Xu Wenjun,Li Yiyu,Song Qiaoqiao

Jinhua Jumei Network Technology Co.,Ltd.,China

In early 2020,Perfect Diary,inspired by the livestreaming shopping influencer Li Jiaqi’s pet dog Never,launched the new “Discovery” twelveshade cute pet eye shadow series.An inventory of 150,000 items was emptied within seconds in Li Jiaqi’s livestreaming channel.Afterwards,revolving around the theme of Never,Li Jiaqi launched the IP of Never’s family,as well as a co-branded gift box of moisturizing and firming masks with Fresh.In addition,he also co-branded with many brands such as Bananain and RIMOWA,filmed with his pet dog on the inside pages of the fashion magazine Bazaar,appeared in an MV named Buy It,and participated in the variety show Forget Me Not Café in which an oラine event of Never’s family café was held…

At present,Never’s family now has its own“super topic” on Weibo,with nearly 429,000 fans,who call themselves “inever.” Related Weibo hashtags like #The official debut of Never’s family#and #The school diary of Never’s family# both receive 330 million times of reading,and it seems that Never has already become a famous star.

Pet marketing to mobilize consumer enthusiasm

As a matter of fact,pet bloggers like Never’s family are not uncommon.According to the 2020 “Pet Economy” Research Report under the Cute Pet Content Ecology released by Topklout,from January to October 2020,the average fan growth rate of top cute pet KOLs on platforms such as TikTok and Kuaishou is higher than that of other top KOLs on the platforms.

The 2020 Kuaishou Pet Ecology Report also shows that from September 2019 to May 2020,the number of vertical viewers of Kuaishou pet category increased from 50 million to 100 million,and the number of cute pet videos increased by nearly 30%during the same period.The highest daily view counts of pet short videos reach 700 million.

Behind the cute pet videos are the huge group of philanthropic pet lovers who enjoy “online cat petting” and “online dog petting”.Most of these people do not have pets in real life,but this do not prevent them from showing their passion for pets,which makes cute pet bloggers a new nugget for many brands.

Wetcode has cooperated with TikTok pet blogger@jinmaoluhu(meaning “Rover the golden retriever”in Chinese,TikTok account “JMLH0606”)and implanted in the form of a melodrama:Mom works overtime late at night and has skin problems such as dark circles and fine lines.The Golden Retriever named Rover does hard manual work to buy her the Wetcode Dual-Peptides Firming Anti-Wrinkle Eyecream.This video advertisement not only exposes the brand and its product in multiple forms,but also fits the blogger’s warm and touching daily posts.

In another case,Niaoniao is a cat blogger,and he has also cooperated with Afu Essential Oil and received 1.779 million likes;Ke Ming and four bear children have promoted Dyson’s hair dryer;Wang Paofu’s TikTok merchandise window displays many kinds of pet toiletries such as pet’s skin &coat care powder,deodorant,and so on.

Cute pet bloggers are a very direct way to promote pet care brands.At the same time,some nonpet-related brands can also be implanted into their posts through daily content sharing or situational drama.Meanwhile,many brands,like Perfect Diary,rely on co-branding and the image of cute pets to attract people in this circle to expand the brand’s influence.The “Cat’s Paw Cup” released by Starbucks in 2019 caused a lot of netizens to snap up purchases.The price was once hyped to over 1,000 RMB in Xianyu,a second hand transition platform launched by Alibaba;Nayuki once launched a catthemed “cat-sucking” event;HEYTEA also opened its pet-friendly theme stores in October 2020.

In the beauty industry,the newly-emerged brand Venus Marble once launched the cat-keepers’favorite “cat series,” with six eye shadow palettes corresponding to six different breeds of cats,including Sphynx hairless cats,puppet cats,and Siamese cats.In 2020 the Garfield palette and the leopard cat palette will be added to the series,which perfectly combines the versatility of cat breeds with the play of colors in eye shadow products.PAUL &JOE is well known among netizens for its masterful integration of cat elements into the “soul” of its products,including cats and flowers,cats and wine,cat-shaped lipstick,etc.Other examples include Judydoll’s “cat’s paw” palette,PWU’s cat’s paw mite repellent soap,the Love Bear series of Flowers knows,etc.Such brand products make full use of cute pets elements to mobilize the purchasing enthusiasm of pet lovers.

A great number of companies entering pet care market

Speaking of pets,it is necessary to mention a series of related industries,i.e.pet food,pet medical care,pet toiletries,pet insurance,etc.In the past two years,more specialized subdivisions like pet schooling,pet weddings,pet funerals,pet hotels,and pet robots have also emerged.In the area of pet toiletries,we can also see that in addition to various functional shower gels and shampoos,there also appear more refined care products like hair conditioners,skin &coat care powder,foot care cream,hair conditioner essence spray,massage essence oil,ear-protection gel,spa-level deep nourishing care set and so on.

According to data from 2020 China Pet Industry White Paper,the number of dogs and cats in cities and towns across China reaches 1,084 million in 2020,increasing by 1.7% from 2019,exceeding the 100 million mark for the first time;and the scale of the consumer market has also expanded to 206.5 billion yuan.In the meantime,the report points out that as many as 89.5% of the pet owners are female consumers,and that pet owners with a monthly income of more than 4,000 yuan account for 77.7%,and those with a monthly income of more than 10,000 yuan occupy 30.1%.Pet keepers do not hesitate to spend money on pets,and some are even willing to eat frugally on their own in order to make sure their “pet masters” eat and drink well.Attracted by this huge consumer market,companies and brands attempt to enter the game in succession.

DOLI PLANET,a pet brand under Unilever,has also been launched recently.The brand has designed products that focus on the four common problems of pets,i.e.bacteria and mites,sensitiveness to odors,sensitive skin and hair health.

At present,there are many products on the online shelves in the brand’s flagship store,such as sterilization and deodorant,leave-on shower gel for cats,shower gel for dogs,sterilization wipes,etc.The shower gel products for dogs are also divided into various functional subdivisions,for example,whitening and anti-dullness,hair brightening and color fixing,skin disease prevention,etc.,with prices ranging from 39.9 to 199 yuan.

In addition,at the end of 2020,Unilever also launched a cat and dog care brand named Cafuné in Brazil with an PETA(People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)certification.Products of the brand include pet toiletries like shampoos and hair conditioners,as well as household cleaning products for pet owners,such as disinfectants,floor cleaners,and so on.

According to data from the Brazil Pet Research Institute,Brazil has the world’s second largest number of pet cats and dogs,and is also the world’s second largest pet supplies market.Unilever has also established a call center with the new brand this time,with nurses and veterinarians providing assistance to pet owners 24 hours a day.

Bloomage Biotech also launched its first pet brand HYAPAWS in 2020.The brand also makes advantages of Bloomage’s edge in the field of hyaluronic acid(HA)by adding patented hyaluronic acid ingredients cationHA?-Clear1 and mini HA.According to the official introduction offered by the brand,mini HA is a micro-molecule of hyaluronic acid with a molecular weight of less than 10K Daltons,which is more conducive to skin and fur absorption so as to achieve the dual effect of skin cleansing and protecting.So far,the brand has not opened its flagship store on Tmall.Currently,its main sales channel is WeChat Mall.Its products include pet shampoos and leave-on mousses,with a variety of functions such as fluffy shaping,brightening and smoothing,refreshing and deodorant,whose prices range from 156 yuan to 416 yuan.

Cheerwin Group,a subsidiary of Liby Group,was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on March 10th.Cheerwin owns two pet care brands,Stubborn Tail and DUX.Stubborn Tail was established in 2019 and focuses on pet deodorization and antibacterial,and aims at high cost performance;DUX was established in 2020 and positioned as a high-end pet care brand.

According to its prospectus,as of the first nine months of 2020,the revenue of Cheerwin Group’s pet cleaning and care was 9.94 million yuan,accounting for only 0.7% of the group’s total revenue,but its gross profit rate reached 56.3%.The annual gross profit rate reached 63.3%,greatly exceeding the company’s average of about 40%.

In fact,as early as 2016,Kiehl’s launched a For Your Dog series;Pola also has a single product of shower gel customized for pet dogs;Aesop’s pet products are more carefully categorized,including shampoo,coat and hair care,eye,ear and foot care,deodorant and disinfectant,spa and other series.Among them,the shampoo series is also divided into shampoo for white hair and for red brown hair,and the conditioner series is divided into functional products like color fixing,brightening essence milk,plump and fluffy maintenance,moisturizing softening repairing,antibacterial and insect repellent refreshing,etc.

Small market share and lack of top brands

In addition to pet products launched by some well-known companies or brands,many new brands have also emerged in the area of pet care.

Z3 is a new pet cleaning and care brand established in 2020,and it is positioned as a brand covering the whole scene of home cleaning and care.Focusing on the three scenarios of bathing,toileting,and beauty care,it has launched a variety of products,such as “tiny fragrant pot” bath capsules,leave-on bath mousse,hydrating hair conditioner,deodorant spray,tear mark correction fluid,etc.Its star deodorant spray product and disposable spa gloves are sold more than 10,000 pieces monthly on Tmall.

Another brand Cature cuts into the pet care market with its log cat litter,and has gradually expanded its products to many scenes such as oral care,body care,disinfection and deodorization.The products include pet toothbrushes,mouthwashes,tooth cleanser powder,ear washes,and leaveon foot cleansing foam,etc.In early 2020,Cature received a series a funding of nearly 20 million yuan,and established its own pet care product research laboratory CatureLab.It is reported that Cature has incubated multiple sub-brands such as the cat litter brand Maodianxia(meaning “His/Her Royal Highness Cat”),the oral care brand Rollon,and the pet nutrition brand Lililax,which have entered more than 5,000 pet hospitals and physical stores.

In addition,pet brands such as Lorde and Pidan have also launched cleaning and care lines;Xuediao,which is mainly engaged in pet health care products,has a sales revenue of more than 40 million yuan from January to September 2020,its sales volume reaching more than a million;Luxinxian(Losely Favor),established in 2016,has a sales revenue of over 20 million in cat and dog toiletries from January to September 2020.

Cheerwin Group’s prospectus points out facts about the current domestic pet care market that pet care accounted for only 1.2% of China’s daily chemical industry in 2019,but it was the fastestgrowing segment,and its average annual compound growth rate between 2019 and 2024 is expected to reach 17.8%.

However,the 2020 Pet Industry White Paper indicates that in the pet consumption structure,pet owners only spend 13.6% of their consumption expenditure on pet supplies,while pet food is still the majority.The front-line data of daily chemicals also shows that 45.8% of pet owners have no particular preference for shampoo and bath liquid,and 36.5%of consumers will choose foreign imported brands.

The pet care market is growing rapidly,and the gross profit rate is also high.However,compared with Peidi and China Pet Foods,two listed pet food companies in the pet food field,the pet care market share is still small.In addition,there is currently a lack of top brands,and the degree of consumer loyalty and stickiness of are not high enough,revealing that the market is still in a sprouting stage.

At the same time,the area of pet care and washing is actually somehow “in the gray”.There is a lack of a complete domestic system and standard,and market supervision is relatively chaotic.Coupled with the obvious competitive advantages of foreign companies,it takes some time for domestic brands to break out of the siege and occupy market share in the fierce competition.