“I and love and you” uses Amazon Advertising to promote their brand values

NOVEMBER 30, 2018

By Melanie Tuazon
Sr. Product Marketing Manager

“We put love into everything we do.” A simple saying that “I and love and you,” a challenger pet food brand, uses in all aspects of their business. From designing heart-shaped pet food to showcasing their employees’ pets on site content, “I and love and you” uses their love for pets as their guiding force.

In 2010, employees of an independent pet store in Boulder, Colorado, recognized the need to create healthy pet food to improve the lives of their pets, with visions of helping all pets. By 2012, they launched in Whole Foods Market, and by 2015, they launched on Amazon, realizing their dream of “making healthy food accessible to all pets” a reality.

How did “I and love and you” drive product and brand discoverability?

“I and love and you” collaborated with Amazon Advertising to amplify their brand message and product lines in a competitive pet food category. They activated their first campaign a year after launch on Amazon, in 2016, with Sponsored Products. With the long-term goal in mind to drive brand discoverability, it took “I and love and you” some time to figure out what was the right strategy for their brand. But with each campaign, they collaborated with Amazon Advertising to gain insights about their brand, such as what content was resonating and which products were popular, to optimize future strategies. For every campaign, they stayed true to their mission and used a differentiated brand voice: “real, healthy pet food made with love.”

What was in the playbook for “I and love and you”?

In 2017, a year after launching their first Sponsored Products campaign, “I and love and you” saw the potential of expanding their ad strategies to increase both product and brand discoverability. Here’s what they did:

They built their first Store—a curated destination on Amazon that helps brands tell their story and engage customers, enabling them to shop and learn about a brands’ full product portfolio. It featured customer testimonials, product videos, and best-selling products.
They activated an always-on Sponsored Products campaign strategy and broadened the category keywords they targeted in addition to their branded keywords.
They activated display ads on and off Amazon through the Amazon DSP, our programmatic buying solution. They combined audience insights with programmatic display ads to reach shoppers who were in market for healthy pet food across Amazon and on third-party sites and apps.
They tested new beta opportunities to run video ads in search results. They were able to educate customers about their brand using video directly in search results, and driving them to their Store to learn more.

Solutions include (left to right): 1) Store, 2) video ads in search results (beta), and 3) programmatic display ads off Amazon.

What were the results?

“I and love and you” saw positive results when using Amazon Advertising to amplify their brand message:

121% increase in total branded search volume
250% observed increase in total sales on Amazon after running their campaigns
41% of sales were ad-attributed, showcasing Amazon Advertising’s ability to drive sales

What does “I and love and you” say drove their success?

CEO Beau Mainous said it best: “By using Amazon Advertising’s first-party insights and unique creative formats, like video in search and our brand Store, we were able to learn what messaging and products are resonating with our pet fanatics. We are excited about the potential of our continued collaboration with Amazon Advertising and the additional learnings we receive with each campaign.”

^{Source: Amazon internal, December 2017-August 2018. Branded search: the percentage change in indexed keyword searches of advertised brand or products during the campaign period over the pre-campaign period.}