Assessing DTC Subscription Opportunities with Purina and Clear Strategy

UK & Italy

markets

Dog + cat

owner communities

Clear Strategy

research partner

UK & Italy

markets

Dog + cat

owner communities

Clear Strategy

research partner

The challenge

Identifying the moment of truth in pet care

A global pet food brand identified a growing competitive opportunity to offer direct-to-consumer (DTC) pet food products via subscription in the UK and Italy. Working in collaboration with Clear Strategy, we were tasked with building a deep, unfiltered understanding of the entire customer journey: exploring current market perceptions, understanding competitor strengths, and identifying the specific needs that drive pet owners from the initial online purchase through to unboxing and feeding.

Industry

Pet food

Solution

Digital ethnography

Partner

Clear Strategy

Markets

UK, Italy

Methods

Online community, competitor trials, deep-dive online groups

The approach

Immersive trials on our community platform

To capture the nuances of the subscription experience, we developed a research programme centred on real-world product trials.

Segmented engagement

We ran an online community involving dog owners for two weeks and cat owners for one week in both the UK and Italy.

Live competitor benchmarking

Participants were asked to purchase and trial leading local competitor subscription brands.

End-to-end documentation

Participants shared detailed feedback at every stage, including the website interface, product range, unboxing experience, and their pets' reaction to the food.

Deep-dive deliberation

Following the community phase, we brought participants into two-hour online groups to explore their trial experiences and emotional drivers in greater depth.

The result

A foundation for DTC success

The project gave the brand a comprehensive view of the category landscape. By observing the journey in real time, they were able to identify exactly where competitors excelled or fell short, providing a strong foundation on which to shape their own distinctive DTC proposition.