Tails.com singled out thousands of identical labradors to sell one-size-fits-none dog food

Tails.com, which builds personalised dog food, wanted a brand platform championing each dog's unique, evolving nutritional needs, with a clear link to its tailored product.

The Or created the platform and a hero film directed by Max Siedentopf; Mother Design overhauled Tails.com's visual and tonal brand world, rejecting the industry's 'picture perfect' ownership trope; Goodstuff launched it in peak Channel 4 and Sky programming plus BVOD, with paper and digital OOH across London and the South of England including Waterloo Motion.

The campaign launched the 'Never Average' platform across TV, BVOD and OOH; brand director Ian Pate tied it directly to the product claim that every detail matters for tailored nutrition. No performance figures are given in the source.

In April 2024, tailored dog food brand Tails.com introduced its new brand platform 'Never Average', developed with its creative agency The Or. The concept showcases all the visible and invisible details that make every dog multifaceted, with a clear link to Tails.com's 100% tailored dog food.

The hero brand film demonstrates that even among one of the most common dog breeds in the UK, every dog is still an individual: thousands of labradors are singled out by the things that make them unique, a nod to their personal preferences and personalities. The spot plays out in a joyful, surreal world 'designed to be more memorable than your average dog food ad', directed by Max Siedentopf, known for work for Apple, Gucci and Nickelodeon.

The ECD of The Or, Dan Morris, gave the platform its logic: 'We don't have average human food because we all have different needs, preferences and tastes. Dogs are no different.' Brand director Ian Pate tied it to the product: rejecting 'one size fits all' starts with recognising each dog's unique, evolving nutritional needs.

Mother Design built the new brand world around the platform, overhauling the visual and tonal identity to reject the pet food industry's 'picture perfect' trope and show the many facets of dog parenthood. Goodstuff planned the media launch: peak TV on Channel 4 and Sky plus their BVOD platforms, and paper and digital OOH across London and the South of England, including Waterloo Motion.

The casting is the argument: labradors are the UK's archetype of sameness, so proving thousands of them are individuals makes personalisation feel self-evident.

The platform line 'Never Average' converts a product feature (tailored recipes) into a compliment to the customer's dog.

Pairing an ad platform with a full Mother Design brand-world overhaul signals a repositioning, not just a campaign.

The director choice (Siedentopf's surreal humour) distances the brand from the sentimental pet-food ad genre it is rejecting.

If your product is personalisation, your brand platform must attack the category's default assumption — sameness — with the most uniform subject you can find.

The platform launched in April 2024 across Channel 4, Sky, BVOD and OOH; the source records no follow-up performance.