Introducing Juniper Pet Club
A community for Gen-Z & Millennial pet parents who are “a little extra”
Calling all dog parents! Last year we did the branding for Juniper Pet Club, a new community for Gen-Z & Millennial dog parents who see their pups more like kids.
Today I want to pull back the curtain on our creative process, including fun tips for how we leveraged AI.
But first, let’s set the stage ✨
Put a finger down if this sounds like you:
You adopt a dog.
You fall in love, and want to give it the world.
But tracking down the best info is proving impossible because it’s spread out across TikTok, Instagram, & FB groups.
Pet owners deserve a single source of truth.
That was serial entrepreneur Allison Medina’s 👑 experience after adopting her pup, Addy.
She saw an opportunity to build a community for modern-day pet parents — to share key information and give them a place to converse.
Setting the table
Through a series of interviews & workshops we helped Allison articulate her vision for the kind of brand she wanted to build.
That started with her target audience: The kind of dog owners who are “a little extra” about their pets.
You know the kind of person who throws a birthday party for their dog? That’s who we’re going after.
(um hi 🙋)
Attention-worthy brands are built on unspoken human truths.
For Juniper, Allison had a unique realization about modern dog parents: Dogs are an extension of their identity. Unlike their parent’s generation, just meeting their needs isn’t enough. It’s important for them to do a good job; not just for their dog, but for themselves.
Brand strategy
To make these crazy, obsessed dog parents feel seen.
While most pet companies design put their animals front & center, we saw an opportunity to tell a story around their owners.
The ingredients make the meal
As part of the Off-Menu process, we run a reference workshop to see how far we can push the brand & learn more about which storytelling ingredients truly resonate
We came up with 3 distinct territories:
Leisure Woof
Y2K Puppy love
Adventure Guide
Let's break them down individually.
Reference 01: Leisure Woof
A fresh take on the outdated concept of a country club…but for dogs & their owners.
Specially designed to *welcome* the next generation of pet parents while paying homage to yesteryears social clubs.
Reference 02: Y2K Puppy Love
An ode to internet native aesthetic, designed to celebrate very good dogs and their parents who can juggle being the Best Pet Parent™ with being chronically online.
Reference 03: Adventure Guide
In a world where getting a dog is the ultimate adventure, Juniper is all about pointing the modern day dog parent in the right direction.
We ❤️ feedback
These references helped us get a sense for which imagery, metaphors, & specific examples resonated before we built out creative concepts.
This goes a long way in helping us capture your creative vision before pushing any pixels.
Which led us to our first brand concept
A combination of “Leisure Woof” & “Adventure Guide” elements paired with a fresh take on a *Catskills inspired* country club filled with adventure, the outdoors & (naturally) dogs sporting sunglasses.
Our color palette & art direction paid homage to the great outdoors, leveraging Mid Journey prompts to generate a series of canines on a variety of outdoor backgrounds, which saved on costs as we went to market.
Drawing inspiration from literal dog tags, we wanted to give owners a symbol to wear loud & proud whether it be through merch or as a stamp-of-approval for brands deemed “for the obsessed.”
Here’s the other concept that didn’t make the cut
We called it “Urban Canine Club,” a more modern direction designed to highlight the next generation of pet parents and their dogs.
Bringing the brand to life
When you have a solid understanding of what makes you memorable, new creative possibilities begin to emerge.
Building on Juniper’s new-found identity, we dreamed up features to help dog parents tell their story, like the “The Underdog Awards”
Pet + owner blend
Building on our core insight that dog owners get their sense of identity from their pets, we leveraged AI to generate images of what dogs & their owners combined might look like. While this never went live, it was one of our favorite ideas.
Designed to earn attention
We helped bring Juniper to life in just a matter of months. Upon launch, the brand soared on Product Hunt & picked up coverage of local pet publications.
If your dog is your bestie, you need Juniper: https://www.juniperpet.co/
Credits
Client: Allison Medina 👑
Brand strategy: Elan Miller
Brand identity: Ryan Haskins
Web design: Ryan Haskins, Sania Saleh
Web development: Sania Saleh