Concerned with the deterioration of their dog’s health, brothers Jack and Gus developed a nutritious dog supplement to support mobility and restore some of that puppy energy. As an end-to-end Backbone project, we supported Dog Years every step of the way from branding to packaging.
Growing up on a farm in Christchurch, brothers Jack and Gus spent their lives surrounded by dogs. Having witnessed their beloved boxer Billie struggle with hip dysplasia, they started to think about what they could do to prevent other dogs (and their pet parents) from going through the same thing. By looking at their dogs’ diet, they developed nutritious supplements designed to restore your dog’s best years.
We worked with Dog Years to build their brand, develop packaging, and create a custom-made website that connected with the target audience.
As Dog Years already had a great product, our job was to ensure that the branding and website reinforced that. Drawing from Jack and Gus’ childhood and the inspiration behind their business, we started by creating a compelling brand story. When it came to the design process, the aim was to create a global look that highlighted the product’s New Zealand roots and premium ingredients.
To showcase the product’s nutritional value, we wanted to keep the packaging minimal with an understated font. The product packaging incorporates a silhouette of Mount Cook with a small dog. It is designed to be colourful and eye-catching so that it stands out from other competitors on the supermarket shelf.
The packaging features a sleek, clean design with a gold film. It is available in three sizes, each presented in an innovative tin. The tin is sealed from the bottom and encased to preserve the supplements’ freshness. As we always try to add an element of surprise and delight to our design, the lid features a playful message to reinforce the product’s value.
The website’s design was carefully crafted to complement the product’s packaging. The clean, natural look of the website echoes the product’s nutritional value with a white colour scheme to convey a sense of purity. We also developed a dynamic product page with detailed information, engaging visuals, and interactive elements.
The brand concept for Dog Years balances the clinical with the playful, presenting a product that could easily be associated with the expertise of a vet while remaining approachable and engaging for consumers.
In less than 90 days since launching the brand, Dog Years was well on it’s way to becoming an eCom success story. The product has been well-received by consumers and has outperformed many other e-commerce brands we’ve worked with.
The entire branding and building process was focused on reinforcing the genuine quality of this product. By ensuring that the packaging, website, and overall experience matched the product’s premium nature, we developed a brand people could resonate with. As a testament to its quality, our dog Neo can’t get enough of it.
We asked the owners what they had to say about working with Backbone, here’s what they had to say.
