Rehauling a longtime brand meant every franchisee needed to be on the same page—because how it shows up in real life would need guidance and consistency. With regular customers spanning decades, we also wanted to ensure that a rebrand wouldn’t alienate them in the process. Who better to speak to than the real store owners on the ground? Monday conducted deep primary research with franchisees to understand the customer experience, gaps in the market, and set the tone for our brand strategy.

Our insights and interviews showed that existing customers feel deeply connected to the passion and connection of Pet Planet staff and franchisees—and that their competition either veers too boutique or overtly big-box in their approach. That’s where we found a sweet spot in the middle. Our approach leans into an open space for premium pet goods with Canadian heart: where quality care meets community spirit. With stores that genuinely put pets first, we landed on a tagline that naturally dovetails with their brand name: “Pets Deserve the World”. With a brand voice, key messages and positioning to set the tone, we knew exactly where to go next with their visual identity.

“Your pet’s favorite place on earth” is another line that stuck, and we interpreted that further in our design system. Taking cues from the natural signs of healthy and happy pets—wagging tails, attentive ears—and the distinctive shape of a dog’s nose, we infused the brand design system with an overall feeling of warmth and joy. Once we landed on a wordmark, we fine-tuned our typography by joining the letters “A” and “N” to create fluid spacing. Revisiting our strategy, we were intentional about striking the balance between premium and playful. We further evolved this into a shorthand logo for small spaces, creating a layered and depth-filled monogram. We worked on Pet Planet’s core colour palette of Bark and Bone, and brought in fresh supporting pastels—Butter and Sage—for brightness and to help visually categorize dog and cat products.

We worked with local Vancouver illustrator Joy Kim to bring a series of distinct cats and dogs into the system, as well as fully integrating these characters into the logo.

Over the last year, we’ve watched Pet Planet launch a full website refresh integrating the new brand platform and seen consistently high ratings online for each franchise as they updated their retail experience. Reputable sources tell us that dogs have been dragging their guardians across parking lots just to get into the new stores—could we ask for a better review?

We drew inspiration from premium storefronts to give the retail experience at Pet Planet an overhaul—opting for clean layouts, negative space and natural textures in lieu of loud or competing signage. The result has been a major Canada-wide rollout across 50+ stores—warmly received by both customers and franchise owners.