The campaign addresses the anxieties of pet parents being away from their pets, but flips the script by showing that they can relax knowing that the Rover sitters are there.
“Imagine a world where the pet is reaching out and saying, ‘I’m good. I am totally happy. I’m having a time in my life. Go do your human thing. Don’t worry about me.’ In order to do that, we had to create this pet world, [what it] looks like to the imagination and the emotional intelligence of a pet,” said Matt McCain, co-founder of Seattle independent agency Little Hands of Stone.
Speaking a true pet language
The animation came from creative studio Giant Ant and was hand drawn to capture the whimsy of a pet’s perspective.
“It was really fun to work with Giant Ant, to brief them to imagine a world that comes from a pet’s mind—therefore, grammar doesn’t matter, spelling doesn’t matter,” said Michael Boychuk, co-founder of Little Hands of Stone.
To appeal to pet owners further, details included terms like “slob-drool” and even represented a dog’s butt being scratched, which is relatable to dog owners but might not connect with non-pet people.
“One thing we love about working with Rover is that they are such true pet people—one of their goals is to make non-pet people uncomfortable,” said McCain, adding that including butts, drool and pet hair all over the place is part of a pet’s love language. “It’s just authenticity if you’re a pet person.”
Who’s singing that song?
The song and tagline came about through the relationships Little Hands of Stone has with its trusted partners, since the agency only has a handful of full-time employees.
The composer is a friend and former co-worker of the strategist on the campaign. The lyrics were written by the agency, but the singing fell to the 10-year-old son of the composer.
“He’s actually a former member of a very good boys choir here in Seattle,” said McCain, adding that the boy was incentivized to record multiple versions for the 11 different pieces of creative with some extra video game time.