Whole Life Pet was founded in 2011 as a response to the pet food industry’s lack of healthy, safe, made-in-house pet food.

Despite Whole Life Pet’s promise to provide safe, high-quality, freeze-dried pet food for dogs and cats, their powerful mission was not coming through on the packaging. Whole Life Pet struggled to communicate their value proposition in-store and online, making it difficult to justify the premium price point.

Visually, the product line felt disjointed. Customers struggled to navigate between sub-brands, proteins, and product functions without a unified design system. The dated graphics, cluttered visuals, and lack of consistency diluted the brand’s premium positioning, making it hard for pet parents to understand what made Whole Life Pet so great.

Mudge saw an opportunity to elevate the Whole Life Pet brand from top to bottom. We aimed to build a cohesive brand experience across categories while forging an emotional connection with dog and cat owners.

We began by conducting a deep dive with John, the founder, to gain insight into what was working, what wasn’t, and what customers were saying about his product. We surveyed their current customers to gain a deeper understanding of their priorities and their perception of Whole Life Pet as a brand.

Utilizing insights from brand stakeholders, current Whole Life Pet customers, cat owners purchasing other brands, and category research, we developed a new product portfolio structure, strong brand positioning, brand strategy, and communication foundation.

We learned that pet parents will do everything in their power to give their pets high-quality food, so that they can add years to their pets’ lives and more love into those years. To address this learning, we would need to develop a brand that resonates with pet parents’ emotional connection to their pets, showcase real solutions to their pets’ challenges, and visually align with the price point.

Rebranding can be tricky business. Many brands aren’t ready to let go of their current design, despite knowing it’s not working. Sometimes a brand needs a jumpstart with a complete visual overhaul. Whole Life’s founder, John, is different; he put complete trust into the process, and jumped head first to completely overhaul the branding and communication to better serve pet parents across the country. (Thank you for trusting us, John!)

We began by defining a dialed-in brand positioning and developing a clever, warm, and confident brand voice. We positioned Whole Life Pet as a trusted expert and friendly partner in pet care. This premium storytelling is woven throughout the brand, emphasizing commitment to in-house production, full traceability, and rigorous safety standards, all in the name of love for our pets.

To reflect the shared knowledge that the needs of cats and dogs are vastly different, we separated the cat and dog lines both visually and in name—Whole Life Cat and Whole Life Dog. This distinction builds trust by showing we truly get the unique challenges of being a pet parent.

Next, we established a strong portfolio strategy executed across a flexible architecture that organizes SKUs by flavor, function, and format, making it easier for pet owners to navigate the product lines. No more scanning ingredients lists for food that won’t upset Fluffy’s stomach: everything is front and center – and easy to read.

Our visual overhaul began by replacing the dated “window” with bold, beautiful photography and tied it all together with clean typography and a modern color palette that signals quality. Each brand and product line features premium visuals that stand out from the competition, a clear communication hierarchy, and a cohesive brand world that resonates with pets’ specific quirks, needs, and personality traits, pulled together across packaging.

Born from the ashes of old packaging like a shelf-stable phoenix, our fresh identity allows Whole Life Pet to reposition itself without the baggage of the past.