PetSmart Receives Exclusive on Licensed Pet Collection

 Marketing Partnership Involves “Store Takeover” and Innovative Multichannel Shopping Experience

PHOENIX and UNIVERSAL CITY, CA. – Feb. 16, 2016 – PetSmart and NBCUniversal Brand Development Group today announced a strategic partnership with Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures’ The Secret Life of Pets.  Under the agreement, PetSmart has become the exclusive retailer to carry a collection of pet products featuring the characters from the film.
Under the terms of the deal, an innovative multichannel shopping experience and compelling marketing partnership will be created that will entertain PetSmart’s pet parent customer base, engage new consumers and drive excitement for the film’s audience. The PetSmart campaign will launch timed to the release of The Secret Life of Pets, which arrives in theaters nationwide on July 8, 2016.
“What we instantly responded to is the fact that The Secret Life of Pets shows us the immensely entertaining lives that our pets lead when we’re not around,” said Eran Cohen, Chief Customer Experience Officer, PetSmart.  “It’s an all-audience comedy that will be popular among our pet parents and their families – kids and adults alike.  We’re excited to team with NBCUniversal Brand Development on the launch of this perfectly aligned pet-oriented movie.”
The Secret Life of Pets will have “store takeover” presence across PetSmart’s more than 1,400 stores throughout North America, petsmart.com and other digital platforms. The Secret Life of Pets campaign will include advertising that features custom-to-PetSmart animation and assets across television, print and digital, as well as social engagement programs.
“Our exclusive partnership with PetSmart is a critical component of our strategy to engage more directly with consumers whose pets are an enormous part of their families,” said Jamie Stevens, Executive Vice President, Global Retail Development, NBCUniversal Brand Development Group. “We are excited to collaborate with PetSmart to expand our reach and bring The Secret Life of Pets to life.”
The exclusive PetSmart product collection includes pet apparel such as the iconic Gidget ruffle-skirted dress and hoodies; slogan tees like “Every Dog Has His Day,” featuring Max and Duke; plush and rope squeaker toys featuring Norman and Snowball; and cat and dog beds featuring Gidget and Duke. Also featured is a curated collection of the Characters’ “Top PetSmart Picks” — a list of PetSmart favorites as picked by the main characters in the movie.  Big Heart Pets, the company behind Milk-Bone® dog biscuits, will also offer themed packaging.
About The Secret Life of Pets
For their fifth fully-animated feature-film collaboration, Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures present The Secret Life of Pets, a comedy about the lives our pets lead after we leave for work or school each day.
Comedy superstars Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet and Kevin Hart make their animated feature-film debuts in The Secret Life of Pets, which co-stars Steve Coogan, Ellie Kemper, Bobby Moynihan, Lake Bell, Dana Carvey, Hannibal Buress, Jenny Slate and Albert Brooks.  Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri and his longtime collaborator Janet Healy produce the film directed by Chris Renaud (Despicable Me, Despicable Me 2), co-directed by Yarrow Cheney and written by Brian Lynch and Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio.
About NBCUniversal Brand Development
The NBCUniversal Brand Development Group drives expansion of the company’s intellectual property across the corporation. With a focus on kids and family, the business unit has oversight of a dedicated Universal Kids & Family TV Productions business, Digital Products & Gaming, NBCUniversal Consumer Products, and Franchise Management.  A key component to this division includes evolving titles into robust, multi-year sustainable brands with multiple consumer touchpoints, including Television, Digital, Video Games, Consumer Products and Live-Events, among others.
NBCUniversal Brand Development Group is part of NBCUniversal. NBCUniversal is one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment television networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, world-renowned theme parks, and a suite of leading Internet-based businesses. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation.
About Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures is a division of Universal Studios (www.universalstudios.com). Universal Studios is part of NBCUniversal. NBCUniversal is one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group and world-renowned theme parks. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation.
About Illumination Entertainment
lllumination Entertainment, founded by Chris Meledandri in 2007, is one of the entertainment industry’s leading producers of event animated films. Illumination, which has an exclusive financing and distribution partnership with Universal Pictures, is the creator of the hugely successful DESPICABLE ME franchise, which includes MINIONS, the second-highest-grossing animated film of all time as well as DESPICABLE ME 2, an Academy Award nominee for Best Animated Feature of 2013. In all, Illumination’s films, which also include 2011’s HOP and 2012’s Dr. Seuss’ THE LORAX, have grossed more than $3 billion in worldwide box-office revenues and feature some of the world’s most renowned talent. Upcoming films include the highly anticipated July 2016 release of THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS, starring Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, and Kevin Hart in their animated feature debuts; SING, which arrives in theaters in December 2016, starring Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Seth MacFarlane, Scarlett Johansson, John C. Reilly, Taron Egerton and Tori Kelly; DESPICABLE ME 3, set for June 2017; and a newly-imagined version of Dr. Seuss’ THE GRINCH, set for November 2017. In addition, Minion Rush (800 million downloads) has become one of the world’s most popular apps, and Minion Mayhem attracts huge crowds at Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood.
About PetSmart®
PetSmart, Inc. is the largest specialty pet retailer of services and solutions for the lifetime needs of pets. At PetSmart, we love pets, and we believe pets make us better people. Every day with every connection, PetSmart’s passionate associates help bring pet parents closer to their pets so they can live more fulfilled lives. This mission impacts everything we do for our customers, the way we support our associates, and how we give back to our communities. We employ approximately 53,000 associates, operate approximately 1,444 pet stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico and approximately 202 in-store PetSmart® PetsHotel® dog and cat boarding facilities. PetSmart provides a broad range of competitively priced pet food and pet products and offers dog training, pet grooming, pet boarding, PetSmart Doggie Day Camp day care services and pet adoption services in-store. Our portfolio of digital resources for pet parents – including PetSmart.com, PetFoodDirect.com, Pet360.com, OnlyNaturalPet.comand petMD.com – offers the most comprehensive online pet supplies and pet care information in the U.S. Through our in-store pet adoption partnership with independent nonprofit organizations, PetSmart Charities™ and PetSmart Charities™ of Canada, PetSmart helps to save the lives of nearly 500,000 homeless pets each year. In addition, PetSmart supports organizations that make communities a better place to call home through our philanthropy program, PetSmart Gives Back™. By giving back to the communities where we live and work, PetSmart not only celebrates the power of pets to enrich people’s lives—we live it.
Follow PetSmart on Twitter: @PetSmart
Find PetSmart on Facebook: www.facebook.com/PetSmart
See PetSmart on YouTube: www.YouTube.com/PetSmart
 
Contacts:

Sarah Rothman
Illumination Entertainment
646-254-6030
Sarah.Rothman@42West.Net
 
Evan Langweiler
Universal Pictures
818-777-9709
evan.langweiler@nbcuni.com