The new Canadian pet tech brand Pawzy launched in October 2019 with a vision to become pet parents' trusted health and wellness advisor.
Pet care is an $8 billion industry in Canada and $70 billion in the United States, and consumer spending has increased nearly 30% over the last five years in North America. PetTech is ramping up in the US, where pet wearables, health trackers, dog walking apps and telehealth are seeing major VC investments and consumer adoption. Canada is poised for innovation. Pawzy founder Kerri-Lynn McAllister saw an opportunity to build a better online marketplace in Canada for pet health services after struggling to find basic, affordable care for her dog Kingston’s dental work.
The Future is Furry (October 2019):
Pawzy launched in 2019 as a first-of-its-kind resource for superior pet information, starting with dogs. Site features include a dog breed selector tool, connections to 400 registered breeders and verified adoption sites from one platform (a first for Canada), and 100+ in-depth breed guides with detailed vet-approved information. Future tools include additional pet types for care, and a Vet Finder comparison tool to help Canadians make better informed pet care choices. Pawzy required a PR support to bring awareness to the new pet brand, to start building relationships with media and influencers, and to drive traffic to its newly-launched website resource.
PR Approach
The launch was supported by a combination of media and influencer relations. Press efforts were led by new commissioned survey data on pet ownership trends to create a newsy hook, especially important when the brand name was still unknown. A launch event was leveraged to build additional awareness, where we engaged key lifestyle media for relationship-building and the uber-important “dog”fluencer audience for additional public awareness with pet owners.
Results
Pawzy was featured in key major media outlets at launch, including CP24, Global News TV Kingston and Toronto, BetaKit, and Postmedia at launch and through to the end of the year. The October launch party was attended by 15 key influencers and top-tier producers and reporters.
PR services included a launch press release, media list development, pitching and interview prep, party invites, party logistics (venue booking and run of show), reception and media/influencer on-site handling. Ongoing media relations included a pitch competition win announcement, and holiday gifting tips.
Key Coverage:
Pawzy.co offers one-stop shopping for pet owners (Toronto Sun)
A new Canadian website offers a complete platform of services for dog owners (Global)
Trendy Halloween costumes for pets (Global News Morning)
PET TECH STARTUP PAWZY WINS QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY PITCH COMPETITION (BetaKit)