Human interest: The pet brand putting its people in the spotlight
For years, pet brands have relied on animals to do the heavy lifting on social media. But at Kazoo Pet Co, it’s the people behind the scenes who are now driving some of the strongest engagement.
Putting your pets in front of a camera and posting the (adorable) results is a time-honoured engagement strategy. Cute cat videos have been around since the dawn of the internet itself, and for a pet brand like Kazoo Pet Co, they remain a staple of the brand’s social presence.
But when Digital Experience Manager Lexie Mamo began sharing glimpses of Kazoo’s very human employees on the brand’s social channels, she noticed something else happening. The content felt natural and relatable, and it consistently attracted higher engagement than the brand’s usual four-legged stars.
That response points to a broader shift in how brands are approaching content. Employee-generated content (EGC) puts people at the centre, not as polished spokespeople in big-budget campaigns and glossy brand productions, but as the stars of lo-fi, often funny videos that mirror how people actually use social platforms, rather than how brands typically show up.
Ahead of her session at Content Summit Australia, Lexie sits down to explore why audiences are responding to EGC, what she’s learned from putting people in the spotlight, and how brands can apply these lessons in their own content strategies.
@kazoopet The Kazoo Krew once again had the pleasure of visiting AWLQ to kick off winter officially with our Buy a Coat, Give a Coat donation drive. This is just one of the charities we are supaw proud to support each year, and it was very rewarding to pop in for some puppy cuddles today 🥹💜 All dog clothing is currently 20% off for a limited time, and for each piece sold online, another will make its way to an animal rescue around Australia. For more information on @Animal Welfare League QLD and these pawgeous pups, visit their website linked in their bio. 💜 If you’re not in a position to donate, foster or adopt, following & sharing their social posts or volunteering are wonderful ways to help this shelter continue their important work. Dogs in order of appearance: Muffin Mcclay ID: 141289 Bottomley Potts ID: 141288 Ezra ID: 141232 Gennavieve ID: 139632 Bitzer Maloney (ID: 141290), Hairy Maclary (ID: 141292) & Hercules Morse (ID: 141293) #kazoopet #makingtailswag #rescuedogs #shelterdogs #animalrescue ♬ original sound – Kazoo Pet Co
Content Summit Australia (CSA): Your session at CSA will focus on employee-generated content (EGC). How do you use EGC at Kazoo?
Lexie Mamo (LM): Our EGC has become a large part of our organic strategy for community-building and authority-building, showcasing the people behind the brand and why we’re the authority in this space.
But it’s also played into our paid social strategy recently, because we’ve found that kind of content has been better at converting. It’s the complete opposite of everything we’ve done in the past, because everything’s been about pets. We’d never really shown the people. And then we turned the camera on ourselves, and it worked.
CSA: Was there a particular piece of content that started the shift? When did you notice that people were responding?
LM: It started with our Kazoo Cares initiative. That’s the community pillar of our business, where we support rescue and foster animals as much as we can. We did a few little videos when we went to the Animal Welfare League, and that was our best-performing content in two or three years. It has that feel-good element, so it’s not altogether that surprising, but there was so much of us in it.
I thought, well, I guess people care about what we’re doing. That’s what we need to show.
CSA: And are you usually showing Kazoo products, or going behind the scenes? What does your EGC normally look like?
LM: At the moment, it’s all been behind the scenes. We’re going to start doing more product showcases, but showing who we are seems to work best.
CSA: Why do you think that people are responding to that? Is it because the job looks fun and people want to picture themselves working with animals, or is it that people are easier to relate to than animals?
LM: There’s definitely an aspect of, well, it’s a cool job – a lot of people dream of working with animals in some capacity, and it’s very fun and unusual. But I think it’s also just human curiosity.
I think that’s what we’re all looking for, these little windows of how people spend their lives and their days and what their jobs look like. I was watching someone making coffee while wearing those meta AI glasses, and I was spellbound. But it’s because I’ve never been a barista.
It just reminded me that although what I do is interesting to me, it’s even more interesting to an outside person, because they’ve never seen it. It’s brand new.
CSA: How do you encourage participation from employees? Do people volunteer ideas, do you have to actively recruit them to get involved?
LM: It’s a bit of a mix. Some people have ideas and they really want to flesh them out and have a go. Some people have lots of ideas but when it comes to actually doing it, they kind of choke a little bit. So I try to make it as fun and inviting as possible: ‘It’s fine, we’ll do heaps of takes, and the more you do it, the more you get used to it.’
But some people just want to be on camera. They’re the yappers. You have to find the office yappers.
CSA: Do you have any tips for businesses who are looking to do more EGC? How can they help their people feel comfortable on camera?
LM: Try getting on camera with them. I’ve found that if I’m in the content with them, and it’s always me leading it, they’re more willing to give it a go. They’re more comfortable if they’re not the only person. When they’re alone in front of the camera, it can feel really overwhelming and frightening.
And give them a very, very clear brief of a fun trend, or something silly, so it doesn’t feel so extreme if you stuff it up. Because it’s supposed to be silly.
CSA: How do you balance EGC with your other content that centres the animals more?
LM: It depends on the campaigns and what we’re working on at any given point in time. If there’s an event coming up, a lot of the content will be EGC before, during and after, just to really capitalise on it, and then it will lean more into the product. But it really depends on what’s happening in the business.
It’s a fluid strategy, because otherwise I find you get stuck: ‘I have to create this, I have to post this many lifestyle pictures and this many reels about the product, and then this many pieces of EGC.’ It becomes less authentic, and people can tell.
CSA: It doesn’t feel organic; absolutely. How do you get people to stay on brand and follow brand guidelines? Obviously, that’s less of a problem when you’re filming the content personally.
LM: Yeah, and if I’m not there and someone else is doing it, they usually have a pretty clear brief. Or I’ll just ask them to do three different takes and I’ll cut them together if they’re a hot mess.
CSA: Since you started leaning into the EGC, have you found that it’s changed the way people see the brand, or how people interact with the brand?
LM: It’s definitely been great for our community-building. I think people really resonate more with the brand. The more EGC we post, the more they engage with all of our content. They’re not just interacting with the EGC. People comment, share and like all our content more because they feel more connected to the brand as a whole.
CSA: That makes sense. Now that you’ve been doing it for a while, is there a particular piece of EGC that stands out to you as having worked really well?
LM: Probably that piece from the Animal Welfare League. There were a few offshoots of that content that did really well. And recently we posted this reel on TikTok – it was just us packing the show bags for the Dog Lovers event we did in Melbourne, and one of our staff members’ daughters came along and helped out. She was packing, and she was just super sassy. And that just popped off!
We couldn’t have planned that. Of all the things people respond to, it’s the kid. So it was off the cuff, but it’s often the thing that you put the least effort into that works best.
CSA: What advice would you give other brands who are thinking of experimenting with EGC, or trying to incorporate it into their content strategy?
LM: I’d say it’s just baby steps. Pick a few different trends. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. And try to involve other staff members in choosing what trends they want to participate in.
I’ve found that if I share a few different ideas in the WhatsApp group and someone goes, ‘that’s amazing, that’s so me’, that’s the time to say, ‘right, let’s shoot it.’ Let them lean into what they want to create, and the content turns out better.
Want to hear more about how EGC can build trust, engagement and community? Lexie Mamo will dive deeper into Kazoo Pet Co’s approach at Content Summit Australia.
Across two days and three dedicated content tracks at Brisbane Powerhouse, Content Summit Australia brings together marketers, strategists and creatives to talk all things content, from brand storytelling and strategy to social, video, design and audience engagement.Early bird tickets are on sale now until 31 January 2026, or sooner if they sell out. Secure your spot now.
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Content Summit Australia is where marketers, strategists and creatives come together to talk all things content – from brand storytelling and strategy to social, video, design and audience engagement.
Featuring two packed days at the Brisbane Powerhouse, you’ll hear from the people and brands doing content best, through inspiring keynotes, real-talk panels and deep thinky sessions across three dedicated content tracks.
