Petbarn and Greencross Vets appoints True Syd. as their new social media agency partner

Content-focused, results-obsessed ad agency True Syd. has been appointed to the Petbarn and Greencross Vets social media businesses. Petbarn and Greencross Vets are part of Greencross Limited, Australia’s leading specialist retailer of pet food, pet-related products, and pet accessories. They also operate Australia’s largest veterinary services business.

True Syd., having previously worked with Petbarn on seasonal campaigns, went to the brand with a bold, proactive request: let us help make you a world-class social media brand.

Says Sean Szeps, head of social and strategy, True: “It’s very rare that you come across a brand with such a passionate, engaged community. It made our job quite simple. We just needed to react more, engage with equal enthusiasm and amplify consumer stories in the right places at the right times. This would naturally elevate the brand from simply being an online marketer, to becoming a community leader.”

This social strategy, which puts Petbarn and Greencross Vets consumers at the centre of their brand’s marketing efforts, couldn’t have come at a more perfect time. Petbarn just announced a new brand positioning of ‘Putting more care in pet care’.

Says Sumeena Parimu, general manager, marketing: “Petbarn and Greencross Vets are innovators with a new brand message in market, so it’s important that our efforts across all platforms, especially on social media, reflect that. True knows how to tell powerful stories on platforms that we know our consumers are on.”

Says Szeps: “We’re leveraging creative formats like Stories and Livestreams to bring our messages to life in the most innovative, relevant manner. If Petbarn’s consumers use these formats daily, then we should too.”

Says Eric Stephens, CEO, True Syd.: “Petbarn has been a partner of True’s for several years now on many projects, with social and digital a big part of that. We’re really thrilled to help Petbarn and Greencross with their social and content business.”

True’s remit includes all social strategy across both Petbarn and Greencross Vets, content creation and implementation across Facebook and Instagram, community management, social listening, reporting, and social media training across both businesses.

Adds Szeps: “Pets are more important to their owners than ever before, with 65% of them posting about their pets on social media twice a week on average. We can’t ignore stats like this. We have to not only be present on social platforms, but we need to be active participants who respond quickly with personalised messaging. This will not only help to positively shape consumers’ perception of the brand, but drive business results and continued loyalty.”

True Syd. has grown its social offering exponentially, adding the Hydralyte, Pladis and Zeus Street Greek businesses to its retained roster in the past year.

(Pictured L-R: Mel Coenen-Eyre, senior integrated creative; Yash Keswani, social media coordinator; Sean Szeps, head of social and strategy; Eric Stephens, CEO; Jasmine Rezek, head of customer experience; Rob Hollingsworth, customer experience manager).