PetSmart

For nearly five years, Markowitz Communications was the one and only public relations agency for PetSmart. Throughout that time, our overriding goal was to position PetSmart and its corps of veterinarians, trainers, groomers, nutritionists, fashion consultants, and toy and rawhide specialists as the experts in all things pet related. Anytime any media outlet did a pet story, we wanted a PetSmart representative to be quoted as the expert.

Insights
Although we took PetSmart’s business very seriously, we thought it was important to acknowledge that we were talking about dogs and cats – cute dogs and cats wearing cute outfits and playing with cute toys. In other words, we made a tactical decision to take a playful (yet always professional) approach to our materials and our dealings with the media.

Groundwork
When we first arrived at PetSmart, we realized the company’s primary means of communicating with the media involved issuing standard-looking and reading press releases. We wanted to shake things up. When the transition from PETsMART to PetSmart took place, we helped to develop the “smart” attitude that continues to define the brand today. We branded dog bowls and filled them with Smarties candy as a means of reaching out to the media and telling them that PetSmart’s experts were available as resources. We created PetSmart’s first media micro-site — FashionSmart ’05. We then went on to produce 2006’s “Top 14 Holiday Gifts for Pets” webcast and the “2007 Top Holiday Gift Ideas for Pets.” We also developed the training-experts media guide, the “Summer Travel or Bust” micro-site, the “Halloween ’07” micro-site (complete with teaser, photo gallery, smart tips, press release and media alert). We also created the “turnkey” materials used to promote PetsHotels and PetSmart store openings throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Strategy
Our work was extensive, but our strategy was simple: provide the media with viable, timely materials and sources. We also developed and maintained targeted national and regional media lists, that enabled us to find the right reporter in any market (Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Orlando, New York City, Washington, D.C. …) to pitch. And pitch we did. It is never our policy to simply send out press materials without following it up with phone calls. In addition, we strengthened our client’s media connections by taking PetSmart representatives on New York media tours (their first ever). Those trips included meetings with the Associated Press, BusinessWeek and Reuters.

ROI
Through our years with PetSmart, we amassed millions of media impressions in national, regional and local outlets. To take just one example–Halloween in 2007–we secured nearly 9.5 million impressions, including stories in USA Today (which featured a photo downloaded from the site) and on Fox & Friends, as well as more than 100 local and regional print and broadcast stories. The print articles and broadcast segments referenced trends, products and PetSmart experts. Total costs for the entire campaign – including photography, design, programming and e-mailing to the media list — were less than $10,000. The estimated return was $900,000.