Case Study
B2C / LIFESTYLE PR

For the love of dog: Helping Kurgo to bark, uhm, speak to the German market

Client

Kurgo
www.kurgo.com

Project date

August 2021 - December 2022

Services

B2C / LIFESTYLE PR

The results

16

MONTHS

56

ARTICLES SECURED

153,8M+

REACH

The brief

When US-based brand Kurgo approached us with whether we could help them with their communications in Germany, we were immediately thrilled (our VP of Happiness and our Chief Chaos Officer were especially thrilled). While the brand already had a high degree of recognition on their home turf, the German market still needed a bit of a nudge towards the brand’s outdoor accessories for dogs. After a few (ok, many) dog-related puns the decision was made, and we decided to conquer the next part of their successful path paw-in-paw, hand-in-hand.

The main goal here was to grow Kurgo’s brand awareness and help boost their business in the German market. At the same time, from the very beginning, it was important for Kurgo to introduce their high-quality products as being built for a lifetime. With some new products in the pipeline, and more or less a blank canvas in the German market, it was time to sniff out animal friendly media and dog loving petfluencers in order to draw their attention to Kurgo.

The campaign

It’s no secret that we at Laika are huge fans of people’s best friend ‒ our nickname, the Space Dogs, says it all. To get the ball rolling, we first reached out to our closest media contacts, of whom we knew were dog owners themselves. Instead of just talking about a product, we wanted them (and their dogs respectively) to experience the Kurgo gear paws-on. Our plan succeeded, and we were able to secure first coverage in the German-speaking media landscape with highlights in outlets such as OUTDOOR Magazin, Merkur, and Ein Herz für Tiere.

After establishing this first important basis and building up some new relationships with editors and journalists, it was time to add some influencer game into the pack. As budget for paid media was out of the question at the time, we solely relied on the product quality to convince authentic (micro) petfluencers and their companions, to give Kurgo’s leashes, harnesses, and other outdoor accessories a chance.

Meanwhile, Kurgo had their first official appearance at one of the industry’s most influential trade fairs: Interzoo. Of course, Laika was there to support Kurgo, drawing the attention of targeted media to their booth. The event was used to not only demonstrate Kurgo’s product lineup, but to also establish additional relevant relationships to consumers and business partners alike. All this work and effort contributed to move Kurgo more into the spotlight, paving the way for the inclusion of their products in product comparisons by such wide-reaching outlets such as Vergleich.org, and Warenvergleich.

While we saw that content for animal and pet media was often difficult to place, we kept sticking to further building genuine relationships with media representatives. And what better way to do so than a dog walk together, where the products would bark, uhm, speak for themselves? Yes, this may take more time, but in the end, it pays off. After organizing two dog walks (one in Hamburg, one in Berlin), we secured coverage in prestigious lifestyle magazines such as Living at Home, Barbara/Brigitte, and Desired.

Nearing the end of the year, we placed Kurgo in a few advent calendars ( strictly using a barter system) to wrap things up, including Hundezeitung, and Hamburgs city magazine, Oxmox.

The results

In the 16 months that we worked together we secured more than 55 clippings―ranging from smaller pet media to well-know and wide-ranging titles such as OUTDOOR, Merkur, Living at Home, and Barbara. Additionally, we supported Kurgo in their preparations for Interzoo and worked with various (micro)influencers to help Kurgo build sustainable relationships with them. As per their initial objective, we successfully increased Kurgo’s brand awareness in the German market, shedding light on their aim to enhance the journeys taken with our dogs through their simple, durable and purposeful design.