Raising awareness and driving trial of Earth Animal in the UK for six years
Intro
Earth Animal is a US pet brand established in 1979 by veterinarian Dr Bob Goldstein. Founded to offer healthy, wholesome alternatives to chemically produced rawhide and kibble, the brand helps pet parents discover new choices in wellness solutions. When Earth Animal wanted to bring its award-winning No-Hide® Chews to the UK, it turned to Leopard Co for our extensive pet sector knowledge.
Since coordinating the initial UK launch in 2020, Leopard Co has continued to support Earth Animal with a communications strategy designed to grow brand awareness, drive product trial and build an engaged UK community of pet parents and dog lovers.
Challenge
After coordinating the initial launch of Earth Animal’s award-winning No-Hide® Chews in the UK, Leopard Co was tasked with developing a communications strategy to grow the brand in the UK.
The original launch brief focused on driving retail purchases by securing third-party advocacy, raising brand awareness and leveraging key events such as Crufts.
Earth Animal’s No-Hide® Chews were already a hit in the US, but the UK launch needed to educate both retailers and consumers about what made the product different, including its role as a healthy, long-lasting alternative to rawhide with natural ingredients.
As the brand matured, the challenge evolved. Leopard Co needed to build on the momentum created by the launch, grow an online community, secure long-term influencer advocacy, support new product launches and keep the brand visible across social media, digital advertising, reactive PR and trade and consumer events.
Solution
Over six years, Leopard Co has continued to evolve the strategy to reflect Earth Animal’s growth and adapt to changes in both the pet industry and the social media landscape.
UK launch and early market entry
To introduce Earth Animal to the UK market, Leopard Co developed a strategy that engaged both key media titles and influencers. This included creating a press kit to help pitch No-Hide® Chews to consumer media, from specialist dog press through to consumer titles with pet columns and shopping pages.
In tandem with media outreach, Leopard Co approached pet influencers to work with Earth Animal on the “Chews to Make a Difference” initiative. Each influencer aligned with Earth Animal’s values and was gifted a package of No-Hide® Chews to introduce them to the brand. Influencers were also invited to nominate either another influencer or a local rehoming centre to receive a free Chew, helping build a loyal and passionate community around the brand.
Leopard Co also supported Earth Animal at Crufts, using the UK’s biggest dog show as a platform to introduce the brand directly to consumers.
Social media
As a brand that initially did not sell direct to consumers, building an online community was critical. Leopard Co developed and managed social content that helped tell the brand’s story, highlight its products and maintain audience engagement across Instagram and Facebook.
The live six-year case study also highlights that the social strategy focused on four content pillars: enjoyment, safety, impact and quality. These gave Earth Animal’s social channels a consistent framework for communicating both the emotional and functional benefits of the brand.
Pet influencer engagement
Influencer engagement has been instrumental to Earth Animal’s success in the UK. Having worked in the pet sector for over 10 years, Leopard Co has built a network of more than 1,000 tried-and-tested pet influencers, which the team has drawn on consistently for Earth Animal.
Leopard Co closely managed all aspects of these relationships, including first-stage engagement, gifting, content creation and collaborative activity. This included seasonal gifting packages for moments such as Christmas, Valentine’s Day and summer, giving influencers fresh reasons to talk about the brand and helping drive repeated product trial.
Across six years, Leopard Co secured hundreds of influencer partnerships for Earth Animal, including competitions, collaborative campaigns and in-person event attendance at shows such as Crufts.
Digital and paid social
Leopard Co implemented a data-driven paid social strategy to deliver on-brand content to Earth Animal’s target audience and direct them to an online sales platform for the brand.
The existing six-year case study also notes that paid activity directed audiences to Earth Animal’s social channels, website, independent retailers and their physical or digital stores, helping support both brand awareness and product trial.
Reactive PR and media opportunities
Leopard Co maintained an always-on reactive PR approach, engaging target media across consumer and pet sectors. This included pitching Earth Animal into product guides, gifting opportunities and other relevant editorial features.
Event support
Events have remained an important part of the strategy, allowing Earth Animal to engage both end consumers and trade audiences in person. Leopard Co leveraged events such as Crufts and PATS with stand support, social media content and marketing activations designed to drive visitation and post-event engagement.
Impact
Over six years, Leopard Co has continued to build momentum for Earth Animal in the UK, driving trial and raising brand awareness among its target audience.
Key results include:
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Growing Earth Animal’s social media channels from 0 to over 55,000 across Instagram and Facebook
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Delivering social media content that has reached more than 22 million people since 2021
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Successfully launching three new products, including the limited-edition The Barbeque and The Feast No-Hide® Chews and No-Hide® Strips
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Collaborating with more than 230 pet influencers in the last two years alone, with a combined reach of 4.2 million
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Implementing a paid social strategy that reached 1.7 million people in the last year and operated at an average CPC of 20p
The original UK launch also created strong early foundations, securing more than 50 pieces of coverage across press and social media, including K9 Magazine, Your Dog Magazine and Pet Business World, as well as third-party advocacy from 40 influencers with a combined reach of more than 500,000.
Leopard Co’s work with Earth Animal has also been recognised by the industry, including a Silver Award at the CIPR Midlands PRide 2023 in the Best Channel Delivery category.
We love working with the team at Leopard Co, their expertise has helped us to grow a community of pet parents and dog lovers that engage with our content. They’ve supported us across our channels; from working with influencers to making our content more engaging, to fine-tuning our paid strategy — it always feels like we’ve got a real partner in our corner!