StormBrands continues its creative partnership with Pets at Home with the launch of Noble – their new premium yet affordable pet accessories brand. The brand, design and communications agency worked on the naming, creative expression and launch of Noble, helping announce the trusted retailer’s new lifestyle-inspired range. STORMBRANDS’ brand comms idea “An Instinct for Style” introduces the UK to a series of characterful pets, with a campaign that captures their envious reactions when encountering Noble accessories for the first time.

The premium accessories space presents a huge opportunity for Pets at Home. The number of younger pet owners has not only increased, this new breed of shopper is also spending more on the kinds of pet products that reflect their own values and style. Over the last few years, many new pet accessories brands have entered the market: both smaller challenger brands and high-street fashion brands launching pet lines. With a lot of them positioning themselves as high-end pet fashion, there was an opportunity to highlight Pets at Home’s qualities as a trusted retailer for products that work and deliver the best experience for pets at an accessible price.

StormBrands started by delving into the patterns and insights that might drive purchase behaviour, finding that today’s consumers share a life with pets like never before. From there, they decided that the campaign’s pet-to-parent relationship and product-to-habitat aesthetic needed to feel seamless. Collars, leads, harnesses and beds express a sense of style and luxury that reflects the owner’s taste and their feelings towards their furry family members.

Affordable style, contemporary swagger

Choosing the name Noble, StormBrands created an aspirational brand that delivers associations of heritage with a waggle of contemporary swagger. Everything about the brand world – from identity to packaging, to comms launch – was designed to live up to the promise the Noble name was making. The brand idea also talks to a price savvy audience who want pet products that turn heads without breaking the bank.

StormBrands crafted a brand architecture for Noble that covered a number of accessories categories: bedding, walking, fashion, feeding and travel. Linking all those together is the brand wordmark which takes it cues from the fashion world, with special attention to the kerning and flicks and kicks of the ascenders and descenders to give it an elevated feeling. And, where space allows, always locked up with ‘Crafted by Pets’, as a link back to the expertise and knowledge the Pets at Home masterbrand offers.

The agency leveraged the ‘O’ within the brand name to use as an icon, echoing a pendant or tag on a collar. On smaller formats it’s used as a monogram synonymous with the brand ID. It can be embossed or embroidered onto the accessories themselves or used as a pattern in the packaging and product wrapping. The labels, hangers and packaging are given a sensorial luxurious feel with thick textured stock and multiple leaves providing a sense of discovery. The premium aesthetic is further supported through tone of voice, informative technical illustrations, beautifully shot photography and gold foil detail.

The doggy double-take

StormBrands brought “An Instinct for Style” to life as a comms platform in a distinctive and ownable way by capturing moments when passing pets give an envious glance or longing stare towards Noble’s unmistakable style. It’s a double-take that sets some pets, and this campaign, apart. While the images hero pet interactions, they also feature hints of pet parents to convey the closeness of the relationship shared, extending to the way they dress and live.

With this project, StormBrands delivered a differentiated and elevated brand identity, with a strong and easy to implement label design that considers future categories. The brand shifts pet accessories from a functional choice to a more aspirational and emotive purchase. Noble gives reason to current and new pet-parents to step into a premium world that reflects their own values and style. It also elevates the Pets at Home masterbrand, helping people see it as a destination for style and lifestyle as well as expertise.

Seamless style for younger pet parents

“Working so collaboratively with StormBrands on this has set us up for future growth with a brand that is elevated and aspirational, yet has bags of character,” said Kristina Potts, Pets at Home Senior Brand Manager. “The creative is pitched perfectly to appeal to the next wave of younger consumers looking for pet accessories that match their values and style, as well as our core audience. The comms platform provides us with the tools to easily promote our growing range and continue to build equity and recognition in the Noble brand.”

Jessica Carter, StormBrands Account Director said: “Starting with a blank canvas is always an exciting challenge, particularly for a stylish new pet brand with such mainstream potential. Pets at Home is known for expertise, trust and experience, but with this launch we tapped into the emotive feeling of the new Noble brand, as well as the products themselves. Also, because we created the brand and the comms that sprang from it, we could see what’s coming down the line, so we could plan for it and make sure that every element is consistent.”