Marro turns London billboards into scratching posts for cats
Bottom line
UK fresh cat food brand Marro has rolled out a London out-of-home campaign that turns miniature billboards into working scratching posts for cats, extending its “Marro Meow” competition and pushing entries through the hashtag #MeowForMarro. The campaign was developed with creative agency Wonderful Things and promotes Marro’s search for a cat whose vocalization sounds most like “Marro,” with a £10,000 prize for the winner. Celebrity judge Kimberly Wyatt and social media cat Merv the Cat are part of the broader campaign, and entries were scheduled to close on September 6, 2026, with the winner due to be announced between September 14 and 18. (adsoftheworld.com)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, this is less about product innovation than about how premium pet food brands are trying to build direct relationships with pet parents through entertainment, social participation, and lifestyle branding. Marro positions itself as a fresh, subscription-based cat food brand and is tied to Butternut Box as a sister brand, so the campaign also signals continued investment in the fresh-feeding category for cats, a segment that may increasingly shape client questions around nutrition, formulation, and evidence. (help.marro.com)
What to watch: Watch for whether Marro turns the campaign into a longer-term brand platform, especially if it uses the winning “Marro Meow” across future marketing or product touchpoints. (onin.london)
UK fresh cat food brand Marro has launched an attention-grabbing outdoor campaign in London that swaps standard billboards for cat-sized scratching posts. The activation is the latest phase of its “Marro Meow” competition, a social-led contest inviting pet parents to submit videos of cats whose meows sound most like the brand name, with £10,000 going to the winner. The effort was created with agency Wonderful Things and backed by celebrity judge Kimberly Wyatt and influencer cat Merv the Cat. (adsoftheworld.com)
The campaign builds on Marro’s broader brand identity, which is rooted in the idea that “Marro” sounds like a cat meowing. On its own help center and campaign page, the company describes itself as a UK-based fresh cat food brand and frames the name as shorthand for a demanding meow tied to feeding time. That positioning helps explain why the company has built a contest around feline vocalization rather than around product claims or formulation details. (help.marro.com)
According to campaign materials, the billboards are designed for cats to scratch, sit on, and interact with, while human-facing copy encourages pet parents to enter the contest. Taglines include prompts such as “Meowing at 3AM? Get paid for it,” and “Go home and yell at your human,” with placements seeded across London. Marro says the competition accepted entries via Instagram and TikTok through 11:59 p.m. on September 6, 2026, after which shortlisted entries would move to a public social vote before a final judging panel selects the winner. The winner is expected to be announced between September 14 and 18. (adsoftheworld.com)
The campaign also offers a window into where Marro sits in the wider pet food market. Butternut Box’s materials identify Marro as its fresh cat food sister brand, and Butternut Box’s 2024 impact report says Marro launched in 2024. That matters because it suggests this is still an early-stage brand using high-visibility creative to build awareness in a competitive premium nutrition market, particularly as fresh and direct-to-consumer models expand beyond dogs and into cats. (help.butternutbox.com)
Brand and agency comments underline that awareness goal. Marro senior brand marketing lead Finnegan Shepard said the company wanted to “put cats themselves at the centre of the media,” while Wonderful Things chief creative officer Grace Francis said the team expected the scratching billboards to be “put to good use across London.” Kimberly Wyatt, in promotional materials tied to the contest launch, framed the campaign as a search for the cat with the strongest “vocal presence.” Together, those comments suggest Marro is leaning into entertainment and shareability as much as product education. (adsoftheworld.com)
Why it matters: For veterinary teams, campaigns like this are a reminder that nutrition conversations are increasingly being shaped outside the exam room. Fresh-food brands are building emotional affinity with pet parents through social media, celebrity tie-ins, and experiential advertising, which can increase client interest before any clinical discussion about nutrient adequacy, life-stage appropriateness, digestive tolerance, or evidence base begins. In practice, that means veterinarians may see more questions not just about fresh diets broadly, but about newer cat-specific subscription brands that arrive with strong consumer branding and a direct-to-door model. (help.marro.com)
There’s also a category signal here. While this specific announcement is a marketing story, it reflects ongoing investment in premium feline nutrition and the effort to differentiate cat food brands through identity and experience, not only ingredients. For clinics and industry watchers, that can translate into more demand for clear client education on what makes a feline diet complete and balanced, how fresh products compare with other formats, and where marketing language ends and nutritional substantiation begins. The campaign itself doesn’t add new clinical evidence, but it may help drive the audience that asks for it. (help.marro.com)
What to watch: The next milestone is whether Marro announces a winner in mid-September 2026 and whether the company follows through on using that cat’s “Marro Meow” as an ongoing brand asset across future media, social, or product marketing. (adsoftheworld.com)