Finding a verbal identity that gets tails wagging
Help a new startup cut through the noise of a saturated dog food category with a verbal identity and content style that actually stood out.
CLIENT
Rocketo
INDUSTRY
Dog food
Brand Strategist
01 - THE CHALLENGE02 - UNDERSTANDINGWhen we audited 30+ global dog food brands, we found a sea of sameness. Everyone talked about “natural ingredients,” “zero fillers,” “vet-approved,” and how much they “loved doggos.” It was a buzzword pile-up of cutesy baby-talk or lab-coated science speak.
But dogs aren’t babies. And Rocketo didn’t need to pretend to be a lifestyle brand for green juice–drinking golden retrievers.
We leaned into a sharper, realer insight: dogs are disgusting little legends. They eat poo, clear rooms, and absolutely will not share the sofa. Rocketo didn’t need to soften that — it could celebrate it.
03 - THE IDEAGood food for bad dogs.
A playful, personality-packed tone that rejected the wholesome clichés and embraced the chaos of dog ownership. Rocketo became the brand that fuels your dog’s best (and worst) self — with high-quality, air-dried food that understands the full picture of dog behaviour, not just the Instagrammable bits.
04 - THE strategyFrom a verbal standpoint, defining an OG tone of voice for Rocketo was fun but a bit of a balancing act. Dial it up too far and things get shouty and annoying. Tone it down and you’re back to bland and fluffy. Ultimately, we landed on three supporting principles designed to help anyone using the new TOV strike the perfect note.
We also gave them a bunch of different messaging examples to show how the brand could speak in a range of contexts. For Rocketo, that meant embracing their role as the fun-loving dog parent who gives their dog the best, but doesn’t pretend they’re anything they’re not – who lets dogs be dogs.
We built a content and tone system to guide everything from homepage copy to product descriptions to packaging. It was cheeky but clear, punchy but informative. Core elements included:
Tone with bite: Confident, irreverent, never mean. Designed to sound like your funny mate who loves their dog but won’t pretend it’s a saint.
No more fluff: We stripped out the “filler” language (literally and figuratively), turning complex nutritional info into something readable and useful.
Sticky signatures: We developed recurring lines and phrases that became Rocketo’s verbal calling cards – things like “rocket fuel for your dog” and “clean eating for dirty habits.”
05 - THE STORYA verbal identity that broke the category mould. Rocketo launched with a clear, original point of view — instantly distinguishable from the sea of sameness. It had a strong, repeatable voice across its site and socials, plus a tone system that could scale with the brand.
Ready to stand out?
It all starts with a chat.