Petco Advances 'Whole Health' for Pets

As the COVID-19 pandemic drove unprecedented pet adoptions and sales, Petco was busy laying the groundwork for a major reinvention that has culminated in a rebranding reflecting a new corporate philosophy focused on improving pets’ wellbeing.“We set out to evolve from a pet retailer and redefine the category by becoming the leader in pet health and wellness,” Tariq Hassan, chief marketing officer at Petco, told the Path to Purchase Institute. “This journey began … with the understanding that pet parents see pets as part of their family and were seeking ways to take better care of them.”Emboldened to advocate for these consumers, Petco made a series of product assortment changes while also expanding key service and resource offerings.“We stopped selling dog and cat food and treats with artificial ingredients in 2019 and announced the removal of shock collars in 2020," chief merchandising officer Nick Konat told the Institute. "Our latest change was removing traditional rawhide options from store shelves as of March 23, to instead promote safe, long-lasting and highly digestible alternatives."WHOLE HEALTHThe retailer’s new “Petco, The Health + Wellness Co.” epithet reflects the changes, and goes hand in hand with a refined “Whole Health” approach intended to provide a clear framework for consumers to act in the best interest of their pets by providing products and services aligned to meet needs across all five interconnected dimensions of health:Physical health, with solutions to keep pets fit inside and out including the retailer’s curated nutrition assortment.Mental health, with solutions to stimulate minds and enrich lives encompassing products like long-lasting chews and toys from brands such as Kong Co.'s flagship and Petco's own Good Lovin’, as well as services such as online and in-store dog training.Social health, with solutions including adventure gear from Petco's Reddy brand to prepare pets for the outdoors, as well as dog training classes to foster trust and create strong bonds.Home health, with solutions such as bowls, placemats and beds to make safe spaces where pets feel like they belong.Accessible health, with solutions including the launch of Vital Care, an annual subscription plan that covers pets’ routine wellness needs for $19 per month. “Ultimately, this new platform showcases our dedication to taking a 360-degree approach to pet health and inspiring everything from future product and services innovation to brand experiences and communication,” Hassan said.HONEST KITCHENOne of the newest brands to join Petco’s product lineup — a San Diego neighbor — elevates the assortment to much more stringent, human-grade food standards. The Honest Kitchen dog products now sold in Petco stores and on petco.com span the brand’s main dehydrated food line as well as its new dry line, along with wet food, wet toppers, treats and hydration boosters.“In recent years, we've really evolved as a brand with an expanded assortment of different form factors that have made the world of human-grade pet food more accessible and easier to understand,” The Honest Kitchen founder and chief integrity officer Lucy Postins told the Institute. “Petco, too, has undergone a transformation into a health and wellness company with a continued focus on nutrition standards ... Our visions and values were perfectly aligned to form a partnership … one that would allow us to bring human-grade [pet food] to a whole new, expanded audience.”Inside Petco stores — which are now internally referred to as “Pet Care Centers” as another reflection of the retailer’s new philosophy — The Honest Kitchen SKUs command one entire side of an upfront aisle, complete with supporting headers and shelf signs educating shoppers to the quality and benefits of a human-grade diet.“We created a front-of-store presence to drive awareness and really get our [employees] excited about the launch. We’ve highlighted the fact that we’re bringing human-grade dog food to more pets, with signage and messaging honing in on the brand’s high-quality recipes that use ingredients that people eat, such as free-range chicken, pumpkin and kale, as well as focusing on the benefits of feeding a human-grade diet to your dog," Konat said. “Through our great relationship and collaboration across our teams, we built a custom campaign for the [brand] launch and also are proud to feature The Honest Kitchen in our new health & wellness [marketing] campaign that launched at the end of March." (See video below.)IF WE WERE PETSRunning under an overarching “It’s what we’d want if we were pets” message, the retailer’s new marketing campaign is a multichannel effort comprising TV spots, online videos, digital ads, public relations outreach, social media activity, P-O-P signage and email blasts. It also includes a three-week Whole Health challenge that kicked off on April 5, delivering tips and hacks intended to spark consumer actions mapping to the five pillars of the new philosophy and reward them along the way. (See Related Update below.)The retailer's commitment to improving the lives of pets even extends to its nonprofit arm, which has just launched the first-ever national database designed to be the go-to free resource for missing and found pets. Dubbed Love Lost, the searchable database uses facial recognition technology to help reunite lost pets with their families and already has commitment from industry partners including the American Pet Products Association, Bobs from Skechers, General Mills’ Blue Buffalo, Colgate-Palmolive's Hills Pet Nutrition and the ASPCA.“We work closely with Petco Love, formerly the Petco Foundation, to find homes for pets in need and help lost pets find their way home with Petco Love Lost. We do these things because it’s what we would want if we were pets, and we firmly believe that when we do the right thing for pets and people, the business follows," Hassan said.Around the same time it launched its new campaign, Petco shared quarterly financial results for the first time since rejoining the public market, posting a narrow loss and a 16% revenue growth year-over-year to $1.3 billion, driven by a 17% growth in comparable sales. The retailer indicated it expects 2021 revenue to rise as much as about 9% as people splurge on pets that they bought during the pandemic. For the full year, the pet retailer reported net sales increased 11% year over year to $4.9 billion, while its comp sales also increased 11%."'It’s what we’d want if we were pets' is so much more than a tagline or a marketing campaign. It’s the articulation of the company’s aspiration to help pet parents do what's best for their pets. It’s an enduring platform with the power to drive Petco’s future, and it represents our steadfast commitment to deliver on our purpose to improve the lives of pets, pet parents and our own [employees]" Hassan said.

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