7 Steps to Building a Strong Pet Brand Identity

7 Steps to Building a Strong
Pet Brand Identity

Are you looking to establish a solid pet brand identity? This guide breaks down the crucial steps you need to take for success, including crafting a mission statement and developing a cohesive visual style. Here’s what you need to do!

• Create effective goals

Before you can jump into a car and start a journey you need to know where it is you are going to end up. This is also true with growing a business. Think ahead to what you want your brand to achieve in 5 or 10 years time, and write it down! This is the ‘dream big goal’ so don’t hold back!

Now you have your big goal, take a little time to start thinking about all the smaller goals along the way. The things that will eventually come together and help you to reach that bigger goal. Simpler things that will get you off the ground. Attend X number of events and network with clients, Run an ad campaign or launch that website. Add in fun stuff too like ‘celebrate 100 customers’ or ‘celebrate 100 sales’ those things get you in the right frame of mind to hit those goals because you begin to imagine them.

Use these goals like a map, each one is a stop off on your destination to that big dream

• Profile your pet people

There are many different types of pet owners – make a profile of who it is you want to target ie. The frequent groomers with insta-worthy pets will have an entirely different personality than owners of working sheepdogs.

Collect as much information about your perfect customer as you can and build a profile of exactly who they are! Think about their lifestyle, their budget, things they already buy and their relationship with their pets.

All of this helps you to understand your ideal customer on a deeper level and you can use that information to create connections within your marketing and branding.

• What makes your pet brand unique?

With most brands there will be similar brands or competitors (unless you are lucky enough to have invented something completely new!) you must figure out what makes you different.

Try not to go for something too obvious, words like ‘cheaper’ or ‘faster service’ sound too salesy, we tend to tune out when we hear words like this. Also don’t make wild claims like ‘The best dog groomer in the world’ unless you can back it up somehow, people are smarter than that, they simply won’t believe it.

Think outside the box a little, what is it about you as a founder maybe, or the way you work with clients that’s unique?

Perhaps you are dog photographer who specialises in ‘capturing your dog’s unique quirks’ and you were able share a bunch of humorous photos to illustrate that. It makes you stand out amongst the others and helps you to create a truly memorable brand!

• Pet brands have character!

Like your point of difference, you need to give your brand a bit of a personality. Our pets are full of character so make sure your brand has it too!

Make sure you know your brands tone of voice; will your message be short snappy with a bit of humour, or will it be professional and precise? Either way find a style and stick to it. There are no rules here, cram your copy with puns or maybe you could use your best ‘dog voice’ to narrate your message… you know, the one you use to imitate your dog when no-one is looking (or is that just me?)

• Get the message out

Now you know your audience, your point of difference, your character style and your tone of voice your message should come together naturally. Just remember to always refer to your customer (and their pets!) Don’t forget to make sure to address them and put them at the forefront of everything you say. It’s no longer about ‘I’ or ‘we’ it’s all about how ‘we’ can help ‘you’ and your pet be happy and healthy.

Don’t forget to sell the vision – how can your product or service improve your customers life and experience with their pet – pets are all about joy, and what better thing to sell than joy itself, ie. The joy of a healthy, happy pet with loads of playful energy, is a much more sellable than ‘joint supplements.’ Sell the feeling and the result over the product itself!

• Craft your Mission Statement

Now it’s time to compile everything you’ve learnt into a marvellous mission statement.

Firstly, state who you serve and be specific, now state the solution to the problem that you solve. ie. Next add the how and then state the problem.

‘We ensure adventurous dog walkers, have the right equipment to keep their pup happy warm and full of energy to tackle big obstacles by providing lightweight, waterproof coats for your furry companion, so you and your pet can carry on the adventure whatever the weather – obviously consider your tone in how you want to word this!

One last thing to consider is why you do what you do. This may tie into a founder story – being an adventurous owner yourself you may have a personal reason you sought to create this product or perhaps you wish you had such a product for a past beloved pooch. Think of your drive to start up this business and why you feel so passionate about it.

• A visual identity for your pet brand

Now you are ready to make all this visual!

Of course, I’d always recommend hiring a creative person at this point, especially if you aren’t the creative type yourself. This is essentially going to be the ‘shop front’ of your brand, the first thing your customers see and the thing that will either attract or repel them. So you need to make sure it’s a great fit!

Your visual identity should be able to convey the type of business you are in an instant, it should also be easily identifiable and memorable.

Colours, logo, website, social content, marketing materials and packaging become your brand assets, these along with all the research and information you have gathered, become your brand identity. It becomes a constant in everything you do, consistency is key to being at the forefront of your customers attention.

But it doesn’t stop there! A brand itself is essentially a collection other people’s perceptions of you as a company, so once you have built an identity you must continually work on building awareness and helping the people you seek and make sure their perception is consistently positive!

Is your pet brand already established?

We can also help by designing your marketing materials. We can help with a number of projects, we even have a few amazing pet photographers too! – simply drop us a message and book in a chat to see what we can do to help your pet brand shine!