Skip to content

Jimmy Chipolata

The Jimmy Chipolata brand retails specialist clothing and attire for the otherwise difficult-to-fit dachshund or sausage dog. The doggy-wear is designed and made in the UK using 100% British wool tweed.

The brand is inspired by NTU’s own registered therapy dog, Jimmy Chipolata: A popular figure around campus who has inspired media attention in the UK press, as well as international news outlets including Italian Vogue.

Jimmy Chipolata - Case Study

Background

With a popular fan base and following on Instagram, the owner and Director of Jimmy Chipolata Ltd approached NBS with an interesting challenge for its MSc Marketing students: To provide research insights and advice to inform a B2C marketing strategy that would help attract more customers and scale the business. Their ambition was to increase direct online sales and brand visibility.

Approach

A team of five students used several techniques to support their research. Their primary research included identifying forums and platforms for dachshund lovers on which they were able to disseminate surveys and polls. They explored the dog-clothing market, including competitors’ approaches, and made good use of Mintel market intelligence data available to them. Other academic and news resources helped them with market segmentation. By also considering the resources available to this very small business, the student team pulled together a verbal and written report for their client which made several valuable suggestions the organisation was able to adopt. This included approaches to social media, customer relationship management, an understanding of the factors that influence customer perception, and recommendations for a re-brand.

The students worked over the course of several weeks, meeting regularly 3 or 4 times each week, collaborating, and sharing research. A team leader acted as the key point of contact for the business owner.

Impact

The first action the business took was to make a quick redesign of its brand identity and colour scheme to better reflect the luxury nature of this UK brand.

Did you know? According to the students’ research, 44% of dog owners would like to dress their pooch in an outfit that matches their own.

The students were amazing! They really got into it and gave me loads of ideas”.

Business owner, Debra Easter

Postgraduate Consultancy Projects

The projects offer our postgraduate students a valuable chance to put theory into practice while working on a real business challenge.

Get in touch

To find out how we can help your business thrive, contact Angela Scott or Katie Bonner via email at NBSStudentProjects@ntu.ac.uk

Follow us