
Petco is not pussyfooting around its new mission to remove all artificial ingredients from its pet food. The message is howled out loud and clear in “Cleaning House,” the retail chain’s new marketing campaign, its first from Anomaly, which Petco tapped as creative agency of record in December. In a 60-second anthem spot, cats and dogs rid the Petco store of canned vulgarities like “sulfite snackers” and “benzoic acid biscuits,” and replace them with Petco’s new colorful assortment of all-natural goodies as Ace Wilder’s “Riot” plays. “No more nasties. All dog and cat food now artificial free,” text reads.
“You’re going to see a very different voice and posture for the brand,” says Tariq Hassan, a former Bank of America marketing executive who joined Petco as chief marketing officer last year. He notes that when he came on board, he was tasked with “the need to really establish how we differentiate ourselves, not only from other big-box competitors, but also to start to define ourselves as the true national independent player that we are.”
In the $63 billion pet industry, the chain has been under rising pressure from startups that offer pet owners high-end services and organic food, like the Farmer’s Dog, which delivers, as well as Amazon, which sells its own line of pet food. Roughly 40 percent of pet owners are now millennials, according to the American Pet Products Association. To cater to this ,new breed, Petco has been fine-tuning its strategy. Late last year, San Diego-based Petco said it would eliminate artificial colors, flavors and preservatives from its dog and cat food by May 1 of this year.
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