Instilling Emotion into the Pet Food Category

Anthem helped Nestlé revitalize the Lucky Dog brand by appealing to consumers’ emotional needs.

Despite being a well-known and affectionately regarded dog food brand, by 2004 Lucky Dog had started to lose its emotional relevance with consumers, resulting in brand decline. Retailers felt that the older packaging was beginning to look tired on shelf while competitors were launching new package designs and promotions.

Anthem’s solution to this began with rigorous immersion and analysis, followed by a two-day workshop with Nestlé to examine all available research, including international and domestic trends. Anthem and Nestlé then collaborated in writing a brief, a brand positioning and developing ‘A day in the life of the Lucky Dog’ brand scenario.

By understanding the consumer-shopping journey, Anthem was able to develop a strategic communication hierarchy that brings the brand to the heart of the package, along with key life stages, product types and recipes. The result: a range of emotionally engaging photos, an approachable new masterbrand and confident pack graphics, that gives Lucky Dog greater shelf impact and stronger brand recognition.