As the provider of accessories, snacks and treats for South Africa’s beloved furry, winged and scaled friends since 1945, Marltons understands pets. They understand them so well, in fact, that they’ve launched the country’s first Pets News Network (PNN), a news platform where anchors from various pet species will give the nation the low down on breaking news, straight from the frontlines of the back yard.
Launching on 18 November 2021, with episodes airing monthly across Marltons’ social media platforms, the campaign aims to capture the hearts of South African pet owners.
“We have always inherently believed that there is an unbreakable connection between pets and their humans,” said Gavin Miller, managing director at Marltons. “We are tapping into that connection from the pets’ ‘paws-pective’ and giving them a voice that is sometimes humorous, other times serious, but always sincere and straight from the heart to resonate with our audience and motivate them to seek out those unique Marltons products that will enhance the life of their pets.”
Chewie du Toy, an adorable pug and PNN’s main news anchor, was unavailable for comment about the launch of the news network as he was busy chasing a hadeda, but there is much excitement from the Marltons marketing team regarding the campaign. “We are so excited to see PNN come to life. Pets and their needs are at the heart of what we do and to see them engage with the public in such a fun and endearing way truly brings the essence of what the Marltons brand is all about to the fore,” said Justine Gatter, head of marketing at Marltons, who has been working closely with the marketing team in recent months to launch the campaign.
Marltons is also deeply invested in helping homeless pets find their forever homes through their partnerships with Woodrock Animal Rescue and their Pup-Pop-Ups in Johannesburg and the Woof Project in Cape Town.
“Although PNN is a light-hearted take on what our pets are thinking, it also gives us a platform to highlight some of the more serious issues related to animal welfare. Throughout the campaign, we will highlight our animal adoption initiatives, as well as relevant information around petcare, responsibility around holidays and days of celebration, pets’ mental health and wellbeing, exercise and fitness, and so forth. Our primary objective, as with all our marketing efforts, is to place pet wellbeing at the forefront to ensure our customers have the resources they need so that their pets can lead healthy, fun and comfortable lifestyles and are taken care of in the best way possible,” Miller concluded.
