CitiKitty Cat Toilet Training Kit — A Marketing Review
Have you ever thought about toilet training your cat?
Believe it or not, but such a concept is possible. Doing so can eliminate purchasing those bags of kitty litter, or even spending money on fancy litter boxes. Imagine!
The concept of potty training cats and dogs really isn’t anything new. People have been doing that for ages. Over twenty years ago I knew of a friend’s family that trained their dog (a big golden retriever) to use the toilet. The only trick, besides having a pet smart enough to learn about it, is knowing how to train your pet.
A few nights ago, my girlfriend and I saw a TV commercial for CitiKitty, a cat toilet training kit. The thing is, the TV commercial looked so hokey that we both thought that it was a joke product, something like a fake product being used to sell a “real” one. But sure enough, the CitiKitty is very much a real product. And apparently this particular product has been on the market since 2005.
CitiKitty website — www.GetCitiKitty.com
The company’s website looks neat and informative. It’s much better than those other “as seen on TV” cheesy sales pitches. The pages here are informative, the pictures look good, and since it’s a rather simple product, it doesn’t leave the customer confused or asking unanswered questions.
The product’s TV commercial, however, is a different story. Take a look and see just how poorly it was put together.
CitiKitty — TV commercial
Wasn’t that so informative and exciting that you’ll want to whip out the credit card and place an order?
Or did the commercial feel more like, well, crap? Cat crap to be specific. A big, heaping, steaming pile of it.
Let’s take a closer look at the TV commercial and see how it could have been improved.
CitiKitty TV commercial — The horrors of litter boxes and cat poop.
The CitiKitty TV commercial starts out addressing the problem of cleaning around and inside of a cat’s litter box.
My girlfriend has a house cat, and believe me, I’ve seen what kind of horrors await in a litter box. It’s rather frightening just what kind of bowel movements an ordinary cat can unleash, especially if he’s in a bad mood. I swear, that’s just a nasty experience. I don’t know how people can stand cleaning those litter boxes. More power to you if you can handle cleaning after a cat has done his or her business.
Getting back to the TV commercial, cleaning a cat’s litter box can be a problem for people. However, for issues like leaving a mess or handling the smell, those issues can be corrected with a little planning. An enclosed litter box with air filters should contain those two problems to staying within the “box of horrors” (a.k.a. litter box). Scented litter can also help reduce the smell of the cat’s excrement. Though when it comes time to clean said box, all bets are off as to what horrendous sights and smells await you.
Is there a way to eliminate the litter box completely?
Can indoor cats still take a dump without being thrown outdoors?
CitiKitty commercial — Yes, Virginia, cats CAN use the toilet!
The solution here lies with teaching your cat how to use the toilet. Flushing isn’t necessary, but sitting on the seat and aiming into the bowl is mandatory. Falling into the bowl is just funny. Hopefully the cat won’t leave a brown skid mark on the toilet seat.
Notice how this segment of the TV commercial does NOT show the cat being trained or using the CitiKitty. What we’re looking at here is the ultimate solution of what takes place after successfully using the product and toilet training your cat.
If you’re selling a product that’s designed to have a great solution, shouldn’t you at least show the product in the commercial? In this segment and in the end we see a picture of the CitiKitty cat toilet training kit, but at no point do we really see the product, either being used by a real cat or simulated in an animation. We saw a problem in the beginning, the commercial jumped to the desired solution, but the commercial failed to really show the product itself.
Phase 1 – Sell concept of cats using the toilet.
Phase 2 – ?????
Phase 3 – Profit.
CitiKitty commercial — Nearly ANY cat can be trained to use the toilet.
After seeing one cat use the toilet, the commercial advances and shows that virtually any size house cat can be toilet trained. But do we see the CitiKitty product? Nope. Again we’re just focused on the final solution of cats using the toilet.
Up next we’re hit with the sales pitch and ordering information. That’s it.
One school of thought here is that the marketing team wants to capture your information and make you seek out more information about the product. The problem with that school of thought is that people are going onto the Information Superhighway to research the product, thus delaying them from grabbing the phone or their credit card.
Apart from showing videos of cats using the toilet and attempting to spread word of CitiKitty, does the commercial actually sell the product? Not exactly. We’re sold on the concept of such a product, but not necessarily this particular product. Oh sure, the CitiKitty commercial does a great job of capturing your attention with videos of cats using the toilet, but it skipped the most important part.
Remember folks, this is the Information Age. If people have to look up your product on the Internet, then they are very likely to also find other items in the search results including other product websites and message forums where people discuss alternate solutions.
One of many videos showing cats using a toilet. Some cats can train themselves. Others have used alternate products or training concepts.
Stepping away from the product’s commercial, the name CitiKitty is a rather interesting choice. Obviously “citi” is a way of flirting the profanity barrier instead of saying “shitty.” As a joke this isn’t an original idea. Using “city” as a replacement to the other word exploded in popularity when South Park began using that joke back in 2002.
South Park – City Wok – ‘Jared Has Aides’ episode
But seriously, do you really want to use “citi” (or any other version) in the product’s name? Really? I’ll admit that CitiKitty is catchy and easy to remember (at least for me), but it’s still inappropriate as a product name.
When thinking about cats using the toilet, a certain scene from Date Movie (2006) comes to mind.
Date Movie — Cat having a REALLY rough time on the toilet.
FINAL THOUGHTS
As funny and practical as it sounds to toilet train a cat, the CitiKitty TV commercial does a poor job selling us the actual product. The commercial does a great job capturing the viewers’ attention, but it leaves them wanting to look up more information about the concept and not necessarily the product. At no point in the TV commercial do we see the CitiKitty product being demonstrated or discussed, either through a live example or computer animation.
The CitiKitty website, however, looks great and answers questions about the product. Why this kind of useful yet critical information was not included in the TV commercial is beyond me.
As far as cat hair on the toilet seat, I’m not even going to touch that issue.
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All of the CitiKitty TV commercial images were screenshots of the TV commercial available on YouTube. For more product information, please visit the company’s website, www.GetCitiKitty.com.
RellimZone.com is not affiliated with CitiKitty.