PURINA
Re-introducing a century-old pet care brand
To maintain its relevance and dominance amid new market pressures, a flurry of challenger brands, and changes in consumer perceptions and expectations, Purina engaged Zeus Jones to redefine and reposition the Nestlé Purina global brand, shifting them away from their dusty past into a new, purpose-led future.
I led creative and strategy efforts for the North American marketing launch of the new Purina. The results were Meet Purina and Better with Pets two omni-channel brand platforms that forever changed the world’s largest pet care company and established evergreen brand experiences that remain in place to this day.
Creative & Strategy Direction
The strategic pillars
1
Turn the passion of employees into an asset.
2
Own the emotional high ground.
3
Be radically transparent.
Meet Purina
Purina employees of all stripes became key figures in product, nutrition, and culture marketing. The once-faceless corporation became a living, breathing family of pet lovers. The platform rallied internal passions and kickstarted a significant external marketing push.
Better with Pets
To own the emotional high ground and celebrate Purina’s newly minted purpose, people whose lives had been transformed and improved by their pets were placed at the heart of the omni-channel national platform. From a blind varsity long distance runner who, along with her seeing eye dog, changed Ohio state varsity rules, to a vet recovering from PTSD alongside his pet, to a boy and his dog maintaining their long-distance connection to dad, we featured moving expressions of Purina’s purpose in action. In exchange for their participation, Purina granted the families one wish. The only condition: the wish needed to involve their pets.
The films were produced by Zeus Jones’ crack team of producers and shot and directed by Social Animals director Jonathan Green.
Better with Pets Conference
We also launched a major annual summit that gathered together leading pet-focused innovators from the fields of science, culture, philosophy, and art to celebrate the beauty of pets and look the future of their potential. The event has been held annually since its inception.
All new digital
I collaborated extensively with the design team, from sketch phase to deployment, to ensure the creative and strategic pillars of the new brand were infused into the site’s content, experience, and design strategies and executions.
