The 2000s
With addition of John Nelson and Kathy Decker Frueh in the early 2000’s, the KONG house in Golden, Colorado began expanding. They saw the increased desire for KONG toys around the globe and began the journey of KONG brand expansion. KONG product lines now extended to additional play types and consumables, along with special emphasis on the pet specialty category. It was no longer simply what toys to sell, but which stores to partner with to present the brand.
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As for the KONG Classic, more people were learning the benefits of stuffing a KONG. The word was also getting out that you could STUFF dog food and treats INSIDE of a KONG. This puzzle-offering enlightenment refined the course for KONG. It was more than just a beloved, durable chew toy; it could be an entertaining puzzle that keeps dogs’ attention while minimizing negative behavior.
This new concept allowed for more focused emphasis on the Classic shape in two distinct areas. First, to give the beloved Snowman shape more attention. KONG worked on consumable options to bring awareness to consumers that the KONG can be stuffed. The first consumable launched was Stuff’N Paste which later was renamed Easy Treat, and is still the best-selling consumable KONG has to date. This had proved the KONG stuffing emphasis was a very viable solution to focus branding energy on moving forward.
A second new emphasis was expanding the product offerings to include a line created especially for puppies, and eventually senior dogs, which created the need for additional rubber strengths besides the Classic and the Extreme. This emphasis expanded the product offerings to include the Puppy KONG and Senior KONG. The KONG rubber line now consisted of four rubber types. KONG Classic, KONG Extreme, KONG Puppy and KONG Senior. Each rubber type comes in sizes ranging from XS to XXL depending on the type of rubber.
As the brand grew around the classic shape and the concept of stuffing, KONG realized there was opportunity to expand the brand into new product areas because dogs need a variety of ways to play. KONG took each new product into consideration with a goal to find the highest quality toys, not just another toy. If an opportunity for a new toy or category arose, it was vetted out to determine if it met the quality standards for safety and playability long term.
Global growth continued in 2004 and there was an opportunity to expand sales and operations functions for Europe into the UK. In 2009 a similar opportunity for global growth presented itself, and KONG began operations in Australia. From both these locations, KONG has been able to reach further, strengthen the consistency of the KONG brand, and grow its partnerships with retailers.
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