Chewy Highlights Pet Services in New “Chatty Pets” Campaign

Diving Brief:

• As it ramps up sales and adds more pet services, Chewy has collaborated with creative agency 72andSunny to create a campaign called “Chatty Pets.” the retailer announced on Monday.
• The campaign features Joy, “an excitable and cuddly cat”; Lenny and Leroy, two rabbits with different personalities; Giorgio, a small Chihuahua with a considerable ego; and Ralph, a sociable 200-pound dog. The pets engage with Chewy’s Autoship service, its cookie deliveries and the Chewy Pharmacy, according to the press release.
• The company said the campaign spots will be distributed on linear TV, connected TV, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and various audio platforms, the company said.

Overview of the dive:

When states issued shelter-in-place orders early in the pandemic, pet retailers saw sales increase as consumers rushed to stores to stock up on pet supplies. Chewy continued to benefit from the pandemic in 2021. Although the company lost about $40 million in sales due to inventory shortages in the first quarter of last year, sales during that period still increased 32% year-over-year to $2.1 billion. Chewy’s second and third quarters also saw sales increases, of 26.8% and 24.1%, respectively.

The company’s campaign is a continuation of the #ChewyChattyPets TikTok challenge, in which TikTok users shared their pets’ thoughts, according to the announcement. Now, the ads will play on pets’ thoughts about “one of your pet’s favorite moments; delivering their Chewy Box,” Bo MacDonald, creative director of 72andSunny Los Angeles, said in a statement.

“All of us at Chewy are obsessed with exploring how pets think and how we can add more joy to people’s relationships with their pets,” said Orlena Yeung, vice president of the brand marketing at Chewy, in a statement. “One of the most consistent and rewarding things we hear from customers is the excitement their pets show when a Chewy box arrives. ‘Chatty Pets’ exemplifies the purity of that reaction with a warmth and a playfulness that are true to the spirit of our brand.”

To help attract new buyers and retain existing customers, Chewy and its competitors have added more services to their offerings. After launch a pet telehealth service in 2020Chewy also created a veterinary marketplace last year for facilitate the sale of pet prescriptions. Rival Petco recently partnered with Lowe’s to launch shop-in-shops featuring an assortment of pet products. And this week, Petco too teams up with Rover offer pet boarding, boarding, daycare and dog walking services through the Petco website.