Pet food manufacturer Nutrience has chosen Carat as its new media buying agency of record,

The agency will debut its work with the brand on its upcoming winter campaign showcasing Nutrience’s new Sub-Zero line of foods.

Dominique Verdon, co-managing director of Carat Montreal, said the agency is looking forward to taking new approaches to connect the brand to the consumer.

While Verdon said it was too early to talk specific media plans, he said that digital will undeniably play a big part. With modern pet owners treating their pets like their children, he said, that means a lot of time spent online researching and looking up various tips — and digital advertising is the ideal way to target them. He also said that data will play a major role in its media plans, as the profile of a typical pet owner is rapidly evolving.

Carat’s fellow Dentsu Aegis Network agency DentsuBos was also named the brand’s new creative AOR. With DentsuBos on creative, executive creative director Amy Maloney said the challenge will be to distinguish Nutrience from the many new players in the market. “The campaign has a major focus on local [ingredient sourcing],” she said. “It was very important that it appear very upscale.”

The two agencies pitched together, although they could not reveal the duration of account’s contract.