the packaging is on this History Channel. TV show we got such a funny kick out of it, you know, just so random. I was like product placement or joking about it. Right. But yeah, the consumers of Walmart, right? Well, when you google Ol’ Roy, or whatever, for
Rob Broadfoot 6:45
Guess who comes up? Well, I don’t know where we are. Because we I haven’t really googled it lately.
Don Mock 6:51
well, for years, we were within the top three hits. For years. I will say we have it’s gotten so out of control that we
Rob Broadfoot 6:59
We tried to bury it.
Don Mock 7:00
we are doing our own reverse.
Rob Broadfoot 7:03
Reverse SEO.
Don Mock 7:04
Yeah, reverse SEO to try to D list our own Ol’ Roy
Rob Broadfoot 7:10
We’re the only agency trying to get on the last page of Google.
Don Mock 7:13
exactly. It’s so funny. And we are getting email after email after email after phone call phone call phone like
Rob Broadfoot 7:21
we get like a sample. You know, a basic sample email that we might get is, hey, I bought a you know, a bag of 20 pound you know, whatever food and there was a bug in it. My dog got sick. And then Here’s a horrible picture of the bug and the dog
Don Mock 7:38
Yeah, we got a fair amount of that.
Rob Broadfoot 7:40
So we’ll get that or we’ll get Hey, I can’t find out where the kibbles and bones can’t find the kibbles and bones in my Walmart in Wichita. Yeah,
Don Mock 7:47
Yeah. Do you guys still sell the peanut butter treats? That’s all my dog will eat
Rob Broadfoot 7:53
Can I buy them straight from you?
Don Mock 7:54
Yeah, we get we get you know, and it boggles the mind. Because, you know, if you go to our website, we don’t sell. It’s a case study of a brand design that we’ve done
Rob Broadfoot 8:05
Seems pretty clear.
Don Mock 8:06
Yeah, it seems pretty clear that we are not the manufacturer of Ol’ Roy, we just designed the brand architecture and a lot of the packaging design, right. But somehow somebody makes it to mocktheagency.com makes it to the Ol’ Roy case study somehow goes to our contact page. Right. Which very clearly is an agency contact page. And then taps on the button and types us and Ol’ Roy email. Right. So funny. So And recently, if you want to tell the story, recently we got a funny phone call. You know, and again this is us random story, but Hey, podcasts are random. It’s it’s fun, you know?
Rob Broadfoot 8:45
and for a long time, I didn’t get Don you got all of this. And and then we open it up. So now thankfully, I get them too.
Well, we were getting so many emails. You know, I used to forward them to you guys. I used to forward them to you. And Michael was like, Hey, can we what’s the response to Patricia about her, you know, her peanut butter treats or whatever, you know, we’d have some internal fun about it and I will say this years ago, I used to write people back. I used to, you know, I was I had the time and I’d be like, Hey, if you got problems with your thing. I suggest you contact your local Walmart, you know, which it says on the back. It’s very clear that our information is not the customer service information on the product you you know, on the back of the box because we designed all the boxes. It says questions, comments, concerns, please call this or you know, like it’s very clear on where to go. But people go here.
The other day, I come in and there’s a voicemail, and it’s this gentleman who leaves this kind of a slow, slow rambling, and it’s like he’s asking about, specifically the glue that was used on the dog food bags, the Ol’ Roy dog food bags, because he’s making a tent out of the Ol’ Roy dog bags.
Don Mock 10:00
Yeah the 50 pound bags. the big ones. The big boys. Yeah.
Rob Broadfoot 10:05
Wants to know about the glue.
Don Mock 10:08
Yeah, What glue do we use
Rob Broadfoot 10:09
At least at least to his credit He’s in the packaging sphere. He’s circling You know? Yeah. It wasn’t just like, Hey, can I buy more dog treats but he was specific to wanting to know about the glue because he was making a tent to sleep in, presumably, out of dog food bags.
Don Mock 10:29
Yeah. I mean, hey, I’m all about reduce, reuse, recycle. I mean, recycle the, you know, I mean, put those dog food bags to good work.
Rob Broadfoot 10:37
So I say to Donna, and to you I’m like, you gotta come here and hear this voicemail and you’re like, oh, he left me a message too. So then. Which begs so many questions. I couldn’t get past the fact that somebody was trying to make tent out.. it sounded like it would be like a school like a elementary school project. weren’t gonna make a tent out of you know?
Don Mock 11:03
Well, you know I do dig quick sidenote, I do dig the have you seen all the like the wallets in the handbags? And the purses and stuff made out of old billboards? like the vinyl material. You know, like, there’s something kind of quirky and fun about that. That’s kind of an interesting little fashion statement or whatever. So in my mind, I’ve got this like, Oh, he’s making like a rain shelter. Out of like patchwork 50 pounds bags. You know, like a huge like, awning coming off of his house. He’s gonna like scallop the edges. You know But you had the thought he’s making it a tent to sleep and like
Rob Broadfoot 11:43
I think of one I’m going to sleep in.
Don Mock 11:46
I mean, I wouldn’t expect the packaging to repel water. But it does hold dry dog food. And I bet it does a pretty good job,
Rob Broadfoot 11:54
I bet it does a pretty good job. So anyways, I didn’t think I got a good chuckle out of that. And yeah, much of it. And then yesterday afternoon, the phone ring. I didn’t recognize the number. And sometimes I pick up sometimes I don’t, just depending on the mood that I’m in. I was in the mood to pick it up and then I pick it up. He’s like, hello. And I knew as soon as I heard the voice, I was like, oh my god, it’s the dog food tent guy. And he starts, he starts explaining and yeah. And I kind of interrupted him a little bit. I said, Hey, I did get your voicemail. I apologize. I didn’t have a chance to call you back. Yeah. And I explained to him Well, you know, we just did the front end design work. We don’t yeah, that we handed off and we didn’t do any of that production. And he and he wouldn’t, he wouldn’t give up.
Don Mock 12:40
He wouldn’t take a no for an answer. well, who does the production? Yeah.
Rob Broadfoot 12:45
I said I wish I could tell you, but you’re gonna have to write to Walmart.
Don Mock 12:49
Yeah, there are a lot of providers suppliers.
Rob Broadfoot 12:51
So I don’t know. I’m not sure he’s like, okay, well, do you have the number? No, I mean, you could probably Google it. Same way. You found us? Yeah. Probably do it. Anyway. So
Don Mock 13:07
how did the conversation end?
Rob Broadfoot 13:09
He was very nice. He said, Thank you so much. And What I didn’t do which now I’m kicking myself? Why didn’t I ask him about the tent? Why didn’t I asked more?
Don Mock 13:18
Well, we can call him back
Rob Broadfoot 13:20
I mean we have his number.
Don Mock 13:20
Yeah, we got his number. You know, you know, I my thought was, I was like, just got to, you know, go to Walmart or you know, right or go to Home Depot, go to, you know, and just try a bunch of different glues. I don’t know What it’s like the the adhesive you would need to seal food packaging. Right has to be specific because FDA, yeah, you can’t have toxins and things that are going to interact with food. Now again, there’s a different I mean, I hate to admit this out loud, but there is a different threshold of food safety. When it comes to dog food dogs, human versus human. There just is the way everything’s manufactured and whatnot. Right? But like, What, even if we gave him the exact glue, I would say that’s not the glue to use. Why would you stitch bags together? Right? For a waterproof tent? You would want to use something a little bit stronger, I would assume.
Rob Broadfoot 14:10
I don’t know why you would need to use the same glue for any reason.
Don Mock 14:16
Well, there is there is the theory that hey, how many 50 pound bags do you think this guy has? I mean, maybe he’s accumulated like 50 bags, how many bags you know, and he’s and he’s like, oh, all of these are still so sturdy and so strong. I need to use the same glue.
Rob Broadfoot 14:30
Why didn’t I ask him these questions? I’m gonna call him. No, no well, I should have asked him these questions.
Don Mock 14:36
Yeah, there’s been yeah, there’s I mean, we’ve heard everything over the you know, like, What kind of glue do you use
Rob Broadfoot 14:43
If I were in survival mode? Okay. And I happen to have some dog bags laying around, and I needed to make a tent. I think a really efficient way to do it would be to take the 50 pound bag, okay cut across the top, Cut across the bottom
Don Mock 15:03
Well the top or bottom are generally already open because you’ve got that pull tab thing, the bottom It’s the same stitch thing because the way they
Rob Broadfoot 15:10
anyways open the top of the bag to create a cylinder. Yeah, tunnel, then you’re going to take another one and slide it. You see what I’m saying you’re gonna slide them together. So you’ve got four of them long ways then you’re gonna get into like a cocoon.
Don Mock 15:24
Yeah, like a sleeping bag.
Rob Broadfoot 15:25
Yeah. And I’m just gonna go lay on the ground. And that’s it. No glue needed.
Don Mock 15:29
Yeah, well, you know, but hey, you want your tootsies sealed up, right? Or, you know, you have your feet hanging out the bed,
Rob Broadfoot 15:37
you take the bottom and you roll it up and you put a big rock on it or a Log that keeps it sealed. And then the top, you can just make it a little bit longer, because you’re going to want to keep that open.
Don Mock 15:45
I’m going to need at least three, I’m going to need at least considering my height. I would assume I need at least three of these things. I want room. I don’t want to be just sausage
Rob Broadfoot 15:53
It will be tight. I mean, you’d be
Don Mock 15:56
that’s a good point. I guess I don’t know that I’d be able to put my shoulders
Rob Broadfoot 15:59
I don’t think that either one of us could go in there.
Don Mock 16:01
This is why we need the YouTube channel because we’re both acting out how we would fit inside of a dog food bag. Yeah. Yeah, it’s it’s the consumers of walmart. I mean, we have other clients that have products in Walmart, we have done other stuff I mean, you know, we’re very familiar with our friends from Arkansas. Right. And it is an interesting customer service experience, you know, you know, where’s my stuff, you know, that type of thing, or why isn’t it here at my local such and such?
Rob Broadfoot 16:30
You know, we’re going through that now with some some food clients. Yeah.
Don Mock 16:33
Yeah, exactly. And it’s a you just got to, you know, it’s America’s a big place. There are hundreds of millions of people that live here. Yeah, there are a lot of trucks driving, where you have to, like deliver.
Rob Broadfoot 16:47
I suggest you go to your local store manager.
Don Mock 16:50
Yeah, exactly. It’s pretty funny. So the tent was the one I think that kind of made us had a good chuckle. Yeah. Because you get one moldy food email, or where’s the biscuits, you know, email and you kind of gotten them all, you know,
Rob Broadfoot 17:03
there’s always feel like lawsuit like, I’m kind of kind of hitting There’s a bug in the food.
Don Mock 17:09
Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, there’s definitely been some of those, you know, there’s also the sad ones I can’t afford the stuff is anything on sale? that always kind of bums me out. You know, how many dogs did you have? You said, you said you had 25 dogs in your email, like, Oh, my God, you know, I mean, you know, there’s I mean, there’s takes a little bit of everybody.
Rob Broadfoot 17:30
Well clearly we did our job because people love it. Dogs love it and people love it.
Don Mock 17:36
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. It was a fun project. It was a great experience. It was it’s still trucking. I still get I know. I’ve said it on other podcasts, I still get a kick out of going out into the public and then seeing anything that we’ve had a hand in and it’s like, Oh, my God, Real world.
Rob Broadfoot 17:51
It’s in someone’s cart we made it.
Don Mock 17:54
They’re going to buy it like that’s, that’s incredible. I mean, that stuff never gets old. I’ll be 80 years old and still be excited about that.
Rob Broadfoot 18:00
Because there are there’s there’s so many projects, the majority of the projects you finish and they’re out the door, and you may never see them again.
Don Mock 18:06
Yeah, but consumer packaging is always a fun one. I’m like, oh my god, it’s there it is, you know, it’s pretty neat. So, yeah, but it says I mean, if nothing. This interesting little podcast is kind of a interesting listen for the power of SEO, right. I mean, we’re talking about packaging and Walmart and whatever. But you know, hey, if you don’t own your little territory, if you don’t try to find your little piece of digital real estate, right? Someone else is going to take that space. I mean, the vacuum will be filled, right? For the number three selling dog food in America. The vacuum has been filled by us.
Rob Broadfoot 18:48
I think the other important lesson is for the kids out there, kids that are listening, the Internet lasts forever.
Don Mock 18:56
Yeah. This is true.
Rob Broadfoot 18:58
Be careful What you do.
Don Mock 19:01
Now now it’s turned serious. And there’s a whole nother there’s a whole nother aspect of it. Yeah. Even if you delete it, it’s not deleted.
Rob Broadfoot 19:07
but yes, point being all these years ago and it’s still it still comes back to us
Don Mock 19:10
Yeah, who woulda have thunk? Who would have thought? Yeah, so All right. Well, that should wrap it up.
Rob Broadfoot 19:14
Yeah. The next global rebrand you happen to have Bring it our way. We’d love to work on it.
Don Mock 19:20
Yeah. And we’ll help you carve out your little piece of digital footprint too in addition to the branding
Rob Broadfoot 19:26
That’s right. That’s right.
Don Mock 19:27
And where can those people find us?
Rob Broadfoot 19:29
Well, they can find us online just like the distraught Walmart customers can at www.mocktheagency.com Or of course on all the socials @mocktheagency and we look forward to hearing from you real soon.
Don Mock 19:41
Cool. Fun times. Thanks everybody.
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