Pets at Home hires media shop for data-driven overhaul

Pets at Home UK is ramping up its use of data-driven marketing by overhauling its media, content and commerce strategy with the appointment of MG OMD as its new media agency.

In a three-way shoot out managed by the Aperto Partnership, the pitch saw the agency fight off Starcom and incumbent Carat, which has held the business for the past decade.

The contract, which set to start from early next year, follows the appointment of Ogilvy One UK in September. The WPP agency will handle the retailer’s customer experience strategy to drive the transformation of its nationwide CRM and loyalty strategy.

T&Pm handles the brand’s advertising account.

Pets at Home marketing director Madeline Shaw said that, like Ogilvy One, MG OMG “blew us away” with their understanding of Pets at Home and the wider market.

She added: “Their bold and innovative approach and impressive local activation credentials were key to appointing them as our partner.

“We also felt an instant chemistry; we’re a down-to-earth team of people who are hugely passionate about our craft and Pets at Home’s purpose. We’re looking forward to working together to support our customers and their much-loved pets.”

MG OMD chief executive Natalie Bell commented: “Pets at Home’s strong vision of the future demands equally forward-looking media solutions – as their media partner, MG OMD will bring our future-fit expertise in digital, retail and local marketing to support their ambitions and drive growth through a market-leading, data-driven approach.”

At its most recent results, unveiled in August, Pets at Home cited its loyalty scheme, the Pets Club, as one of the key drivers of consumer revenue growth, which had gone up 1.5% to £576.6m, with a “resilient” start to the year.

There was also higher average customer spending, and a 3% year-over-year increase in active Pets Club members as numbers hit 8 million.