BUSINESS - HomeSafe Seeks New Brand Partner

Canada’s Automated Lost and Found Service Moves On

HomeSafe™, North America’s only automated, privacy compliant, customer owned and managed recovery service, announced today it is searching for a new brand partner.

HomeSafe™ is a trademarked service owned by Urban Animal Corporation (formerly PetLynx) that provides “Fast, Cheap, Direct Protection and Recovery of All Things Valuable.”

A new Partner:   HomeSafeTM desires a North American brand partner that owns a significant market presence.

An interest in asset protection/recovery may be useful but is not a requirement.

HomeSafeTM will be an element of the social innovation strategy and core value alignment of the brand partner. Brand clients feel good about helping another person recover something of value, especially in the case of a pet.

The Investment:  As HomeSafeTM launches V2.0 in the US market, the investment supporting this relationship is expected in the range of CAD$150,000 to CAD$300,000 per annum.

The brand partner is supported by Urban Animal’s digital media channel with a global audience greater than 340,000.

The History:   In 2008, in a nationwide collaboration with the P and G brand IAMS, Petsecure Insurance and the Canadian Kennel Club (CKC), HomeSafeTM launched what has become the most effective lost and found system for pets in Canada.

With a million public users per month, more than a million active subscribers, coverage in 340 Canadian communities, an experience factor of 75 months and more than 337,397 recovered pets, HomeSafeTM continues to be the fastest and cheapest way to get a pet home safely.

What’s more, recovery is not dependent upon a microchip or tag or, more significantly, pre-registration.

When a lost episode occurs, HomeSafeTM allows pet owners to use the system free for seven days to affect recovery. Even though many recoveries occur in 48 -72 hours, there are other low-cost options to continue the recovery process after the initial no-cost service.

Why the Move:   In 2012, the brand relationship moved to assist Randy Valpy with the launch of a new approach to pet health insurance called Pets Plus Us.

When Royal Sun Alliance (RSA) decided to abandon this initiative earlier this year Pets Plus Us was sold to Pethealth a Fairfax company. Since Pethealth also owns 24PetWatch, a concierge/microchip based recovery service in Canada, the eight year brand relationship with Valpy is ending.

“We are grateful for the experience, collaboration and support of our relationship with Randy Valpy and his colleagues during the past eight years,” said Larry R. Evans, Managing Director of Urban Animal Corporation.

“However the timing for a change in brand relationships couldn’t be better for HomeSafe™. Expanding service from pets to ‘all things valuable’ will provide the new brand partner with a high level of trust and reliability from the only automated, privacy compliant asset protection and recovery service in North America.”

The new brand relationship is expected to come into effect during the first quarter of 2017.