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Gain access to a FREE report about why a grooming kit was able to generate $1.4M in sales in just 90 days through TikTok.

THIS WEEK'S TOPICS:

• 🖼️ How Glowing Memory is earning $400K making you cry over your dog

• 🔥 The hottest dog trends in 2024

• 📉 Another pet industry IPO

🖼️ HOW GLOWING MEMORY IS EARNING $400K MAKING YOU CRY OVER YOUR DOG

In the smartphone age, where memories (good and bad) are often confined to depths of your infinite camera roll, a simple analog business has emerged to bring a permanent and bright reminder of your pup.

Glowing Memory, a company specializing in custom light portraits, has tapped into the deep emotional connection between humans and their canine companions, offering a simple way to memorialize dogs who have crossed the rainbow 🌈 bridge.

They claimed to have made over 4,000 of these portraits, which go for ~$100 a pop, so that would mean they’ve generated at least $400K in revenue.

The Art of Remembrance

At the heart of Glowing Memory's offering is a neatly crafted, illuminated portrait that transforms a pet's photograph into a Disney-style artwork set against a vibrant rainbow backdrop. 

This artistic choice is far from arbitrary; it symbolizes the popular notion of the "rainbow bridge," a concept that brings comfort to many pet owners, imagining their furry friends in a peaceful afterlife.

The company's process is very straightforward.

Pet parents simply upload a photo of their dog, choose their preferred frame color, and within days, receive a digital proof of their custom artwork. 

Emotional Marketing in the TikTok Era

What sets Glowing Memory apart is not just their product, but their marketing strategy.

Recognizing the power of social media, particularly TikTok, the company has crafted emotionally charged videos that resonate deeply with their target audience. 

These short clips often feature heart-wrenching moments of pet owners receiving their illuminated portraits, their faces a mixture of joy and bittersweet remembrance.

The company's TikTok presence (@glowingmemorystore) has become a cornerstone of their marketing efforts.

One particular video showcases a customer's reaction to receiving their pet's portrait, set to emotive music that amplifies the emotional impact.

@glowingmemorystore

This had me bawling like a baby😭❤️ #dogloss #doggrief #rainbowbridge #dogsoftiktok

This approach taps into the platform's ability to deliver short, powerful content that can quickly go viral, spreading awareness and touching hearts simultaneously.

HOWEVER it seems that many clips are recycled into multiple videos and storylines, so if you were to scroll through their profile it could be interpreted as a little bit disingenuous.

More Than Just a Product

Glowing Memory's success lies in understanding that they're not just selling a product; they're offering a form of healing which every grieving pet owner struggles immensely with.

For many, the loss of a pet leaves a gaping void. These illuminated portraits serve as a warm, glowing reminder of the joy and companionship their dogs brought into their lives.

🔥 THE HOTTEST DOG TRENDS IN 2024

The APPA's 2024 dog and cat report is out!

What is the APPA, what is the report, and why should we care?

Right, right, good questions. Sorry, sometimes we get ahead of ourselves.

Backing up a bit, the APPA (American Pet Products Association) is a trade association that is basically the overlord of all things pet-related in the U.S. Founded in 1958, the group represents the vast universe of pet products—from doggy probiotics to gourmet cat food—by serving its 1,300+ members (think manufacturers, product buyers, importers, etc within the industry) with industry insights and trends.

Their annual surveys are the bible for pet product manufacturers, retailers, and anyone curious about just how far people are willing to go to pamper their pets (hint: very far).

So for anyone in the dog space, this is a great way to identify areas of opportunity!

The APPA's job is to remind us that even in times of inflation and economic turmoil, we'll still drop cash on calming chews and personalized birthday cakes for our furry overlords.

The Report

Now we are just bringing you the highlights because we didn't shell out for the full thing, but it's a 200+ page report containing a lot of data as well as strategic insights for any pet industry business.

There were 5 key findings in this report that felt notable, and we brainstormed some quick ideas of opportunity for each.

1. Calming products are on the rise

• Use of calming products has risen by 168% for dogs since 2018

• 59% of owners use some sort of calming product, up from 22%

For business owners, there is a clear growing demand for products that help with anxiety or general mood.

How does your business currently incorporate this trend?

Maybe you sell products, or maybe you sell services.

Either way, it could be time to review if your marketing messages relate to calming, because consumers seem to be more focused on it.

2. Obesity is being diagnosed more

• 12% of dog owners say that their vet considers their pet obese, up from 9% in 2022

• 11% of owners report their dog is on a weight loss diet, up from 9%

While not as big of an increase as calming products, obesity is slowly creeping up (sorry, no doggy ozempic yet).

Some potential opportunities could be creating content specifically for weight loss (programs, guides, etc).

Or talk to local vets and see if they offer any weight loss programs to see if you could partner to provide some hands on guidance around nutrition and exercise (with the property certifications of course!).

3. Vitamins and Supplements are up 50% since 2018

• Particularly prebiotic and probiotic supplements, which have risen from 17% to 21% from 2018

Not as much to do with this one.

If you sell products, make sure that you have a good range of supplements. One interesting idea is to get breed specific.

Sure there are multivitamins, but what about multivitamins specifically formulated for pugs?

This limits your market, but allows you to potentially better sell to those owners over general options.

4. Pet owners are prioritizing quality time with their pets

• Dog owners are taking their dogs to parks (58%) and bringing them on daily routines and errands more often

• Dog and cat owners are buying more gifts and hosting more parties for their pets. 44% up from 36% in 2022

• Pet birthday parties are increasingly popular, with 27% of owners hosting a bday party for their pup

Depending on your area, a quick google search for "Dog Birthday" doesn't yield ANY local results.

Where are the bday party planners!?

Now you aren't going to be able to command the same $ as a kids bday party, but you could offer some basic bday packages.

Our first idea is a location to host the party (indoor, with some fun obstacles and toys).

Or you could drop off a variety of fun toys and treats (bday cakes, etc). Something fun like SwiftPaws that they may not have access to normally

Pets are traveling more and more

• Among dog owners, 34% have taken their dogs on 3 or more trips in the last year

• 68% of owners have traveled with their pet by plane (we are a little skeptical of this one)

We've seen everything from dog focused airlines to dog specific travel blogs.

Our suggestion is look at any travel services for people, and just do it for dogs.

This is probably better suited as an add-on to existing travel amenities (ex. partner with hotels to offer grooming services), but there may be some good stand alone ideas as well.

As a bonus, there were a few other tidbits in there that aren't as much opportunities, but always interesting to learn:

• The average surgical vet visit costs $624

• Boarding costs have 2x’d in the last 10 years

• Pet ownership has actually come back down to the lowest rates since 2010

📉 ANOTHER PET INDUSTRY IPO

In the past we've covered the growing private equity investments in the pet industry along with the consolidations seen in larger players, especially in the vet space.

Most of those companies are privately held, so information is sparse and hard to find.

However we found one exception, which we believe is the only publicly traded vet services company.

The company we dig into today is Inspire Veterinary Partners, the most recent (Aug '23) pet industry IPO.0

Who is Inspire?

Inspire was founded in 2021 by Kimball Carr, who saw an opportunity to capitalize on the growing vet trends, but with a twist on the private equity acquisition strategy.

That twist is that instead of focusing on shorter terms purchases, Inspire looks to hold businesses for the long haul while giving employees equity so they can participate in any growth.

In their minds, most profit focused PE rollups misalign the incentives and are too focused on quick profits vs. long term business (and customer) health.

Additionally, they felt staffing would be one of the biggest challenges in the industry, and by giving employees equity, they would have a competitive advantage.

Inspire allows acquired brands to maintain their practice methods, while slowly starting to work with them to improve costs and revenue.

The idea is that they can appeal to practice owners that are worried about selling out to big business.

How are things going?

Well, not great.

Inspire went public in August of 2023 on the NASDAQ (ticker IVP) with a $4.00 price per share to raise $6.4million.

Since then, their stock has slumped to under a dollar.

Their CEO attributes this to a sell off from current shareholders using the IPO as an opportunity to cash out.

Additionally, when we look at their quarterly financial reports, they have struggled to grow revenue and get profitable.

They've been able to slowly trim expenses, but not by much.

At the point of going public, IVP owned 13 practices and reported revenue at $9.8m, with a target to acquire 10 more practices each year.

Their CEO has announced that despite the poor stock performance, they are continuing on with their acquisition strategy to grow the company.

Just a few months ago, they announced they were progressing with the acquisition of Vetsie.ai, an AI enabled platform for vets to manage patient records and administrative tasks.

The assumption is this is the first step in them looking to help their current practices and future acquisitions streamline operations to increase profits.

It's kind of a bummer to see the company's stock stumble as we can connect with a lot of their ideals, such as giving employees equity, and their focus on longer term profits by doing right by their clients and acquisitions.

Hopefully the value the market has given them is a short term hurdle as they try to execute on their plan.

DOGGYDEX™

Winner 🏆: BITCOIN

Proudly introducing the DoggyDex™, an index comprised of 10 publicly traded companies whose primary focus is the dog/pet industry.

List of tickers used can be found at the very bottom of the newsletter.

The yellow line-plot in the chart represents these companies above (DoggyDex™) and their combined performance against both the S&P 500 and Bitcoin on a weekly basis.

Pawformance is measured by % gains & losses.

• 🥇 2024 World’s Cutest Rescue Dog: A cookies n’ cream 3-year old pit mix is the first of her breed to bring home the title.

• ⛰️ 150 acred mountaintop dog oasis: Nestled in the mountains of Vermont is Dog Mountain, a property with trails, lakes and even a dog chapel!

• 🥹 Pug parents to-be get ultrasound: Watch this adorable Pug couple get an ultrasound for their puppies to come!

• $CHWY - Chewy: E-commerce platform for pet supplies

• $IDXX - Idexx Labs: Vet point of care instruments and vet software

• $FRPT - Fresh Pet: Pet food company

• $PETQ - PetIQ: Pet health products and medicines

• $PETS - PetMeds: Online pet pharmacy

• $ZTS - Zoetis: World's largest producer of meds and vaccines for pets and livestock

• $TRUP - Trupanion: Pet insurance company

• $WOOF - Petco Health & Wellness co.: Pet health & wellness company

• $BARK - BarkBox: Subscription service providing dog products, services, and experiences

• $PET - Wag! Group Co.: Tech platform that allows pet owners to connect with industry professionals for services such as, walking, training, etc.