Synchrony: Lifetime of Care for Pets

Campaign Summary and Objectives

Millions of Americans choose to share life with a pet and pet ownership grew exponentially during the pandemic. Synchrony, the premier consumer financial services company behind CareCredit and Pets Best Insurance recognized three things:

1. The true cost of pet ownership has been historically vague,

2. Many new and current pet owners were underestimating the cost of care, and

3. Veterinary professionals needed more support and resources to help them effectively communicate with pet owners the true cost of care for a pet.

 

In the eight years since it was born out of GE, the company was ubiquitous in more than 70 million consumer wallets, but its role in people’s lifestyles was not well understood. Additionally, the modernization of payment solutions helped the company expand from B2B to a direct-to-consumer offering, making it critical for the business to pivot its communication strategy to drive awareness with consumers.

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The company looked to create a campaign that was a catalyst for consumer awareness, that helped dimensionalize the value and use cases for its financial solutions. It used the newly unified pet business to put a bold stake in the ground, carving out white space territory in the industry by becoming the ultimate authority on pet parent costs. This not only leaned into its deep expertise and equity in finance and payments, but also furthered its mission of being the only company that – with its comprehensive set of financial solutions – can support a lifetime of care for pets everywhere.

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To do so, the company commissioned a comprehensive study, “Lifetime of Care,” the first-of-its-kind to include a complete list of pet costs during a 15-year lifespan and verify the data and findings with the veterinarian community. The research covered an exhaustive list of dog and cat expenses, from first-year expenses to food and health insurance, to end-of-life expenses.

 

Research and insights

The leaders of the company’s Pet business saw pet ownership and pet spend rising dramatically in the U.S. – 90.5 million homes include a pet and $123.6 billion was spent on pet care in 2021 alone – yet financial unpreparedness held steady as the #1 barrier to veterinary care for all pet owners, and there were minimal tools, resources and information to better prepare them.

 

To build this first ever “Lifetime of Care” study, they surveyed 1,200 pet owners and verified the results with 100 veterinarians. The research covered an exhaustive list of dog and cat expenses, from first-year expenses (spaying/neutering, vaccinations, pet supplies) to food and health insurance, to emergency or unexpected costs, to end-of-life expenses.

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The results were staggering. The study revealed U.S. pet owners spend as much as $55,000 during a pet’s lifetime and drastically underestimate the cost of care – nearly 30 million U.S. households will face an unexpected pet expense that will cause them worry.

 

Strategy

The company sought to establish the definitive data set capturing the lifetime of care for pet ownership and educate veterinarians and pet owners alike on the tools and solutions available to them – including Pets Best and CareCredit – to provide that care to their beloved pets. Through a multi-faceted campaign, the company wanted to transform the conversation between pet owners and veterinarians about financially responsible pet ownership, ultimately increasing the number of pet parents who were prepared for the important commitment of owning a pet. To accomplish that goal, the Pet team employed the following strategy:

• Using the significant increase in pandemic pet ownership to spark this important and relevant conversation.

• Aligning with high-profile pet influencers to further the conversation on the true cost of pet care.

• Leveraging the company’s pet business leaders to firmly establish thought leadership around the costs of care, including a series of high-profile byliners with key veterinary trades.

• Generating a digital hub for pet owners and veterinarians to access educational tools and resources.

• Tapping the company’s expert relationships – including well-respected veterinary practice consultant Peter Weinstein, well-known pet trainer Andrea Arden, expert pet writers such as Jen Reeder from TODAY.com, and “America’s Veterinarian,” Dr. Marty Becker – to help amplify the survey, insights and results with key media.

• Creating a companion research effort, the “Language of Care” to socialize these lifetime costs and arm veterinary professionals with the language and resources they needed.

• Underscoring all campaign communication with information about how Synchrony’s financial solutions, CareCredit and Pets Best, are important tools to provide a lifetime of care for all pets.

 

Execution and Tactics

During 2022, the company implemented a 360-degree campaign of earned, owned, and paid tactics based on a data driven approach including: A custom-curated veterinary video series on the No. 1 platform for veterinary professionals, a downloadable e-book with findings from the study, media partnerships with Dogster and Catster to amplify the Lifetime of Care narrative, pet influencers, to broaden awareness of the Lifetime of Care Study, thought leadership via bylines in key veterinary trades from the leaders of pet business, a suite of creative, shareable content, such as datagrams, infographics, and b-roll for the brand’s social teams to leverage across owned channels, a nationwide broadcast push with spokespeople Andrea Arden a “Today Show” contributor and pet expert, and Justine Santaniello, a go-to media and consumer resource, to discuss the findings of the survey and the benefits of CareCredit when dealing with unexpected veterinary costs, a multimedia news release and mat release.

 

Effectiveness and Results

Veterinarian impact: Today, Lifetime of Care is considered by veterinarians to be the most comprehensive study on costs of care. Petlifetimeofcare.com has become the go-to resource for veterinary professionals: the landing page received nearly 90,000 hits during launch month and continues to see tens of thousands hits month over month, reaching 401,207 total hits.

 

Global influence: The global reach of the survey is a testament to its influence. While the campaign was only marketed in the U.S., petlifetimeofcare.com has been accessed by consumers and veterinarians in more than 73 countries.  In fact, 48 countries were reached in the first month alone, and the study continues to be accessed globally, averaging 30+ countries reached per month.

 

Media results: 507M+ people reached from the SMT, MAT release and multi-media news release. An estimated 76M+ people viewed the SMT’s broadcast segments. From Jan. to Sept. 2022, ‘Lifetime of Care’ had ~595 mentions with 99% positive sentiment across news publications, social media, and broadcast.