Eight out of 10 cats may prefer it, but in a slowing market, fewer owners are putting it to the test. Nicola Clark reports.
Whiskas' position as a leading player in the pet food market is undeniable, but the growth of premium products and fresh formats has taken its toll on the market stalwart.
Its cat food has been around in cans since 1958 and has long been the UK's bestseller. However, it is operating in a slowing market. According to Mintel, £719m worth of cat and dog food will be sold in 2005, a growth of just 0.1% year on year, compared with 1.9% in 2004 and 2.4% in 2003.
Until a few years ago there was little product innovation in the sector.
The market was price-driven, with supermarket own-labels growing strongly.
Whiskas benefited from appearing as a premium option.
More recently, however, new product launches, single-serve portions and dry food have challenged Whiskas' position as the obvious premium option.
According to the charity Cats Protection, there are 5.9m cat owners in the UK, the majority of them living in and around London. Brands such as Sheba, with their single-serve premium portions, have found a niche with this affluent, time-strapped audience.
Whiskas has invested heavily in new product development to reach this audience, launching a pouch version in February 1998, which now outsells its traditional can.
It has also invested heavily in advertising. According to Nielsen Media Research, Whiskas' spending on advertising its cat food range rose from £1.4m in the 12 months to August 2003, to £3m in 2004 and £5.3m in 2005.
This excludes the promotion of single products, of which pouches received the greatest support, with spending of £5.8m in the 12 months to August 2003, £3m in 2004 and £2.3m in 2005.
Its spend helped Whiskas' strapline, 'Eight out of ten cats prefer Whiskas', to become so well-known that it was mimicked by lager brand Red Stripe in its advertising. And now cats are being used not only to sell competing cat food but also other products, such as Bacardi Breezer, making it harder for Whiskas to stand out.
