PEDIGREE ADOPTION DRIVE

Bronze Spike

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TitlePEDIGREE ADOPTION DRIVE
BrandMARS PETCARE
Product / ServicePEDIGREE DOG ADOPTION
CategoryB05. Public Service, Charity & Fund Raising
EntrantWHYBIN\TBWA GROUP Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Entrant Company:WHYBIN\TBWA GROUP Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Advertising Agency:WHYBIN\TBWA GROUP Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Media Agency:STARCOM MEDIAVEST GROUP Melbourne, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Matty Burton Whybin\TBWA Sydney Executive Creative Director
Dave Bowman Whybin\TBWA Sydney Executive Creative Director
Russ Tucker Whybin\TBWA Sydney Digital Creative Director
Hannes Ciatti Whybin\TBWA Sydney Art Director
Dean Hamilton Whybin\TBWA Sydney Copywriter
Chris Rollings Whybin\TBWA Sydney Producer
Andrea Byrne Whybin\TBWA Sydney Account Director

Results and Effectiveness

This became Australia’s most successful rehoming campaign to date gaining over 26 million media impressions. Dog-A-Like became the No. 1 App in the Australian iTunes store and we received 5.8 million Facebook users during the campaign. Plus, due to an unprecedented following, the online ‘Underdogs’ documentary was also aired on national television with plans for a second series in 2013. But the best part is, we exceeded our campaign target by achieving a 36% increase in the number of dogs rehomed. That's over 2,200 dogs every single month that found a new home and a new start in life.

Creative Execution

Every media channel was selected for a specific reason and targeted a specific audience. For example, we knew 81% of Australians used online search engines as their number one way of sourcing products or services. So we built an exclusive canine search engine that centralised every single shelter dog into one database. We knew Bondi Beach was Australia’s most popular. So we lined the entire 1.5km foreshore with shelter dog profiles and encouraged people to adopt them. We knew over 90% of Australian phone owners downloaded apps on a regular basis. So we created Dog-A-Like, an app that finds your perfect match and lets you adopt them. And we also knew Australians downloaded over half a billion YouTube clips every year. So we created ‘Underdogs’, an 8 part online branded documentary that followed the lives of five Underdogs from homelessness to their forever loving homes.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Sadly, over 100,000 shelter dogs are needlessly euthanised every year because most Australians think they are damaged and find it difficult visiting shelter homes to adopt. So, we knew where Australians weren’t going. Yet, based on extensive media findings, we also knew where Australians were going. And if we couldn’t bring Australians to the shelter dogs, we’d use targeted media to bring every shelter dog directly to them. In the end, media wasn’t just the vehicle to create awareness or enable adoption. Media was the idea.