The New Features article served as an essential guide for retailers, detailing changes and enhancements made to the Retail Messenger, and highlighting the addition of scan-able barcodes, for the purposes of driving increased revenue and facilitating ordering. The design challenge was creating visual examples that remained legible and recognizable, despite their small size, to accompany the copy.

The illustration of someone scanning a barcode using Animal Supply Co.'s new app on their phone is a vectored graphic I created specifically for this feature and later use elsewhere.

The CBD & Hemp category of pet remedies has exploded in recent years. To better supply the demand by educating the retail sales channel, I took on the article for this new and (as I learned) complex field. I first needed to make myself as expert on the subject as possible, which required extensive research under production deadline.

Given the controversy of the topic, I took a journalistic approach emphasizing scientific studies, facts, and market data. Because the field is so new, mastering terminology and its broadly accepted use and meaning was a unique challenge in finalizing the copy - you can read and learn about it yourself right here!

Raw food is making a comeback in the pet food world, but is difficult to push to retailers because of added overhead (freezing and refrigeration) and limited space. Having already produced freezer program ads and done research for a potential booklet on raw, I had an abundance of source material - too much to squeeze into two pages.

From a business perspective, the pitch was made by explaining how raw food is good for pet health, which in turn is good for pet parents (healthy pets = less vet trips), which offsets consumer cost and increases sales volume through a loyal and pet health conscious customer base.

Play is essential for building a bond with pets, and toys keep play fresh and interesting. The goal of this article was to revitalize sales of toys for all pets, not just dogs and cats.

The copy is aided by the variety of imagery, reinforcing the importance of play for all pets, and calling on retailers to maintain a robust and inclusive stock of pet toys.

This feature required flexibility in the established design and layout guidelines in order to include all of Animal Supply Co.'s brand partners in the category. Instead of the logo bar at the top, they are listed by pet category in the sidebar.

Starting with a composition of Animal Supply Co.'s freezer program ads, and taking direction from the Vendor Manager for the program, I expanded the original content with more detailed specifications on both the pre-existing and new freezer options, and wrote fresh copy.

New imagery is clean, crisp, and brightly lit, and the freezer photos are bigger and higher quality, making it easier for the retailer to imagine them in their store. Enlarged logos of the partnered manufacturers boost brand recognition and emphasize quality. These improvements carried forward to updating and refreshing the ads in future runs.

The 2019 Fall Buying Books for the Central and Ohio Valley distribution zones were set to run with the effective dates of September 9-20, coinciding with the September issue of the Retail Messenger. So I copied this article into both books as a surprise feature just inside the front cover for retailers who receive the books.