Successfully communicating Pedigree Wholesale’s acquisition of Just for Pets

Solution

We used our extensive knowledge of pet marketing tactics to develop a communications campaign which involved social media management, community management, and regional and national consumer PR and trade PR.

Thanks to our long-standing presence in the pet sector, we leveraged our media contacts to spread the news of the acquisition far and wide. 

We targeted key trade titles as well as all relevant regional outlets where there were stores that would be affected by the news. Where there were store closures, the messaging was tweaked to ensure the story was cascaded tactfully and transparently.

Throughout the transition period, we managed the social media and community management of the brands. In addition to posting regular announcements, through our community management we were able to respond quickly to any customer or employee concerns. 

In anticipation of these questions, we also worked with the team at Pedigree to create a FAQs list ahead of the transition period to ensure that their customer service team was equipped to handle enquiries without delay and with messaging that was consistent with the wider communications campaign.

Impact

• Achieved 82 pieces of coverage within a week of sell-in with majority of the sentiment being positive
• Key pieces of coverage included BBC News, Daily Mail, Metro, Pet Gazette, Pet Business World, The Business Desk and more
• This campaign was also recognised by the PRCA DARE Awards where we were proud to receive the Campaign Challenges Award