P.L.A.Y. is a retailer of high-end pet accessories designed with people, pets, and the planet in mind. The company’s story stems from their desire to create a better dog bed – with higher quality, better designed, and more aesthetically appealing products. Nebo was tasked with creating a website that asserted the retailer’s personality and value in a crowded, low-end marketplace.

BRAND & AUDIENCE INSIGHTS

P.L.A.Y. wanted to cater to people who treated the lifestyle and décor of their pets as an extension of their own high-end lifestyle. Many other pet retail outlets treated their décor products like cheap commodities, and P.L.A.Y. wanted to raise the bar. In addition, since these high-end pet owners are passionate about their pets, P.L.A.Y. also wanted to establish brand loyalty and fans of the product from the start. It was Nebo’s mission to help create the foundation of this brand loyalty through the website’s customer experience.

SOLVING THE PROBLEM

To introduce the upstart brand, Nebo created an ecommerce site that doesn’t feel like an ecommerce site. Instead, the site both establishes P.L.A.Y.’s identity while featuring a highly customized enterprise-level content management system. The customized ecommerce site is especially tailored to P.L.A.Y.’s target customer, offering a variety of functionality to enhance the experience of ordering products (e.g. choosing colors, browsing through products, etc.). Both the website and ecommerce capabilities allowed P.L.A.Y. to fully market to general consumers and establish a positive brand connection early in the company’s history.

In addition to the site, Nebo worked with P.L.A.Y. to develop a “grassroots” social media campaign that uses spontaneous events along with blogs and other media to engage pet owners and build brand awareness. These efforts also helped P.L.A.Y. expand beyond its San Francisco origin and reach customers around the world. As a result of Nebo’s efforts, P.L.A.Y. has a unified brand with a clear voice and recognizable image. P.L.A.Y. continues to evolve and grow, and Nebo has provided its mindshare to help ensure the company’s website, brand, and customer experience remain fresh and exciting.