To begin, we focused on how we would build a solid social media presence. Our team initiated this with a multi-channel approach, creating profiles for Baskerville on established platforms, including TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. Understanding the diverse user demographics across these various platforms, we knew that each one would provide a different purpose, all working hand-in-hand to amplify Baskerville as an established name in the community. Once these brand pages were live, we started creating content with a cohesive and distinctive visual identity.

Instagram was chosen as the primary platform to promote Baskerville, posting content that represented the brand’s mission and values while creating a story and educating the audience. We used the platform to show Baskerville as more than just a muzzle brand; they are on a path to improving dog ownership and dog safety.

TikTok’s popularity amongst a younger demographic, as well as having an established dog community, allowed us to leverage an engaging and educational approach while ensuring content remained lighthearted. We created video content that showed the practical side of our muzzles and responsible dog ownership, helping break down stereotypes while engaging with a more open-minded audience.

Although Facebook is no longer the most lucrative of social media platforms, it was important to establish Baskerville on this platform because we know how active the dog owner community is on Facebook. Growth here has been significantly slower than on Instagram & TikTok; however, over time, we hope to create a space where dog owners can educate themselves on muzzles, ask questions without feeling judged or misunderstood and hear about the benefits others have experienced using the Baskerville muzzles.

After a month or so of consistent posting, Baskerville’s following began to grow, as did the influx of controversial comments. At this point, we began to work on educating our audience and gently fighting the stigma around muzzles and muzzle training – not just through direct responses to comments but also through the content we were producing.

Over the next few months, we used all our audience engagements as invaluable data to build content strategies that addressed common misconceptions or questions we were receiving in the comments – some product-specific, others more generic. This content included ‘What Muzzle Training Is NOT’, ‘Top Tips For Muzzle Training Your Dog’ and responses to the comments that ‘Baskerville Muzzles Are Not Bite Proof’. We also worked with the Baskerville in-house team to develop a response guide so that we could respond to queries and questions with as much detail as possible, particularly those relating to the dog’s welfare.

Controversy aside, we knew we wanted to keep things fun and entertaining on socials, so we incorporated ideas like behind-the-scenes footage from shoot days, which proved particularly successful on TikTok.

Having a diverse representation of different dog breeds, sizes, and behaviours was also a priority. We wanted to showcase a variety of dogs and owners so the entire community felt represented. When it comes to muzzles, one size doesn’t fit all, so producing content that displayed this was key to our strategy. We organised monthly shoot days across various locations, from the streets in London to parks and the Baskerville HQ, which also allowed us to show how the Baskerville muzzles benefit dogs and their owners in different settings/environments.

Finally, with some good organic growth behind us, we worked with the Company Of Animals to plan and implement a small boosting strategy to help drive additional reach on their new Baskerville accounts.