DNA My Dog Case Study

Introduction

DNA My Dog is the first mainstream dog DNA service in Canada. Since its launch in 2007 they have expanded from just offering the standard breed identification test to now offering services such as DNA testing for your deceased dog, finding the biological age of your dog, intensive genetic screening and much more. When their product offering grew, it seems that their brand did not follow the same positive trend. This left them with confusing product offerings and packages resulting in large missed opportunities through the customer touch point perspective. Although in the eyes of devoted dog owners the prices are reasonable, the voice of the brand does not communicate to the customer that their dog is just as important to the DNA My Dog’s brand. 

DNA My Dog’s current intended audience is men and woman ages 45-55 that are interested in the biological and genetic properties that affect certain functions of their furry friends. They value their pets as if they were one of their own family members and are people who don’t focus on pretty packaging. They care about accurate results and quality and now that their kids are less dependant they have some disposable income. With a re brand of DNA My Dog they would be able to expand from this older audience and obtain a younger demographic that tend to care more about the brand message. Generally speaking, people who would use this product are people who care deeply about their dog and would be happy to get behind a brand that carries the same values.

Research

Modern day genetic testing companies like ancestry.com and 23 And Me are thriving. Although smaller companies with similar offerings have popped up, these two are the leading giants in the industry. For the dog DNA testing segment, there are two in north America that can be considered the “giants” which are DNA My Dog and Wisdom panel. My research has shown that there is still some distrust in these products, in fact there are articles upon articles of people buying packages from both companies and comparing the results. 

Generally, people who have dogs are social and are likely to share things that work for their dog and will recommend products to other dog owners. Thus, I thought it would be valuable to implement a promo code in the envelope that would give the referred friend a discount and the existing customer a discount encouraging new and repeat customers.

Feature 3

I used this product myself in 2016 for my 13 year old dog Zack. For many years we had no idea what breed he was so I purchased a DNA My Dog package as a Christmas gift for my family. Zack is very much considered a family member so when the envelope came we sent off the DNA which put the whole family on pins and needles waiting for the results. During this process I found some missed opportunities in the customer journey. Such as making the experience of finding out the breeds more exciting 

DNA My Dog has added many more products to their line since my experience in 2016. This has resulted in confusing product pairings and offerings which makes it clear that in order to obtain customers from the main target audience they need to be more definitive about their product packages. This would enable DNA My Dog to increase their success with repeat customers.

I approached the design with two objectives in mind. 1. Creating a scientific design without sacrificing simplicity to appeal to the younger audience that I wanted to target, while creating a trust worthy brand and making sharable content for social media  2. Simplifying the products and allowing the ability to compare offerings to keep the older audience engaged.

Design Solution

One of the initial challenges encountered was that I did not have any physical products to photograph and even if I did, the current packaging of the products are all very similar. To navigate around this issue I created a series of icons to represent each product and package. Fortunately this made simplifying the product line much easier because this added a more distinct layer of understanding to the customer.

Logo: I wanted to create a logo that was able to convey the product offering while maintaining a simple brand identity. I created an icon of a dog made from negative space to symbolize the missing space in-between that holds the answer that can be found when using DNA My Dog products.

Typography: I chose Roc Grotesk because of its quirky and strong nature, specifically the tail coming off of the G being reminiscent of a dogs ear. Courier Prime was chosen to give a clinical medical feel being a monospaced typeface.

Website: Through the website is where I solved the confusing product offerings and created a smooth customer journey. For example I created a comparison function that makes it easier for the customer to see that by purchasing a package over a single product is more worth while.

Although this is a fictional re brand for an existing company I believe this design is a radical departure from the initial company branding.