Building a brand that feels like family: Inside Healthy Paws’ award-winning transformation
In this interview, Kristin Puramsetti, Senior Vice President, Head of Marketing, User Experience & Customer at Healthy Paws, shares the story behind Protected. Like Family., the award-winning brand transformation that earned Healthy Paws Gold in the Best Communication & Marketing category at the Qorus Innovation in Insurance Awards 2026.
In this interview, Kristin Puramsetti, Senior Vice President, Head of Marketing, User Experience & Customer at Healthy Paws, shares the story behind Protected. Like Family, the award-winning brand transformation that earned Healthy Paws Gold in the Best Communication & Marketing category at the Qorus Innovation in Insurance Awards 2026.
Kristin reflects on what it takes to turn a brand promise into a genuine customer experience — and shares lessons for insurance companies looking to embark on their own transformation journey.
Can you introduce Healthy Paws, yourself, and tell us more about your role at the company?
Healthy Paws is one of the leading pet insurance providers in the U.S., known for fast claims processing and a genuine commitment to the pets and families we protect. Since our founding, we've built our reputation on being there for pet parents during some of their most stressful moments, and that ethos shapes everything we do.
My name is Kristin Puramsetti, SVP, Head of Marketing, User Experience & Design for Healthy Paws. I lead our brand advertising, demand marketing, and UX strategy across the company. My team's job is to make sure that core commitment — “Protected. Like Family.” — comes through consistently, whether someone is visiting our website, filing a claim, or just hearing about us for the first time.
What made you most proud of Protected. Like Family. — The Healthy Paws pet insurance brand transformation?
What made me proudest was how the team translated something intangible — the trust pet parents place in us — into a brand platform that feels authentic at every touchpoint, from our visual identity to the tone of our customer communications. This wasn't a surface-level refresh; it required alignment across marketing, product, and customer experience to make sure the brand promise matched the actual experience people have with us. Seeing that emotional truth resonate with both our team internally and our customers externally confirmed that we'd built something that reflects who we are.
What's the most important thing you would tell someone considering embarking on a similar project?
Start with the emotional truth of your brand, not the visual identity — the design and messaging should flow from that truth, not the other way around. It's tempting to start with colors, logos, and taglines, but those decisions only land well once you're clear on the story you're telling and why it matters to your customers. Also, bring your cross-functional teams in early; a rebrand only sticks when the people living it every day — customer service, product, sales — believe in it too. The brand can't just live in a style guide; it must show up in how the whole company operates.
What's coming next for Healthy Paws branding?
We're focused on extending this brand platform deeper into the customer experience, from our digital product to new content and community initiatives, so that “Protected. Like Family.” isn't just a tagline but something pet parents feel at every interaction with us. That means continuing to invest in the moments that matter most — claims, customer support, digital experiences — and making sure our brand voice shows up authentically in each one. We're also exploring new ways to deepen our connection with the broader pet parent community beyond our existing customers. Ultimately, the goal is for the brand to keep evolving alongside the needs and expectations of the families we serve.
What would you say to companies that might consider entering the 2027 Insurance Innovation Awards?
Don't wait until a project feels finished to consider entering. The process of articulating your work for an audience outside your company is valuable, and recognition like this validates the hard work your team has put in. It also pushes you to step back and see your work with fresh eyes, which is a useful exercise regardless of the outcome. Beyond the recognition, it's a great way to benchmark your work against other innovative companies in the industry and learn from what others are doing. I'd encourage any team that's proud of the work they've done to put it forward.
What does this award mean to you and your innovation team?
This award is a meaningful external validation of work our team poured real passion into, and it's a great moment to celebrate how far we've come together. Rebrands can be long, demanding projects that ask a lot of the people involved, so having that effort recognized publicly means a lot to everyone who contributed. It's also a nice reminder that the work we do internally translates into something customers and the industry notice and value. We're incredibly proud, and we see it as motivation to keep raising the bar.
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