Tom & Co overview

10 years of collaboration.

This year, Tom&Co is celebrating its 30th anniversary. What better time to take a look back over ten years of faithful collaboration, a partnership built on sharing and respect, and a continuous process of strategic and creative reflection ranging from visual identity to the customer experience, and the creation of new product brands.

Industries

Specialised Retail.

Skills

Strategy,
Naming,
Brand Design,
Retail Design,
Packaging,
Digital.

Challenge

The aim was to re-invent - or rather further develop - the brand, by daring to continuously re-appraise the ideal customer experience, creating value as a result. Such is the challenge of a long-term collaboration. This reciprocal and shared expertise is only possible through participatory processes, the driving force of our business as a strategic design agency.

From workshop sessions to prospective planning, consumer behaviour analysis to trend monitoring, co-creation sessions to experience labs, we have what it takes to rise to this important challenge: to build a strong and lasting brand with purpose.

In the past ten years we have participated in the transformation of Tom&Co from a straightforward pet shop to a market-leading multi-channel brand. A decade of support, helping Tom&Co to develop in a creative, intelligent way, not only through its identity but also the customer experience it offers, as well as its services, products, initiatives and retail concepts, with a single driving ambition: bringing happiness to pets and those who love them.

Solution

Our story with Tom&Co began in 2011, bringing a welcome air of modernity to its visual identity and sales outlet concept, designed to reach a wider clientèle, and to establish its position as a viable alternative to traditional large-scale supermarket networks.

In 2016, a second push aimed at promoting its expert status resulted in a more fundamental redefinition of the in-store customer experience: a new peri-urban concept, in-store services, seasonality, in-store communication, a loyalty scheme and more. All this with one goal in mind, to make pets feel at home through a soft, warm and welcoming environment.

Since then, work has been carried out to continue to improve the brand identity, by reviewing the content and approach that has enabled Tom&Co to assert itself as the multi-channel expert in the pet market in Belgium, and to attack complementary markets such as Luxembourg and France.

You&Me

After an initial overhaul of the visual identity in 2011, our most recent project focused on modernising the brand's graphic codes, based on the You&Me concept aimed at building a relationship of trust.

This new-look graphic identity gives the brand a whole new dimension that is more accessible and closer to the clientèle. We are developing a new toolbox with its own specially designed typography, and a more contemporary colour scheme that perfectly translates the happiness and enthusiasm conveyed by Tom&Co experts for the well-being of our pets.

The iconography, too, has changed, becoming more vibrant and more personal, directly addressing the customer in a positive way.

The changes have been made to all materials depicting the brand identity and the various points of contact, from in-store and online advertising to social media posts, as well as the folder and magazine, to make sure this enthusiastic message really gets across!

A phygital player

2020 has been a turning point for any retailer. The global pandemic and resulting crisis has accelerated digital transformation. Tom&Co managed to launch its e-store in record time, offering an efficient online commercial platform for franchisees. It marks the first step in the redefinition of its digital strategy and the development of its web interface, launched in January 2021 with Wepika and Jungo.

Coloco, the Tom&Co community

Coloco is a name loaded with ideas to reflect everyone's investment in Tom&Co, a way of rewarding its most loyal customers and thanking them with a programme specially designed for them.

First of all, it includes the concept of 'community', since the Tom&Co name represents a group of passionate people, driven by the same desires.

There is also the notion of 'loyalty', because Coloco is, above all, a loyalty scheme. And finally, the last syllable of the word refers directly to the name of the Tom&Co brand.

Tom&Co is offering a new take on a loyalty scheme dedicated to the dynamics of the pet/human relationship, because for them, a happy animal is a happy owner, and vice versa.

A brand, a need

Since 2018, we have been working side by side to create brands with meaning; brands that contribute to the happiness and well-being of pets, while keeping up with trends and consumer needs.

Three brands now feature in their stores, meeting specific animal welfare needs such as health and proximity to nature.

Appetite

From the name to the identity, right through to the packaging, together Minale Design Strategy and Tom&Co have created 'Appetite', a range of natural products made from fresh meat, with no added grain, and with recipes suitable for all, meeting dogs' needs based on their size, at every stage of their life. Naturally delicious premium pet food for dogs & cats alike!

Elected product of the year 2021.

Nutri-Expert

Aware that the health of our pets is the number one concern of pet lovers, Tom&Co wanted to be able to offer a reassuring brand. Nutri-Expert is a range of products created by professional nutrition experts to address specific health issues in our pets. Because the health of those we love requires a targeted nutritional solution.

Edith

Tom&Co's Edith range has one main goal: to bring birdsong to our window sills and doorsteps. Edith is a joyful, natural, colourful and vibrant brand, created for nature enthusiasts and lovers of our feathered friends. With Edith, Tom&Co offers us a way to brighten up the everyday and protect our birds, winter and summer alike.