Creative Case Study
Zesty Paws.
Capturing Pet Owner Emotion to Drive Product Adoption.
Zesty Paws partnered with One Day Agency to support the launch of a new cat diffuser product alongside existing dog calming chews, targeting a key seasonal window where demand for pet calming solutions peaks.
From September through to December, the UK market sees a significant rise in pet anxiety driven by increased travel, social gatherings and major calendar events such as Bonfire Night and New Year celebrations. These moments create heightened emotional awareness among pet owners, presenting an opportunity to connect through timely and relevant messaging.
The campaign combined proximity-based Out-of-Home placements with emotionally driven YouTube video content. This ensured strong visibility in high pet-density areas while using storytelling to engage owners at moments when concern for their pets was most acute.
Services: Concept Development · Creative Direction · AI Image & Video Production · Motion Graphics · Graphic Design · OOH Creative · Copywriting · Sound Design
Objectives
Use storytelling in YouTube video to trigger key pet owner emotions such as worry, guilt, care and protection
Build situational relevance through Out-of-Home placements in high pet-density and urban areas
Capitalise on seasonal moments such as Bonfire Night to drive urgency and emotional engagement
Creative Approach
The creative strategy centred on emotional storytelling, using real-life scenarios that pet owners could instantly recognise and relate to. Rather than focusing purely on product features, the campaign positioned Zesty Paws as a solution to a widely understood problem, grounding the messaging in empathy and lived experience.
With limited original assets available, the use of generative AI allowed for the production of high-quality visuals and video content that matched the brand’s premium positioning.
The creative balanced emotional storytelling with clear product communication. Scenes of pet distress were contrasted with calm, reassuring moments, visually demonstrating the product’s impact. Supporting this, messaging incorporated key product claims and performance indicators to build trust and reinforce credibility.
The approach was designed to work cohesively across channels. Out-of-Home creative focused on immediate visual impact and situational relevance, while YouTube video allowed for deeper storytelling. Together, they created a connected journey, moving audiences from awareness to consideration with consistent messaging and visual cues.
Creative Execution
Out-of-Home creative focused on simplicity and clarity, using AI-generated imagery to create a premium and calming visual style. Pets were placed at the centre of each execution, supported by soft visual elements such as cloud-like forms to represent calmness and relief. Subtle references to fireworks were included in the background to anchor the creative in its seasonal context.
The layout was structured to balance emotional imagery with product visibility. Clear product shots, key messaging and purchase cues were integrated into the design, ensuring that the creative not only captured attention but also communicated how and where to buy. Promotional messaging was introduced through secondary graphic elements to maintain hierarchy and readability.
Video creative followed a clear narrative structure designed to maximise engagement and communicate the product benefit quickly. Each execution opened with immediate brand identification and a strong seasonal hook, using fireworks alongside a relatable scene of pet distress to capture attention and reflect a situation many owners would recognise. This was reinforced with pet sounds and firework sound effects, helping to create instant emotional impact at the very start of the video. The narrative then moved into the solution, introducing the product with its key benefits and credentials. Visual contrast played an important role here, shifting from anxious, unsettled scenes to calmer, more relaxed outcomes. Each video closed with a direct call to action, making it clear where the product could be purchased and highlighting the active offer. The framework was used across both cat and dog products, enabling efficient production while maintaining a consistent brand presence across formats.
Deliverables and Results
Digital: YouTube video assets in both non-skippable (up to 15 seconds) and skippable (up to 30 seconds) formats. The campaign delivered consistent reach in its early phase, before performance accelerated following optimisation towards traffic. Daily click volumes increased significantly, demonstrating the effectiveness of combining emotional storytelling with clear calls to action.
1.62m
Impressions
18,427
Link Clicks
Out-of-Home: Formats including a 48 Sheet and Digital 6 Sheet.
3.47m
Estimated Impressions
7,308
Additional Digital Plays delivered through overshow
Outcome
The campaign positioned Zesty Paws as a timely solution during a peak seasonal period, using emotionally resonant creative tied to real-world triggers such as fireworks and travel. By combining Out-of-Home visibility with story-led video and using AI to scale high-quality production from limited assets, the campaign strengthened brand presence, drove engagement and supported performance during a critical trading window.