Bark hires canine for $50,000 as corporate advisor to ensure its new treats and toys pass the sniff test
Don’t be fooled by that smile. Hendrix, a four-year-old three-legged pooch, just landed a fancy-sounding corporate job with Bark, a seller of products and services for dogs.
The title: “Chairdog.”
Job description: To ensure that his employer isn’t barking up the wrong tree with new treats and toys innovations, and other animal-friendly initiatives. In that role, Hendrix will advise Bark’s CEO and also attend quarterly leadership meetings.
Time in position: One year (with Aug. 25 as the start date).
The pay: $50,000, plus another $50,000 for Hendrix and his parents to direct towards whatever dog-first cause they see fit.
“It’s a role with real responsibilities in the company, in as much as a dog can have,” Paul Banker, vice president of marketing at Bark, said in an interview with Bagable.com. “We’ve taken this process of selecting our Chairdog very seriously. One of my great career experiences now is being able to interview several of the finalists for this job.”
New York-based Bark BARK 0.00%↑, an operator of dog-centric businesses, including dog toys and treats subscription box services, BarkBox and Super Chewer, and a luxury dog-focused air travel service called Bark Air, embarked on a quest in July to make its core customers — dogs — even more involved in the inner workings of the company.
As part of that effort, Bark announced it would hire a real dog to advise Matt Meeker, Bark’s co-founder and CEO, “with real input and real compensation.”
“We’ve always believed that nobody knows what dogs want better than dogs themselves. Now, we’re giving them the chance to prove it,” Meeker wrote in a blogpost in July, announcing the initiative.
Said Banker, “What it’s really about is getting as close to dogs as we can, bringing them into the world of Bark, and everything we do.”
The company received nearly 4,000 applicants for the Chairdog position, Banker said. “During the interview process, we met their parents and learned about how the dogs came into their lives. The parents shared if their fur babies had any special tricks and talents. It was a really fun process for everyone.”
Hendrix’s unique talent put him as a frontrunner as top dog for the job. “Hendrix has been trained to understand and express what ‘yes’ and ‘no’ mean, and that he wants to go for a walk,” Banker said. He does it with the help of vocal buttons that he hits for the response he wants to give.
“It’s really cool that he understands what the buttons mean and we thought it lent itself well for what we needed,” he said.
Hendrix’s complex genetic makeup as a “supermutt” (adopted from Saint Croix before finding a home in Orlando, Florida) also endeared him to Bark’s selection committee for the role.
“We wanted a dog that could represent all dogs, and Hendrix kind of fit the bill in that way,” said Banker. “He’s part Pit Bull Terrier, Chow Chow, Poodle, Chihuahua even.”
With his job officially starting on Monday, Banker said Hendrix will be involved in live product development, marketing campaigns, and he’ll also join quarterly leadership meetings (via Zoom).
“If you imagine consumer testing experiences, in this case Hendrix picking this flavor or another or this toy over that toy, we’ll rely on him to make some of those decisions,” Banker said. This week, Bark is also launching a new premium dog food line called “BARK in the Belly,” pledging 100% of profits from it to fight canine hunger.
“A lot of brands create these bespoke roles that end up being a kind of PR stunt. We’re taking this very seriously and integrating Hendrix into what we do as a brand.”
Hendrix’s hire isn’t a one and done deal. Bark plans to have multiple Chairdogs over time, Banker said.