October 10th, 2024
Launch of Pet App
At the start of the first pandemic lockdown, Catapult PR found itself with a tricky mission – launching a new App for pet owners and vets, at a time when most media outlets were in turmoil, struggling to produce publications or, in some cases, having to close altogether. With many journalists furloughed, or no longer at their usual contact addresses, it was a turbulent time in the media.
The pet product PR and marketing campaign for the launch of this pet App was unlike any other we have handled, because of the continuous need to work around what the pandemic was throwing at the media sector and wider society.
The pet App – PetPanion – had taken advantage of a special Catapult PR start-up business offer, so the amount of time available for promotion was fairly limited. It provided, however, a cost-effective way for the App to put a toe in the water and assess the media and public response.
Acquiring media coverage for an App is not always easy. ‘PetPanion’ was still evolving and adding features as it progressed along its development journey, so it was even more challenging.
With no collateral other than screen grabs to work with, Catapult had to generate media profile for this start-up and find media outlets with journalists still working during Covid restrictions and willing to carry its stories.
Activity for the launch of the pet App
To assist the client, Catapult created its own photographic support for stories, by setting the screen grabs from the App against a background photo featuring a dog or cat, to create a complete picture that provided both context and client branding.
From there, it analysed what the App could offer to pet parents and created a series of story hooks and angles, which would directly link back to one of the benefits of using the App.
Stories
Across several months, Catapult created a series of stories that conveyed the need for the App, whether you were a pet owner trying to take better control of your pet’s health or a vet trying to work with pandemic restrictions and offer consultations.
For the launch story, we reached out to the available pet titles and journalists still operating, to convey the App’s benefits with as much clarity as possible.
On the pet trade side, we then focused on what the App could offer to vets, if they registered, both in terms of a means to operate and book appointments at such a difficult time and a way to boost income.
From there, we looked at other themes, such as tracking dog fitness through the App’s fitness tracker – in an aim to help doggies shake the pounds. We drew inspiration from one of the key elements of the pandemic – hand sanitisers – and created a story about the need to keep these away from dogs, due to their potential harmful impacts on health. We also examined the dangers of toxic foods at Christmas.
Results
We were able to generate sizeable coverage for the App in national daily titles such as the Daily Star, The People and Daily Express. We also achieved print or online coverage in pet and women’s magazines such as Your Dog, Pick Me Up and MyWeekly Christmas Special, editorial in trade titles such as Pet Gazette, VetRecord and VetReport, and pieces in publications such as K9 Magazine, PetTradeExtra and Rescue and Animal Care Magazine.
This created a more than 10x rate of return on investment in PR and put the App in front of both pet owners and vets, as it sought to grow and develop new features.
Would we have generated more coverage if all publications were operating as normal? Undoubtedly, but this was an outstanding campaign of its time, conducted with a very small budget but lots of passion and tenacity.
If you have a pet product or service that requires a launch or marketing support and media profile, in either traditional or digital media, or one that could benefit from digital assets, such as content in blogs, content downloads or on your website pages, we can help you.
Our pet product and pet insurance marketing expertise goes back decades, so just get in touch and allow us to catapult your start-up or established pet business. Email jane@catapultpr.co.uk to get your pet PR and digital marketing campaign up and running.
