Luxury dog perfume doesn’t just sound like an out-there business idea – it is one. When Rachel Crawford and her co-founder, Grant Bradford, launched their fragrance house for dogs, HARLOW HARRY, it was the first luxury dog perfumery in the world.
“I feel like even more now I’m realising how niche this is,” Rachel says, after sitting down to chat with ISB about the business. “I think we went into the industry quite naively.”
Despite their initial naivety, it’s clear that Rachel and Grant are savvy business-people. HARLOW HARRY is now stocked in David Jones and similar big-box stores internationally, appears at the top of search engine results pages for “dog perfume”, and is making a splash all over social media.
But how is the business faring right now, especially during a time when consumers have cut back on so much non-essential spending?
Rachel admits that there have been challenges.
“I think sales could be stronger if we weren’t going through this period,” she says. “And, you know, it’s been a test of resilience and adaptability…Mental health has been affected along the way.”
But the business has stayed afloat. A lean team has meant low overheads and less pressure for Rachel and Grant. And people are still buying.
“I think in terms of the cost-of-living crisis, we’re aware there is one, but also aware that people are still spending,” Rachel says. “If you’ve nailed your target market and your messaging is right, then you can always still be selling.”
Fine-tuning your audience
Nailing a target market is a key strategy for HARLOW HARRY. Rachel has delved into her business’ ideal customer with extreme specificity. She says the business’ marketing speaks “single-mindedly” to this customer.
Who is this ideal customer? Rachel, who has a marketing background, explains that her target audience is a young Australian woman who owns a cavoodle named Louis. She grew up with two parents in the affluent suburb of Rose Bay in Sydney, and moved out of the family home recently. She’s outwardly confident, but inwardly self-conscious.
“We’ve really gone quite deep with the whole persona to really understand her mindset,” Rachel says, “which really helps in terms of like advertising and affinity interests, and what sort of segments we’re looking to on Facebook to target her.”
Rachel says messaging is crucial when it comes to a product like dog perfume. One of HARLOW HARRY’s biggest challenges is people discrediting it right away simply based on the product. Rachel says that many people still see dog grooming as a functional step, and don’t recognise the unique selling points of Rachel’s product. Her mission has been to turn this around, reiterating the product’s luxury, safety and aesthetics.
Major fashion house Dolce & Gabbana has recently come out with its own dog perfume range, which has helped familiarise customers with HARLOW HARRY’s offerings. It also reassured Rachel that she’s on the right track with this product.
“It has been a long journey, but Dolce & Gabbana entering at this point, I think, has just given me a lot of confidence and pride. I’m proud when I think that we identified this [market gap] so early on, in 2019 or 2018.”
Rachel is excited about what’s on the horizon. The business has just launched new packaging (as of December 2024) and is part of a wider trend of success within the pet industry, which has proven very resilient amid COVID-19 and the resulting economic downturn.
Through good times and bad times, Rachel says she maintains a strong passion and belief in her unique idea.
“I can never explain it to anyone, but I know deep down that this will go where I want it to go,” she says.
This article first appeared in issue 47 of the Inside Small Business quarterly magazine
