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The bandwidth problem every growing retail brand hits
As Vetnique's Senior Public Relations and Social Media Manager, Allison Winer was largely responsible for influencer outreach, organic social, and retailer support content while helping the brand expand into Target, Walmart, PetSmart, and Petco. Over nine months, the partnership with Hummingbirds transformed those efforts into a repeatable content engine that supported every part of the business.
Three things every growing retail brand should take from this win
From one or two manually managed creators to 48 unique creators activated across four retail campaigns.
The same creator clips fuel paid social, Amazon PDPs, YouTube Shorts, customer service, and retailer sales decks.
Engagement by reach has hit as high as 17.79%, more than double the 1 to 7% industry standard.
A two-person team, four retailers, and not enough hours
As Vetnique expanded into major retailers including Target, Walmart, PetSmart, and Petco, the marketing team needed an efficient way to support retail-specific initiatives with authentic creator content. While influencer marketing was already a key part of the brand's strategy, activating localized creators for multiple retailer campaigns simultaneously required significant coordination and resources, and Allison was doing it as a one-woman team.
The goal was bigger than generating social posts. Vetnique had dedicated marketing support for its retail partners and needed a way to demonstrate how the brand was driving awareness, engagement, and traffic for products on store shelves. Creating enough retailer-specific content to support those efforts at scale became increasingly challenging.
The challenge wasn't a lack of ideas. It was creating enough retailer-specific content to support a growing retail footprint. As Allison explained, "we often had to be selective about how much retail-focused content we could produce each month." Meanwhile, paid media, social, sales, and retail teams were all looking for additional assets to support their programs.
Four reasons it was, in Allison's words, a no-brainer
"It was kind of a no-brainer, honestly," Allison told us. As the person leading Vetnique's influencer and creator marketing efforts, she immediately recognized the value of having a platform that could streamline creator activations and reduce manual work. Four things stood out.
A fully managed model
No more building briefs, vetting creators, or chasing posting deadlines herself.
"For me, the biggest value is the time savings. Knowing so much of the heavy lifting is taken care of frees me up to focus on strategy and other priorities."
From 2 creators to 30+
What used to be one or two influencers per campaign became dozens.
"The ability to expand from a limited number of creator activations to 30+ gives us a level of scale we simply didn't have before, and that's incredibly exciting."
Perpetual content rights
Every asset comes with usage rights already secured, plus the creator's own reach.
"What I love is that we get high-quality content we can repurpose across our marketing efforts, while also benefiting from the authenticity and reach of the creators who share it."
Retailer-specific execution
The ability to customize campaigns by retailer, location, and product gives Vetnique a scalable way to support retail partners with greater precision and relevance.
Boot the Scoot with Glandex
The goal here was volume: real, authentic Glandex content Vetnique could repurpose across paid social and its own channels instead of producing from scratch.
Happy Tails Start Here
The goal was retailer-facing: give Target concrete proof that Vetnique could drive real in-store traffic, conversion, and awareness for Glandex in its stores.
Strong launch performance helped validate the brand's retail strategy and support ongoing growth with Target. With additional product expansion planned through 2027, specific products still confidential, the launch represented an important milestone for the business. As Allison explains, "Our Target launch was a major focus for us, and we're thrilled with the results."
From Stiff to Zoomies
The goal was proof, not polish: real, relatable moments showing that YuMOVE's mobility guarantee holds up in everyday life.
Cleaner Ears, Happier Pets
The goal went beyond content: continue building the case that creator content could translate into real retail sales, not just awareness.
Vetnique was also eager to explore Hummingbirds' new Offers feature, viewing it as a natural extension of its retail marketing strategy. The prospect of pairing creator content with shopper incentives immediately resonated with the team and sparked conversations about future retail activations.
Getting buy-in internally happened quickly. "I shared it with the team right away, and it immediately got everyone's attention," Allison recalled. "Everyone could see the potential and was excited about how we might incorporate it into future campaigns."
Every asset gets a second life
What started as retail campaign content became a cross-channel asset, powering paid media, e-commerce content, social media, retailer presentations, and more. For Allison, the value of a campaign never stopped at the original post. "That is exactly what we look for when we're leveraging any type of resource these days: how can we repurpose." Work that would otherwise mean re-negotiating rights all over again now flows straight from a single campaign.
Paid Media Campaigns
The end goal is to create a robust library of creator assets that can be repurposed across paid media. Even the simplest footage can add value by providing authentic retail and shopping moments that help tell the broader brand story.
Organic Social
Creator content keeps a steady cadence of posts live on Vetnique's own Instagram and TikTok, well beyond the two to three retail posts a month the team could manage alone.
Sales & Retailer Presentations
"Our retailers get excited about influencers," which makes creator content a regular part of Vetnique's pitch decks and retailer conversations.
Internal Reporting
"The reporting has been incredibly helpful. We've referenced campaign results and insights to share results internally and highlight the value of creator marketing across the organization."
Whitelisting Potential
"You never know which pieces of content are going to stand out, but when something really resonates, it's great to have the option to build on that momentum through paid media," making top-performing organic clips a pipeline for paid spend.
The paid numbers back it up
Once that creator content moved into paid social behind the Walmart and Target retail launches, the performance held: UGC consistently outpaced static ads on both cost and engagement.
Both the Target and Walmart campaigns put 99% of paid spend behind UGC video. Across both, the content showing pet presence and real symptoms consistently outperformed everything else in market.
Nine months, four campaigns, one clear pattern
Across Glandex, YuMOVE, and Oticbliss at Walmart and Target between October 2025 and July 2026, Hummingbirds delivered 122 pieces of content from 48 unique creators. Engagement rates cleared industry standards in every single campaign.
"I'm the biggest advocate for Hummingbirds. I honestly don't think I could go backwards to doing all of the creator sourcing and management by myself." Allison Winer, Senior PR & Social Media Manager, Vetnique
Allison has since referred Hummingbirds to other brands in the industry, and says that as long as the platform keeps supporting Vetnique's retailers, it will stay her partner of choice.