Rover Appeals to Pet Owners From Their Pets’ Point of View

People have very tight bonds with their pets, so much so that they don’t like leaving them alone, even for work or vacation.

A new campaign for pet sitting service Rover by independent agency Little Hands of Stone means to quell the nerves of pet owners and let them know they can leave their pets in the hands of their highly vetted and caring pet sitters.

“To My Hooman” utilizes playful animation and a charming song to let owners see the relationships pets have with Rover sitters from the pets’ point of view. In the hero spot, a child sings a song over hand-drawn animation in language the pet might use if they could sing. The fully animated national campaign is narrated by pets, telling their owners not to worry while they’re away because Rover sitters are giving the pets the most personalized care they deserve.

The spot states that humans (spelled “hooman,” the now-standard meme spelling in animal speak) often have to do human things, like go to work and go on vacation. When they do, Rover sitters and the Rover app are there to take over until the owner comes back. The app not only connects owners with a quality sitter, it lets the sitters send photo reminders from the pets, showing that they’re having a good time.

The perspective of the creative demonstrates how pets view their owners through their eyes and hearts, like seeing an owner’s legs as 12 feet long and making drooling a love language.

Based on pet owner feedback

In its research, Rover found that many pet parents prefer family and friends to watch their pet.

Rover gives pet owners another option, with pet sitters who are matched to their wards through the app. Since more people are adopting pets and making them a part of their families, Rover thought this was a good time to introduce the company to more pet parents.

“It’s not uncommon for pet parents in the Rover community to tell us that their dog or their cat loves their Rover sitter so much that they’re actually excited when they leave town,” Kate Jaffe, senior director of brand marketing at Rover, told Adweek. “Instead of feeling sad, they’re kind of happy because they get to see their extended family. This spot gave us a way of spotlighting the bond that also emerges between pets and their sitters.”

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.

The creative ranges from the hero 90-second spot to 15-second extensions, including one about photo updates, as well as six-second spots. All end with Rover’s tagline, “Loving pet care in your neighborhood.”

“One of the things I appreciate about the way this came together is that everybody brought their own experience as pet people to the table, to really make sure that each of those moments throughout every spot highlight something unique about having a pet in your life,” said Jaffe.