Case Study

Try a little tenderness

Compassion-First needed to pull together 40 emergency and specialty veterinary hospital locations under one roof while ensuring pet parents understood they were getting world class care. Bernstein-Rein developed a brand based on a point of difference so important and true that it successfully shepherded and empowered a family of hospitals.

At Bernstein-Rein, we believe retail intelligence comes from consumer insights, a true brand purpose, and half a century of unrivaled experience. We put these beliefs together to accelerate growth. This approach is called Retailigent™ – it's what drives our work every day.

Here’s How We Made them Retailigent

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Opportunity

A corporate entity, VSNA, had been acquiring specialty pet hospitals across the United States. While continuing to service clients across 40 hospitals. The newly organized company needed a name — one that would reflect the care and understanding provided to every pet owner and patient that came through their doors, while epitomizing trust and confidence to referring veterinarians.

With over 40 hospitals coming together under a singular brand, each had a unique feel and place in their local community. Reaching not only pet parents who need specialty and urgent care services for their furry family members, they also need to connect with the referring veterinarian audience who was critical to the ecosystem of each local hospital.

Insight

We determined that pet owners didn’t care about how much you knew, until they knew how much you cared. Being kind, good listeners, good communicators and compassionate to the core proved to be top of the list.

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Idea

Compassion-First Pet Hospitals. A name that reflected who all 40 original hospitals wanted to be — a company, a team, and a family.

But Compassion-First was more than a name — it was a vision for the work they did every day, and the promise of hope to ingrain a collective philosophy throughout all hospitals.

As part of the brand development process, we recommended that each of the hospitals retain their individual names and presence within the community. Compassion-First would serve as the philosophical thread that tied them all together, through collaboration that would best serve the client, the pets, and the referring doctor community.

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Results

We built a brand based on emotional connection with pet parents that also drove long-term profit and expansion. #winning

By carefully determining the core emotional driver of pet owners, we helped develop a new way to provide care to pets and owners, while building a company which could successfully shepherd and empower a family of emergency and specialty veterinary hospital brands under one roof.

Compassion-First Pet Hospitals grew continuously to 26 brands and 80+ world-class specialty pet hospitals. In 2019, JAB, a major private equity group, purchased Compassion-First for more than $1.2 billion, almost 20 times the value of Compassion-First when it was established in 2015.

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