IAMS is a science-based pet food brand owned by Mars, providing tailored nutrition.

It has almost universal awareness in the US with a growing portfolio of premium wet and dry food for cats and dogs.

Our brand idea "IAMS WHO I AM" celebrates how pet parents view their pets: as unique, quirky companions in need of specific care. Our comms bring this to life.

But Mars Petcare believes in creating a ‘Better World For Pets’ which their brands must deliver through purpose based communications.

It was time for IAMS to step up: to break out of a commodified category by solving a genuine problem and creating something that made life better for every pet and those who love them.

We had three core objectives:

Build long-term value for the brand beyond sales

Create something that genuinely improves the lives of pet parents

Create a better world for pets

The NOSEiD™ app - a smartphone app that uses a nose scan to create a digital ID for each dog that can be used to identify them when they go missing.

How? The NOSEiD™ app creates, and recognizes, a 3D “scan” of a dog’s unique nose print in real time using bespoke technology built on top of the camera software in both iOS and Android phones.

It then translates that into a biometric identity stored as part of each unique dog’s profile in the app’s database.

When a dog is lost, its owner can report it missing in seconds using the app. When a dog is found, the finder can simply scan the dog’s nose and let the apps’ matching technology connect them with the owner to reunite them.

Every year, 10 million pets go missing in the USA.

Most get reunited with their owners, but too many never do, leading to grief for pet parents, overrun shelters and far worse potential consequences for pets.

In the USA, it’s not a legal requirement to implant a microchip in pets so only 3-5% are microchipped.

The obvious solution was to encourage microchipping: but this is costly (requiring a visit to the vet) and the US microchip industry is fragmented meaning microchipped dogs often don’t find their way home.

So we sought a solution that every pet parent could access, and which connected back to our brand belief: that every pet was unique.

We found out that, like a human fingerprint, each dog has a unique nose print: a pattern of bumps and ridges found on no other dog.

Our first prototype was released in mid-2019 in order to determine the feasibility of the scanning tech. Once we confirmed that it was possible to scan and identify dog noses, we began the journey to build an MVP.

We built (and tested and refined) the MVP throughout 2020 and launched a pilot programme in Nashville, TN in April 2021. Our pilot launched with minimal comms support to get the word out to the pet parent community, but with some controls in place to ensure that we didn’t overwhelm ourselves by having too many users on our prototype.

We focused on contextual ads in animal shelters and local vets, as well as community-minded apps like NextDoor, reaching a targeted audience of people that care about pets.

This MVP stage allows us to learn about users’ needs as we optimise the NOSEiD™ app and add new features prior to a nationwide launch.

We’re still in our initial pilot stage in Nashville, but have already seen great results. We’ve got 2,200 active users in Nashville, both protecting their dog’s future health and wellbeing, but also looking out for other dogs in their community.

Our biggest accomplishment so far is that we’ve already reunited 8 lost dogs with their owners. This is not just testament to our app, but further evidence of how the NOSEiD™ app is creating a better world for pets - all through the uniqueness of a dog’s nose print.

We’re continuing to learn and optimise to build a better app - bringing together cutting-edge tech and passionate communities of dog owners to look after every dog, and bring even more lost dogs home.