Cuteness Overload: When Marketing Meets Pets

The mainstream trend amongst young people in recent years in China has been to keep pets, which has led brands to increasingly integrate pets into their marketing content. According to the 2021 China Pet Consumption Trends White Paper, younger generations born after 1985 are the largest group to own pets, accounting for 60% of the population, with 72% of pet owners with a monthly household income of 15,000 RMB or more. 

年轻人养宠物已经成为一种主流趋势。这也催生了一种新型的营销方式 – 萌宠营销。《2021 年中国宠物消费趋势白皮书》显示，85 后与 90 后的宠物主人群数量最多，共占 60%，其中家庭月收入在 1.5 万元以上的宠物主比例高达 72%。

Advertising guru David Ogilvy’s "3B principle” states that “beauty, beast, and baby” are the three elements in advertising that work effectively to win the attention and love of consumers. The "baby" element takes advantage of our natural tendency to protect the weak. This psychological mechanism extends also to other small and cute objects that could be assimilated with pets. Thus "cute pets” have become a marketing element designed based on human psychology.

广告大师大卫·奥格威曾提出黄金定律“3B原则”：即Beauty（美女）、Beast（动物）、Baby（婴儿），围绕这三种内容的广告最容易赢得消费者的关注和喜欢。其中的“婴儿”是利用了人类对于弱小者的保护心理，扩大到会对幼小的、萌的、可爱的东西都会产生类似反应。个头小、毛茸茸的宠物，恰好完美符合了人类的这个进化心理学机制。而”萌宠营销”正是从人类天性出发而设计的一种营销方式。

How can brands use this method to win over customers’ hearts?

如何才能玩转宠物营销呢？

萌宠营销

“Petify” Your Brand Image

品牌形象宠萌化

Starting from positioning, the brand can develop relevant strategic directions around "cute pets" and create an integrated image, including brand logo and/or name. For example, the brand image of the famous snack producer Three Squirrels has specific characteristics, with their customer service communicating with customers in the tone of squirrels, building a more vivid image in customers' minds through a unique communication system.

最高级的传播方式是将营销上升到品牌层面，打造特定地品牌形象。品牌可以从其定位出发，围绕“萌宠”制定相关战略方向，打造一体化形象，包括品牌命名、品牌logo等。例如，三只松鼠的品牌形象被赋予了品牌人格化，品牌客服还会以松鼠的口吻与顾客交流，通过独特的语言体系在顾客脑中形成更加生动的形象。

Appropriate Limited Edition Marketing

适当的饥饿营销

In the era of digitalization, launching merchandise in the form of limited editions has always been a successful practice, as long as the product is well designed. McDonald's once launched a limited edition cat box given for free with a specific menu which were sold out shortly after launch. Of course, such a strategy must be based on "good products" and "proper marketing".

数字营销时代，限时限量推出品牌周边屡试不爽，只要产品够硬，辅以适度的饥饿营销，不怕消费者不买账。麦当劳就曾合理运用饥饿营销，汉堡猫盒全国限定10万份，上线没多久便售罄，给消费者一种疯抢的现象。当然了，这样的策略一定要建立在“好的产品“和”适当营销”的基础上。

Set the Right Tone

与品牌调性的契合

When a brand adopts the "cute pet marketing" strategy, it should first ensure that the marketing method is consistent with the brand image and product positioning. After all, not all products are suitable to be "petified," and the concept of "cute pets” will not be suitable for all consumer groups. If the positioning of consumers, products and brand is not accurate, and the "cute pet marketing" is wantonly used, it will cause wrong perception.

品牌采取“宠物营销”策略时，首先要确保此营销方式与品牌调性、产品定位相符。并不是所有产品都适合“萌宠化”，“萌宠”也不会在所有的圈子里都引起共鸣。如果对消费者、产品、品牌定位不准确，肆意利用“萌宠营销”，就会造成“牛头不对马嘴”的既视感。

However, unlike traditional marketing strategies, this type of marketing method solely depends on the emotional needs of people, in the case of improper use, it will bring negative impact on the image of brands. Therefore, brands should bear in mind that the implementation of “cute pets marketing” should avoid moral wrong doings. After all, marketing is only a tool, what matters the most to brand image is the product itself.

然而，与传统营销手段不同的是，萌宠营销强烈依赖于人们的情感需求，在使用不当的情况下，这样的营销方式极易给品牌带来负面的影响，所以品牌应该牢记，在应用萌宠营销时，切忌触碰道德和生命红线，营销只是一种手段，手段的尽头是产品本身，附加的价值是品牌形象。

Contact Us

联系我们

The charm of this marketing method lies in the fact that no matter how marketing and media channels evolve, “cute pet marketing” is in line with our human nature and can be an effective marketing strategy when properly used. If you want to launch your pet marketing strategy, please feel free to contact us at:

[e-mail]

这种营销方式的最大魅力在于，任由营销模式、媒介形态的演变，萌宠营销从人类天性的底层逻辑出发，在使用得当的情况下，注定了这是一种必然奏效的营销法则，也赋予了品牌恒久不变的沟通魅力。若您想要将萌宠元素融入到品牌中，欢迎随时联系我们：

[e-mail]

LATEST ARTICLES

近期内容

Click to read all our articles

点击此处阅读更多文章