SMAKK
Looking to stress the importance of hygiene in the health and wellbeing of your dog, dog wellness brand FLOOF has partnered with branding and marketing agency SMAKK to create a more “human” brand for dogs that provides better care — from head to tail. FLOOF was founded by entrepreneur Michael Kim, who partnered with a vet dermatologist to formulate products that focused on skin health.
SMAKK led everything from brand strategy and visual identity to packaging, e-commerce design and development, messaging, DTC strategy and more — putting the focus on education to position FLOOF as a leader in dog hygiene.
“All of FLOOF’s formulas were new to the market, so we wanted to make sure that we were really educating consumers — not just what was in the formulas, but what each of the ingredients did specifically to help,” explains SMAKK Founder Katie Klencheski.
Messaging also avoided words like “grooming,” instead applying the same standards and expectations that humans have for their products. This meant using language that spoke more to credibility, prevention and wellness versus how dogs looked.
Visually, SMAKK introduced illustrative gestural marks into the identity system, communicating a movement inherent to the product’s usage experience that also pairs well with the cleaner, more clinical type decisions throughout the branding. Similarly, the brand’s portrait illustrations of people with their dogs act as a sparing, but hand-hewn compliment to the photography, adding flourishes of humanity to the overall tone.
The design and development teams also worked to mirror this balance in the e-commerce site, providing educational product info as well as accessible and functional user experiences alongside surprising moments of joy. One example: users who scroll to the site footer are greeted by tennis balls cascading from the top of the page.
Lastly, both FLOOF’s shampoo and conditioner are packaged in easily recyclable aluminum bottles with the option to subscribe so that the pumps can be retained to minimize single-use plastic. All products are designed to feel modern, minimal, and created to fit right in with human hair care products already in your bath.
