Mars Petcare and AMV BBDO have launched Pet Health Pal, a new free online tool for pet owners.
The online service answers dog and cat owners’ questions and concerns about their pets’ health during the current pandemic.
It looks to provide necessary information as well as offer advice about treatment methods suitable for use with dogs and cats.
AMV BBDO created a bot in partnership with the research and development centre, the Waltham Petcare Science Institute; which answers users’ questions via the Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp chat bot functionality.
Petcare partnership
The partnership ensures Pet Health Pal is equipped with the latest information, in accordance with government-issued guidelines and pet wellness experts.
AMV BDDO worked closely with developers at Conversocial and the Mars client team. Together they built a fully animated world to engage consumers and drive engagement through branded content in paid media.
The messenger bot launched on Thursday 21 May; with digital content running in the US and UK across Facebook and Instagram.
Pet Health Pal is the first resource of its kind and topics covered include the effect of Covid-19 on pets; feeding cats and dogs; and animal wellbeing. During this pandemic, improvement of digestion, boosting the immune system, improving their skin and coat, and many other things are imperative to ensure pets’ well-being. Pet owners may want to add supplements from Ultimate Pet Nutrition and similar online stores to compensate for a lack of nutrition in their homemade diet. This could help pets remain healthy so they can enjoy all of their adventures along with their owners.
As Mars accelerates its agenda on pet parent centricity, the bot is a great example of the brand providing value through utility by genuinely understanding what people need.
To access Pet Health Pal, pet owners can visit Pedigree.com or Whiskas.com; or go to the global Waltham Petcare Science Institute Facebook page for more information.
Pet owners’ concerns
“Pet owners are especially concerned about keeping their pets happy and healthy right now, but it is difficult to keep up with the rapidly changing landscape,” said Dr. Rena Crumplen, Global Vice President of Research and Development at Mars Petcare.
“The Pet Health Pal is our way of helping to ease pet owners’ minds with simple, credible information, so they can give their pets the best care possible.”
Brian Williamson, Senior Strategist at AMV BBDO said: “In a moment when pet owners may be feeling anxious or confused, the Pet Health Pal is a warm and conversational way to give them the information they need to feel secure.”
“The Pet Health Pal was a wonderful opportunity to make Mars Petcare’s incredible scientific knowledge accessible to all. At a time when they need it most.”