DOGGELGANGER

Bronze Spike
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TitleDOGGELGANGER
BrandMARS
Product / ServicePEDIGREE ADOPTION DRIVE
CategoryA04. Direct Response Digital Media
EntrantCOLENSO BBDO Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Entrant Company:COLENSO BBDO Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
DM/Advertising Agency:COLENSO BBDO Auckland, NEW ZEALAND

Credits

Name Company Position
Nick Worthington Colenso BBDO Executive Creative Director
Aaron Turk Colenso BBDO Creative Director/Digital Creative Director/Digital Art Director
Levi Slavin Colenso BBDO Creative Director/Copywriter
Jae Morrison Colenso BBDO Art Director/Digital Art Director
Karla Fisher Colenso BBDO Senior Account Director
Dave Munn Colenso BBDO Senior Account Manager
Haydn Thomsen Colenso BBDO Agency Producer
Colin Williams Colenso BBDO Digital Devloper
Paul Headington Colenso BBDO Digital Developer
Franklin Road Sound Design Studio
Kaleidoscope Post Production

The Brief

Pedigree’s global positioning is ‘We’re for dogs’ and the brand’s mission is to make the world a better place for all dogs, such is the reason for The PEDIGREE Adoption Drive. Our objective was to get more people to become aware of the plight of homeless dogs, and increase dog adoptions in the process. To get a person to fall in love and adopt a dog you have to first get them to the shelter. By creating a user experience that paired a real person to a real homeless dog we created a user experience that immediately set up an emotional connection. An experience that you couldn’t help but follow up with a meeting.

Creative Execution

Doggelgänger was launched as an online program, comprising a seeding strategy involving key bloggers and digital influencers. When users matched themselves they not only had the opportunity to set up a meeting with the dog (via email), they could email the image of their match to a friend, post their match on Facebook or share it via Twitter. As the Doggelgänger process and results are a compelling experience it wasn’t long before the site had gone viral, with friends sharing their experiences and the site with friends. We also helped the launch with a PR component by sending out celebrity Doggelgängers to local news anchors, reporters and radio hosts.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

It’s a truth that dogs and their owners look the same. So when Pedigree asked us for an idea that would open the door to more dog adoptions, we set about building Doggelgänger; software that could match a real dog to a real person. In early 2010 we started work with facial recognition experts, NEC. Utilising their existing research, we developed software that could not only match two different species, it did it with incredible accuracy. When we had the software working we approached the SPCA. They instantly saw potential, offering regular updates of their entire database of homeless dogs. One by one shelters across the country joined in. Now we have the largest database of homeless dogs in the country.

Results

32,500 visits per day. 2.6 million site visits to date. 1.1 million site matches. Shared 1.45 million times. And an unprecedented 112% increase in dog adoptions. Client success: "The PEDIGREE Adoption Drive is a key part of the PEDIGREE brand. In 2010 we challenged Colenso to develop an idea around this initiative that would help engage consumers more deeply, encourage consumers to adopt dogs and help us to help dogs find a better life. We were immediately taken by the idea and believed it would be a strong part of taking the campaign forward in 2011. We were right. The idea from Colenso was unique and one that has engaged consumers meaningfully”. Pete Simmons, Marketing Director, MARS NZ. Consumer success: By connecting a single person to a single homeless dog, we created a hugely personal experience. In the words of one user: “When you see those eyes looking back at you, it’s almost impossible to not set up a meeting.” Our objective was to get more people to become aware of the plight of homeless dogs, and increase dog adoptions in the process. To get a person to fall in love and adopt a dog you have to first get them to the shelter. By creating a user experience that paired a real person to a real homeless dog we created a personal experience that immediately set up an emotional connection.