Hartz is a heritage pet brand with nearly 100 years of trust behind it. But trust alone is not enough to win with today’s consumers.
The team knew they needed a more modern way to engage younger pet parents, increase content output, and create stronger day-to-day visibility across social. Their previous program supported product sampling and reviews, but it was not built to unlock the full value of community-led content.
“We really needed to increase the engagement and awareness among millennial Gen Z. They’re digital natives. They’re always on social media, they’re always on their phones.”
Hartz needed a way to:
For Hartz, the opportunity was clear. Pet owners already love sharing their pets online. The missing piece was structure, consistency, and a platform built to channel that behaviour into something measurable and repeatable.
“We knew we were in a special category with pets. People love sharing about their pets.”
The team also saw a gap in traditional influencer marketing. Paid creator campaigns could produce polished assets, but they often moved slowly and required heavy coordination.
“There’s the lead time for looking at options for influencers and then the contracts and then the brief... the speed isn’t there.”
By contrast, a community model gave Hartz a faster, more flexible way to generate content at scale.
“With Club, there’s multiple missions happening during the month... you get more out of a less period of time because you’re dealing with a whole bunch of people versus one person.”
That difference matters. Instead of waiting weeks for one or two pieces of content, Hartz could activate many pet owners at once and keep fresh content flowing.
The pet category is built on emotion, trust, and personal recommendation. Consumers are not just buying products. They are making choices for animals they treat like family.
“Trust is definitely really important.”
That makes everyday pet owners especially powerful. While polished creators may arrive with stronger production instincts, Hartz found that real customers bring something more valuable: authenticity.
“The positive with the real pet owners versus the polished pieces, I think the authenticity really comes through even more.”
That authenticity helps reinforce trust at the exact moment consumers are deciding what to buy.
“It’s an everyday pet owner that’s sharing this information with me, and that makes the authenticity and the trust all get reinforced.”
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One of the biggest reasons Hartz chose Club was the fully managed model.
This was a new approach for the team, and they wanted to make sure they got the most out of it from day one. Rather than trying to own strategy, execution, approvals, feedback, and optimisation internally, they partnered closely with Misaki, who manages both the strategic and professional services side of the program.
“We felt we should take advantage of having it fully managed for us so that we can get the most out of it and learn also as we go.”
That support has made a major difference.
“What surprised me the most is how effortless it feels on our side.”
For Hartz, that does not just mean convenience. It means the program keeps moving without becoming another heavy internal workload.
“She makes everything feel very easy to do.”
It also means the Club program can operate like an extension of the team, not another platform that needs chasing.
“She’s part of the team. She’s got it handled.”
Without Club’s managed support, Hartz says the program would have needed to sit across internal team members who already have significant responsibilities across brand and ecommerce.
“If it had to sit internally, it would be with the two of us, and we also have other jobs.”
That is where the value of having both strategy and execution in one place becomes clear. Hartz is not just getting software. They are getting a partner who brings ideas forward, keeps the program moving, and helps the team stay ahead of changing trends.
“You guys really are staying ahead of that evolution.”
Stacy pointed specifically to Club’s proactive thinking around AI search and Reddit as an example of that forward-looking support.
“We really want partners that are going to help bring you forward and continue to drive growth by innovating in their focused area.”
That is exactly what a strong customer partnership should look like: less admin, more momentum.
Since launching with Club in January 2025, Hartz has been most struck by two things: the speed at which the program got moving, and the quality of the content it now produces.
“Everything’s been able to get up and running really quickly.”
“The quality of content just continues to improve.”
That improvement is not accidental. Club gives Hartz more structure around what good looks like, while Misaki helps guide ambassadors with approvals and feedback that raise the bar over time.
“We get greater quality out of Club because we’re able to show within the missions an example of what we’re looking for.”
That creates a compounding effect. Ambassadors learn faster, submissions improve, and the community becomes more valuable over time.
Hartz also saw meaningful engagement gains from the kind of content being driven through Club.
Internally, the team analyses social performance across three content pillars. The pillar supported by Club has emerged as the strongest growth driver.
“The pillar that this is in has been the strongest growth driver.”
That is a strong signal that community-led content is not just nice to have. It is helping drive measurable engagement in one of the brand’s most important channels.
For Hartz, success is not only about content output. It is also about the quality of participation inside the community itself.
The team highlighted how much the community has grown and how clearly members want to be involved.
“I feel like where we were and where we’re at now, it’s a whole different spectrum.”
“The people that are in Club, they’re wanting to participate and you can see how much effort they’re putting into making these videos for us.”
That difference matters. It means Hartz is not simply collecting one-off submissions. It is building a more engaged base of advocates who want to create, contribute, and be part of the brand.
That is where The Wall plays a key role.
The Wall gives brands a central place inside Club to speak to their community, create momentum, and make the experience feel active rather than transactional. It supports more of the peer-to-peer energy that helps a community feel alive, not lonely or fragmented.
For a brand like Hartz, that matters. The program is not just about asking for content. It is about maintaining an ongoing relationship with pet parents who want to feel involved.
Hartz has also started leaning into newer, smarter community activations through Reddit-based AEO missions.
This matters because discovery is shifting. More and more search behaviour is being shaped by real conversations, recommendations, and community discussion rather than static keyword content alone.
Stacy called out Club’s proactive thinking here as a major differentiator.
“You guys stay ahead of that evolution.”
For Hartz, that forward-looking support is part of the value. Club is not just helping the team run what worked yesterday. It is helping them test what will matter next.
When asked what would be hardest to replace if Club disappeared tomorrow, the answer was immediate: the content, and the connection.
“The content.”
But beyond that, Hartz pointed to something even more valuable: the relationship with the community itself.
“It’s a really powerful connection the way it is right now.”
Club gives Hartz a concentrated, consistent way to stay connected to pet parents who genuinely want to engage with the brand.
“It would definitely need to be something that we would have to then rebuild.”
That is the real value of community-led growth. Not just more content. Not just more engagement. A stronger relationship with the people who already love what you do.
On content quality:
“The quality of content just continues to improve.”
On ease of execution:
“What surprised me the most is how effortless it feels on our side.”
On partner support:
“She makes everything feel very easy to do.”
On innovation:
“You guys really are staying ahead of that evolution.”
On community connection:
“It’s a really powerful connection the way it is right now.”
Let’s talk about what Club could do for your brand. Quick, no-pressure, and totally worth your time.
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