Recently Rhea + Kaiser Pathfinders attended Veterinary Meeting & Expo (VMX) 2020 in Orlando, along with more than 17,000 veterinary professionals, pet parents and pet brand exhibitors. We talked with attendees and exhibitors about the latest trends, brand challenges and marketing opportunities in the pet space. These were our four key observations:
Pet humanization
Pet brands continue to evolve product and service offerings at all levels to meet the demands of their target audience, pet parents. The products have gone beyond clothing, car seats, bed stairs and custom strollers to include pet insurance (and not just individual pet insurance – employer-offered insurance benefits for pets is a major trend right now), after-life planning and even dating/social apps for pets.
Retail veterinary chaining
There is a big push toward pet hospital facilities where individual veterinarians are employed, or can rent space, and practice in a large hospital setting. Our team continues to investigate if the perception of the convenience of a big hospital will win out over the perceived benefit of small vet personalization and quality of care.
Product/service diversification
Many large pet brands are expanding beyond medicines and supplements to become complete pet health providers. We see these companies adding products and services such as pet prosthetics, medical devices, treats, monitoring devices and more.
Focus on pet owner quality of life
Many products and services being developed are designed to help improve the pet owner’s quality of life. For example, there are products to track and capture your pet’s activity during your workday, preventative medical monitoring devices, medicine for sleep and activity improvement, and more.
Rhea + Kaiser is thrilled to be a marketing communications agency operating in the pet space. We take the information we learn at events to our Pet Parent Panel for validation and use it to develop marketing opportunities with industry partners.
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Check out other pet care content from R+K:
Capturing pet tech on Instagram
9 out of 10 veterinarians or 3 out of 5 stars Standing out in the crowd: distinction in the pet supplements market
What do pet parents want?
Dogs and driving don’t mix, unless the pets are safely confined
7 things your grandparents would have never done for their pets
We would love to talk with you about marketing opportunities for your pet brand. Contact our Business Development Director to see how we can help you meet your business goals.
For more information about our approach to marketing in the pet care industry, download our R+K Pet Care Credentials.