Bcg2 has nabbed the Animates account after an agency review and pitch process.* It is now Animates’ creative agency encompassing its retail and professional services portfolio.
The pitch process was based around establishing Animates’ ideal partner for a collaborative working partnership, says Animates national manager brand and partnerships Jacqui Baigent.
“So compatibility, values, credentials and skill sets were vital factors in our final decision,” she says.
Initial projects will include a brand evolution of ‘The Vet Care Group’ and development of a communications programme to support it, a release says.
Bcg2 head of direct and CRM says the connection between a pet parent and their pets is something Animates really understands and is at the heart of everything they do.
“There are some exciting plans in the pipeline and we’re looking forward to working with a business that really walks the talk. Plus, we get to cuddle a fur-baby every time we turn up for a meeting, what’s not to love about that!”
Bcg2 chairman and executive creative director James Blackwood says aside from Animates’ passion for pets, it is very much a people business. “Their values and the investment they make in their staff make them a very compatible client for us. We’re looking forward to working very closely with them as an integrated team and I’m sure our already very large pet community is about to grow.”
StopPress has contacted Bcg2 about the account win and is awaiting a response but will update the story accordingly.
Bcg2 recently acquired Shirtcliffe and Co and this is one of the first accounts the merged team will work on together.
Previously, the Animates account was held by Y&R which released this ‘Doomsday’ spot in 2013.
Animates have a retail network of 40 stores nationwide, as well as online retail, selling pets and all the bells and whistles that go along with them.
Animates also provides access to pet food, a range of veterinary products, animal health services, grooming, puppy school, pet insurance and accessories, a release says.
According to Nielsen, Animates’ ad spend figures totaled $713,000 last year, up from $622,000 in 2014 and down from $811,000 in 2013.
Animates cites 25 percent growth from 2013 to 2014, and its total revenue for the 2014 financial year was more than $62 million. This grew to $71 million for the 2015 year, according to The Register.
Figures available from the New Zealand Companion Animal Council indicate that in 2011, Kiwis spent around $1,252 billion on their pets annually. With an ever-increasing array of items to buy and services to book for shoppers’ nearest and furriest, it’s likely that figure has only increased.
New Zealanders are pet people. According to Nielsen CMI’s Q2 2014 – Q1 2015 database, 53 percent of Kiwi households have at least one pet – 24 percent have only a cat, 11 percent have only a dog, and nine percent have both cats and dogs. Around three percent dabble in other companion animals such as rabbits, birds and fish. The NZCAC says that cats and dogs account for 90 percent of New Zealand’s expenditure on animals, and around 50 percent of that expenditure goes on food.
A report on the pet food industry compiled by Coriolis Investment Group for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment in 2014 puts the value of New Zealand’s total domestic pet food market at $300 million. Supermarkets take up 80 percent of the market share, accounting for $241 million. Vets cover $10 million of total pet food wholesale, claiming three percent of the market; rural retailers cover six percent to the value of $16 million, and pet stores have an eight percent market share, valued at $24 million.
Pet superstores have grown by 17 percent in the last five years, dwarfing every other category.
*Correction: this story previously incorrectly stated that Y&R was the incumbent on the Animates account. According to a statement from Y&R NZ managing director Steve Kane, Y&R “stopped working with [Animates] (mutually and amicably) in September last year”.