Ollie’s subscription model doesn’t just deliver fresh dog food — it runs machine learning models on photos of your dog’s teeth, tracks body condition and stool health, and feeds all of it into a wellbeing score that adjusts portions over time. Kalina Fridrich, VP of Growth and Retention at Ollie, joins The Future of Consumer Marketing to break down how a direct-to-consumer pet wellness brand is building a full-stack growth engine on top of that data. She covers the launch of “Feed the Obsession,” Ollie’s new brand campaign hitting TV for the first time; why AppLovin has emerged as a breakout performance channel for a health-app-native audience; the AI-generated dog bowl ad that went so viral on Meta they manufactured it and added it to the member experience; and the three-layer measurement stack — media mix modeling, multi-touch attribution, and direct customer surveys — that Ollie uses to make weekly channel decisions across a rapidly evolving media mix.

TOPICS DISCUSSED

Ollie’s product model: algorithm-powered fresh dog food subscription, personalized portions based on app health data collected from vet tech–trained machine learning models
In-app AI: visual models analyze dog teeth photos; a wellbeing score aggregates body condition, stool health, and teeth data into a single interpretable metric for dog parents
The “Feed the Obsession” brand campaign: new brand refresh with TV spots, merging brand awareness investment with a performance marketing engine for the first time
Performance channel breakdown: Meta remains core for the primary demo (women dog owners, higher household income); AppLovin emerging as a breakout channel for app-native, health-data-engaged audiences
AI in performance marketing: AI-generated heart-shaped dog bowl ad on Meta drove social engagement — Ollie then manufactured it as a real product and used it as a member gift
Brand partnerships as acquisition and awareness levers: Van Leeuwen (dog ice cream in retail), Embark (dog DNA kit), Fi (dog GPS wearable)
Media measurement stack: media mix modeling + multi-touch attribution + first-party customer surveys (how did you hear about us?), triangulated weekly for channel optimization
2026 goals: scaling reach and awareness, TV investment, GEO/SEO growth, pairing brand investment with a disciplined performance engine while maintaining PNL health