Three Dog Bakery’s Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer Marella Oviedo cut her teeth in product innovation as a brand manager at Kraft Foods, working on brands such as Capris Sun and Seattle’s Best Coffee. That experience honed her marketing skills and taught her how to run a business as well as how to build buy-in and ignite enthusiasm with employees.
Those same skill sets translate to Kansas City-based Three Dog Bakery, a 33-year-old company that has 46 retail bakeries and specializes in oven-baked treats, pastries and food for dogs. Although she likes her job, it’s possible her Australian Labradoodle, Bailey, likes it even more. (He’s a frequent tester of innovations in the company’s pipeline, like the cinnamon roll crunch-flavored pet treat.)
“It’s fun seeing dogs interact with the products and interact with their owners. … Every brand person is looking for that pandora. What is the DNA? How can I create a personality?” Oviedo said. “With pet products, there’s that heart that goes into the product that may not be there in other consumer products.”
A ‘startup’ in a large company
Oviedo’s affinity for the pet industry is rooted in her time at The Nature’s Bounty Co., where she helped develop the company’s first pet supplements brand, Mac + Maya.
“It was basically a small garage startup in a big company,” Oviedo said. “What I loved about that project was the team just being all in and looking to reinvent the vitamin category for pets. It’s very similar to what we do in treats (with Three Dog Bakery).”
The Nature's Bounty CEO gave the team a small budget to test the idea and gave Oviedo “carte blanche” to run with it, she said.
“When you’re working on a bigger brand such as a Capri Sun or Starbucks, there are years of heritage that you kind of have to be very cautious in navigating,” she said. “With this one, it really was just starting with a clean palette and what felt right to us from the research and from all of our experiences in our careers.”
The team educated itself on the pet industry and had to figure out how to develop the right flavoring and package design. It also was important to them to trade medical lingo for relatable language on the bottle. Another must-have: designing a “counter-worthy” bottle that pet owners wouldn’t forget about in the cupboard and then forget to give the supplements to their dogs. The end product included colorful bottles with a bamboo lid and paw print design that customers reused to store other items.
“It was fun from every aspect creating it. It was like running our own business,” she said. “I’m a big believer in everyone shouldn’t just be playing in their silos. There is so much knowledge and benefit from the industry and from their personal lives that they can carry into every brand.”
A passion for innovation and untapped opportunities
Oviedo’s passion for innovation draws on her curious nature and “always learning” mentality.
“It’s combining that love of discovery and exploration and almost crystal ball trending – what’s going to come up next – that really gets me excited about innovation,” she said.
To find those untapped opportunities for Three Dog Bakery, Oviedo likes to explore independent grocery stores for packaging ideas. You’d be surprised how much inspiration can come from human-centered products, such as the trend toward more wholesome, nutrient-dense ingredients, she said.
Oviedo also gleans feedback from customers and retail bakery owners and looks at posts on Instagram and TikTok. What are the trends? What are people making in their kitchens? She also looks at related industries and attends industry conferences.
Innovation growth pillars
Oviedo has identified several “innovation growth pillars” for Three Dog Bakery, such as the “better for you” trend that can be translated to vitamins and more wholesome ingredients in treats. Then there’s the comfort food side.
“So many people started to bake during the pandemic, and their dog is probably sitting at their feet, staring at them with his big, beautiful brown eyes, wondering, ‘Where’s mine?’” she said.
That trend led to treat flavors such as blueberry muffin and cinnamon roll crunch. With more people returning to celebrating special occasions in person after Covid-19, Three Dog Bakery leaned into celebrating. Oviedo helped develop the Celebration packaged treats line, which features fun offerings such as “birthday celebration cake” and colorful “celebration confetti treats.” The Celebration line also leans into the trend of people now having children later in life.
“Their dog is now really taking the place of their child,” she said.
And that’s leading to pet birthday parties, complete with DJs and balloon artists. It’s a cute excuse to catch up with friends, she said. And Three Dog Bakeries products are the perfect party favors.
“It’s a trend you’ll see more and more of,” she said. “If you haven’t been invited to a dog birthday party, it will happen soon.”
To propel growth, Oviedo also is focused on building brand awareness on a bigger stage and signing agreements to increase distribution. One recent deal will make it easier to land in more independent pet retailers. Also topping her to-do list is experimenting in new categories for Three Dog Bakery, such as savory, protein-packed treats and dental chews.
“The fun part is we're small enough where we can test things out, whereas at a bigger company, you may kind of be stuck because you don't want to take those risks,” she said. “The great thing about our leadership and my boss, CEO Aziz (Giga), is they trust me. He’s like: ‘OK, you have your reasons. You’ve got the experience. I’ve put you in this position, so run with it.’”
