2013 Gold Best Loyalty Programme or Campaign

Client Pets at Home

How did the campaign make a difference? The VIP (Very Important Pets) club created a differentiating, dual proposition (care for your pets and support local animal charities) and used smart segmentation to create emotional involvement. 1,088,352 people have joined, generating almost 24% of revenue in-store and over 40% of online, plus over £316,000 in donations to animal charities.

What details of the strategy make this a winning entry? The Pets at Home loyalty scheme needed to: celebrate owners' unique relationship with their pets; communicate the charitable support benefit and generate donations; and deliver against challenging incremental revenue targets. Pets are as different and diverse as their owners, so the communications plan was highly tailored and delivered relevant content. The key strands to the strategy were: 1) pet-centric comms: tailored content using pet-based segmentation with a two-part data capture strategy boosted at on-boarding, with a "surprise and delight" element to maximise data completion. 2) Charity-centric comms: the fundraising element was communicated to the charities themselves, VIP club members and Pets at Home staff. Engaging them all was essential. 3) Staff comms: stores would be the key recruiting ground for VIP club members, so a roadshow was created to build colleague advocacy. 4) Spend and offer comms: these delivered footfall and spend in-store, for Pets at Home and selected supplier partners, to meet commercial objectives.

How did creativity bring the strategy to life? The name of the club was chosen to spark instant recognition: research showed they're highly likely to tell their pets they love them at least once a day! The colour scheme of green and white was chosen to reflect and support the Pets at Home master brand. Comms were personalised with pet names and tailored content, and built on the concept of friendly expertise, a core Pets at Home value. Integrated content from the My VIPmagazine delivered even more relevant material. Asking members to choose their charity at sign up, with the option to choose a local charity, meant they could give support to animal causes almost on their doorstep. The name Lifelines was chosen (rather than a name referring to points) to give added emotional value to what VIP club members help achieve every time they swipe their VIP card.

Results The VIP club had 1,088,352 members in July 2013. 98% have given information about the 4,287,454 pets registered. 88% of members have swiped their VIP card at checkout. 68% have opted into receiving emails. Average transaction values are 37% higher than for non-members. Over £316,000 has been donated to more than 500 local and national animal charities. ROI is 401% and it has boosted those spending by 20%.

Team David Williams – Managing Director, Matthew Fitzsimons – Innovation Director, Frazer Howard – Creative Director, Samantha Tredgett – Managing Partner, Donna Collins – Account Director, Polly Buckland – Principal Planner, Paula Wilcox – Account Director, Samantha Howard – Senior Art Director, Maurice Fullarton – Senior Copywriter, Oliver Lee – Senior Copywriter, Katie Ballard – Senior Art Director

Other Contributors GI Solutions Group – Database development & management, John Brown Media – Customer magazine development & production