43% of consumers indicate a willingness to pay more for a brand they have an emotional connection to, even if an identical product is available for a lower price from a different brand.*
94% of these respondents are likely or very likely to recommend this brand to family and friends.*
The goal of this strategy is for your pet brand to create a stronger emotional connection with pet parents over all competitors. The ultimate nirvana for your brand is when this connection is so strong that your brand feels indispensable within their lives.
The dominating emotion your consumer feels is THE precursor and becomes THE prediction to what they value they moment they decide which brand to buy.
Geoff Cunningham, Chief Creative Officer & Partner, Tiny Bully
Pet Parent Bonds Run Deep
As we’ve all come to realize, people consider their pets as members of the family, not just a living creature we house and feed and pet. There is a noticeable trend in the culture of being “pet parents.”
Young pet moms have their “fur babies” well before they have children. These deep emotional connections are akin to maternal and paternal love, rooted in the worry and responsibility of their pet’s health and happiness. This energy is driving how consumers choose the pet brands they buy today.
Generally speaking, I treat my pet better than I treat my own body, from exercise to nutrition. I’m certainly more away of their overall health and happiness, more so than my own.
Excerpt from consumer interview
With such immense emotional bonds, it’s no wonder the pet industry has historically been more impervious to fluctuations in the economy.
Forging an emotionally focused brand strategy, will ensure pet parents feel this connection to your brand through the entire purchase cycle, extending that market insulation to your brand.
How to Forge an Emotional Connection with Pet Parents
While there are many ways to trigger emotion during purchase, the more difficult task is creating an unshakeable emotional connection – to successfully position your brand in a manner perceived to strengthen the bond between parent and pet.
AT&T did it.
They crafted a perception of strengthening the bond between loved ones (though they were focused on human-to-human interaction).
REACH OUT. REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMEONE.
With creativity alone, they harnessed their true value in American lives. A value far greater than AT&T’s performance, the culminated value offered by its superior features and functionality. They positioned their brand to strengthen the most important relationships in their consumer’s lives.
And it was worth billions.
It seems to be that emotion is the energy thrusting our life into motion. As consumers, these emotions energize our purchase decisions. How we feel about the brand we choose is the difference we experience at the moment we decide to buy it.
Peter Getman, Principal Brand Officer, Tiny Bully
The emotion we feel validates our choice, albeit often subconsciously.
Owning the idea that triggers this emotion, in the minds of your consumer, is a vital differentiator. And to do so far more effectively than your competitor is the goal.
In need of creative to capture pet parent brand loyalty?
Come collaborate with us for a day. We get pet.
*Statistics from a nationwide “Emotional Engagement Survey” conducted by GMI Research.