Case Study: Giving a new business a little brand story love
Meet the Client
In early 2021, Carolyn Hatfield, owner of the Canine Social Company in Toronto’s east end, decided to launch an online sister company specifically to sell the carefully curated selection of high-quality dog toys and nutritious and delicious dog treats she sold in her bricks and mortar doggy daycare, spa, and boutique.
The Canine Social Company had opened in 2013 and Carolyn had made it her business over the years to treat all of her clients—dogs and dog moms (and dads) alike—like family. By launching a subscription box service, dog moms (and dads, but let’s face it, it’s mostly moms) could celebrate their bond with their dog with a monthly special delivery to their front door.
The Client’s Challenge
While her carefully curated products, and the thought and care she put into helping her dog moms choose the right toy or treat in store drove her to create Treat Play Love, dog toy subscription boxes are not a new concept. And since the website would be the primary driver of sales, Carolyn needed one that clearly defined what made Treat Play Love, and the products included in each box, different from her competitors.
Our Solution
Even though Treat Play Love was a sister company to a well-established brand, before we could effectively write this new website we needed to understand the brand’s values, key messages, unique selling proposition and target audience. The Canine Social Company may have had an existing client base but the subscription box service had the ability to reach beyond the bricks and mortar business’s neighbourhood and into other markets—markets that may already be attracted to other dog toy subscription box services.
Through a discovery session with Carolyn, we dug deep with a series of brand questions and clarity creators. From there, we wrote the Treat Play Love Brand Story—an internal document that definitively separates Treat Play Love from its competition and makes it incomparable in the dog toy subscription box world. The brand story consisted of four parts:
The overarching brand story to tell—and understand—Treat Play Love’s story
Key messages/values on how Treat Play Love connects with its customers
Head and heart appeal of how people connect with Treat Play Love’s key messages
Brand positioning statement
Through this process, we honed in on the ‘love’ part of the company name, because that’s what truly separated them from their competitors. They weren’t just selling stuff, they were celebrating the bond dog moms share with their dogs by packing boxes with love. And their customers wouldn’t just be buying stuff, they would be choosing Treat Play Love because there was nothing they wouldn’t do for their dog, and they understood that there was also nothing Carolyn and her team wouldn’t do for their dog either. That included one of the company’s big differentiating factors—every monthly box included toys and treats for the pup and a gift from Carolyn to the dog mom.
From there, we wrote the website content on all pages, amplifying the ‘packed with love’ message. Our website design partner Katy Jonker, owner of Kosmic Creative, chose images and designed graphics that strengthened that message of love.
The Treat Play Love website launched in May 2021. And the Brand Story document contains advice to help guide the future development of any other marketing materials—be it newsletters, blogs, videos or other promotional materials—so that Treat Play Love’s story will always be told consistently and will always resonate with its target audience.
Testimonial
“Treat Play Love grew from my desire to celebrate the bond we share with our dogs. It’s a box that should bring joy when it’s unpacked each month as we get to watch our dogs loving what’s in it. There’s also a little something for us in it as well. I knew what it meant to me, but how do I take those feelings and passion and put them into words? Words that have the readers feel that passion.
I had the great fortune to be introduced to Deborah and Luminate Communications through Katy Jonker, owner of Kosmic Creative. At the outset from where Deborah and I talked about me, my dogs, the business, how I felt when I curated the boxes and how I wanted dog mom’s to feel when they got the box, it was so easy to work with Deborah. She immediately understood how I felt about Treat Play Love. Deborah was able to take those feelings and put them into words in a way that I would never have been able to.
As I read through the brand story that Deborah put into words, it brought a huge smile to my face – Deborah “got” me and my business. She took how I felt and put it into words. These words live not only on my website but all other marketing materials including social media.
I really do consider it a great fortune that I had the opportunity to work with Deborah and Luminate Communications. Thank you Deborah, so very much!”
Carolyn Hatfield
Treat Play Love