The jewel in the somewhat depressing crown of many specialized gray-colored market centers, pets at home, is somehow an unsung hero of animal care in the UK: not only the toy for all of us-Pets, but a fun day trip for many, veterinary provider, insurer and more.
With more than 450 stores in the UK, Pets at Home has become the largest pet care brand in the country. But in doing so, the global identity had become tarnished and somewhat confusing by its many sub-brands in the areas of veterinary care, care, insurance, a foundation to help pets in need and a variety of services.
“The differences in identities, names and brand experiences have created confusion and a lack of recognition from the main brand,” says London design studio Nomad, which started using pets at home in August last year. “The previous Pets at Home was made from a group of sub-brands, sister companies and services. Although they are part of the same family with the same strong values, the different identities, names and brand experiences of the main Pets at Home brand have not brought recognition.”
Nomad worked closely with Cath Ryan, Pets at Home brand Manager, throughout the project. “As soon as the name Pets at Home was mentioned in the Studio, we were all delighted,” says Ash Watkins, Nomad’s creative director. “It was so clear that this was a great opportunity to transform an Organization of this size and give it the brand image it deserves.”
The new identity aimed to unite Pets at Home and its family of pet care brands under a visual identity and an “immersive brand experience”. It is structured around the word “pets”, “a brand name whose simplicity is its superpower and which doubles its objective of always doing what is best for pets and pet owners,” explains Nomad.
“It sounds too simple to be true, but everything they do is really for the good of the pets,” Watkins adds. “This allowed the retail branch to remain as”pets at home”and rename the veterinarians of Vets4Pets to”pet veterinarians”, after which there was a license to bring all the sub-brands together in a really coherent way: Pet Care, Pet VIP Club, Pet Foundation. This allows the brand to expand its Services in the future while maintaining a really dense system.”
The Studio has created a new logo for pets, bold and readable, which acts as an “anchor point” for the sub-brands in order to make them “stronger together”. Since there are so many channels that make up the brand’s world, the new Pets system had to be very flexible but very simple.